Benefits of having a high refresh rate but much lower FPS?

[Duskfall]

Hello community,

I've been trying to find an answer to this question online but never found a concrete answer. I have a 240Hz OLED display and I like to play modern games on my PC with good graphics and in 4K. This means that my FPS will never be around my refresh rate in these games reaching 60-125FPS depending on the game. If I have my monitor set to 240Hz in Windows but only get much lower FPS in a game, is there any benefit of having it set to 240Hz? I usually have G-Sync enabled. Thanks for helping me out here

[RealNC]

Yes, there is a benefit. It lowers input lag a bit and also allows VRR (g-sync in your case) to work better.

The input lag benefit comes from the fact that even at lower FPS, the display always draws each frame at the speed of 240Hz. At 240Hz it takes 4.2ms to draw a frame from top to bottom. At 120Hz, it takes 8.3ms. So there's a 4ms benefit. Not huge, but still. Also, the monitor might have more display lag at lower refresh rates. You can look up the input lag measurements of your display on rtings.com. They usually test 240Hz, 120Hz and 60Hz.

[Duskfall]

Perfect, thanks a lot for the explanation! I'll leave my monitor set to max. refresh rate then.

[Alexander666]

Just tested 120 vs 240 hz in about same fps, 240hz is better for sure

[leorasy]

Even if your system outputs, say, 60 FPS on a 144Hz monitor, the higher refresh rate can make motion appear smoother than on a 60Hz monitor. This is because the monitor refreshes the image more frequently, reducing the time each frame is displayed and minimizing perceived stuttering or judder.