When you connect a new monitor to your system, Windows should automatically select the highest refresh rate supported by the monitor. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen.

Various software and hardware issues can limit your monitor’s refresh rate to well below the desired 144Hz. If you are certain that your monitor is capable of displaying 144Hz, you may need to troubleshoot any issues.

This article will focus on tips and tricks for managing framerates.

Possible cable problems

In some cases, your monitor may be able to render a refresh rate of 144Hz. However, you could be locked into lower refresh rates if you use the wrong cables or ports. This shouldn’t be a big problem since you won’t be limited to anything below 60Hz, which is good enough if you’re trying to run a game at 60 FPS.

That said, if you want to unleash the full potential of your monitor, it helps to know which ports and cables to use.

For example, some monitors do not support 144Hz over HDMI. In this case, you need to use the display port to connect the monitor to your laptop or PC. Standard HDMI cables will not allow you to run your monitor at 144Hz due to limited bandwidth. But if you’re using HDMI 1.4 or higher, you can unlock the 144Hz refresh rate on monitors that support it.

It’s also important to plug your cables into the correct port. Although you can’t connect an HDMI 2.0 cable to a standard HDMI port, you can make other mistakes. For example, you can plug your HDMI cable into a port other than your dedicated GPU slot, i.e. the port for your integrated graphics card.

The only way to enable 144Hz on your monitor is to connect it to a compatible GPU capable of outputting the refresh rate.

Set refresh rate

1. Go to “Windows Settings”.
   
2. Select “System”.
   
3. You can also right click on your desktop and select “Display Settings”.
   
4. Go to the “View” tab.
   
5. Select the “Advanced display settings” option.
   
6. Click on “View adapter properties.
   ”
7. Go to the “Monitor” tab.
   
8. Select the 144 Hertz refresh option if available.
   

If you are using an older version of Windows, such as Windows 7 or 8, you can follow these steps.

1. Right click on desktop.
2. Select the “Screen Resolution” option from the “Display” menu.
3. Click on the “Advanced Settings” option.
4. Go to the “Monitor” tab.
5. Select the refresh rate you want from the “Screen refresh rate” list.

Old GPU or bad drivers

It is important to understand that even if your monitor supports a refresh rate of 144Hz, your PC or laptop might not. So, before buying a new monitor, check compatibility online by looking at your graphics card specifications.

If all else fails and you still can’t find the 144Hz option, your GPU may be too old to support the higher refresh rate. However, before replacing your GPU with a new one, try updating your drivers to fix the problem.

1. Type “Device Manager” in the search bar and click on it.
   
2. Collapse the “Display Adapters” list.
   
3. Select your graphics card.
   
4. Go to the “Driver” tab.
   
5. Click “Update Driver” option.
   
6. Choose to automatically search for drivers.
   

You can also go to your GPU manufacturer’s website and download the latest drivers from there. You have three options here:

1. Intel for integrated Intel HD Graphics graphics cards.
   
2. AMD Radeon for AMD dedicated cards.
   
3. Nvidia for Nvidia cards.
   

After updating the driver, restart your system and try setting the refresh rate to 144Hz.

Run 144Hz on consoles

Keep in mind that consoles are not designed to output at 144Hz.

The PS4 and Xbox One can only benefit from a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz, while older models were capped at 30.

With next-gen consoles PS5 and Xbox Series X, the maximum output is 120Hz. However, there is still no console capable of supporting 144Hz. So if your monitor is capable of that rate refresh, you can only unlock its peak performance when playing on PC or gaming laptop.

Improve your gaming experience

There’s a lot of debate about whether the human eye can spot the difference between 60Hz, 144Hz, and 240Hz. That’s because our brains are wired for 60 FPS or slightly higher. But studies suggest we can differentiate between 60Hz and 144Hz given enough time – the latter offering much smoother visuals.

True or not, to get the full 144Hz experience, make sure there are no cable incompatibilities or falsely advertised refresh rates.

Have you ever had trouble with the refresh rate setting on your monitor? Have you used any of the tips and tricks in this article? Let us know in the comments section below.