Windows 10: Windows 10 major updates keep reducing max monitor refresh rate

I have a large monitor (2560x1440) on a moderately old PC. It was a top of the range PC new, and with various upgrades (like the monitor and SSDs) is still a very respectable machine (and it’s fan-less, so super quiet, which I really value). It’s graphics never was anything special though, and is now looking rather aged - Intel HD Graphics 2000, on the motherboard.

To get it to use the full resolution on the monitor, I have to lower the refresh rate (using an Intel utility; Windows 10 on its own won’t recognize the higher resolution is possible, shows 1920x1200 as the max IIRC). In the first Windows 10 this was around 45Hz. But with every major release of Windows 10 I've consistently had to reduce it each time to make it work at full resolution, until with 1809 it’s down to 30Hz.

I am now running out of road, and I fear the next major Windows update will prevent me using my monitor properly: the Intel control panel won’t go below 27Hz (and very low refresh rates are going to be visible or start giving me headaches, though 30 seems OK- I’m not watching movies or playing games). What is it about Windows 10 that keeps on making this reduction on each major update, and is there anything I can do about it?

(I did try a separate graphics adapter, but they are mostly too big to fit the smaller card format in this machine, and they are quite expensive; in principle I could use a USB graphics adapter, but reviews of these at this kind of resolution are not great, and I’d be concerned about how much memory and CPU it would consume, degrading performance overall).

:)

 

Refresh rate Problem

Hi Robert,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

Screen refresh rate is the rate at which the data displayed on screen is refreshed; it may be an image or some text document. Most of the users would like to set it to a higher rate but this also depends on the capacity of graphic
card and monitors. If the refresh rate is slow, the images on the display looks as flickering to the user eye and makes it uncomfortable to work.

Nowadays the latest monitors available in market will have minimum 60 Hz of refresh rate and it is very good option to set it to 70 Hz if you your monitor is compatible. Normally a high performance or quality monitors can reach
120 Hz of refresh rate. So I would suggest you to set your monitor refresh rate as higher as possible, below given steps describes how to access this feature on your Windows 8.1/10 PC.

• The default refresh rate setting is 60 Hertz (HZ); however, your monitor may support a higher setting. Check your manufacturer's documentation for information about the settings that your monitor supports.
• If you use a higher refresh rate, you can reduce the rate that your screen flickers; however, if you specify a refresh rate that is too high for your monitor, your screen may become unusable and your hardware may be damaged.
• Changes to the refresh rate affect all users that log on to the computer.

I would, as of now, suggest you to visit the computer manufacturer's support website and install the latest display and chipset drivers available for the latest operating system (currently it would be 8.1 in the list).

Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reply in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.

 

Changing (reducing) a monitor's refresh rate?


Is it safe to change a monitor's default refresh rate - in other words force it to run at a slower refresh rate. Mine has a default of 59Hz and I want to run it at 30Hz. It appears that I can do this in the nVidia driver software but I do not want to risk damage to the monitor. I would want to run at this slower refresh rate for several hours at a time.

 

How do I delete or disable a specific monitor refresh rate ?

Hello Cyntil,

We realize your requirement in this regard.

Generally, you can only adjust the refresh rate of your monitor on Windows 10. The default refresh rate setting is 60 Hertz (HZ); however, your monitor may support a higher setting. Check your manufacturer's documentation for information about the settings
that your monitor supports. If you use a higher refresh rate, you can reduce the rate that your screen flickers; however, if you specify a refresh rate that is too high for your monitor, your screen may become unusable and your hardware may be damaged. Changes
to the refresh rate affect all users that log on to the computer.

Sadly, we don't have an option to delete or disable this feature on Windows 10, instead you can change it to different value. To get started,

• Right-click on Start and select Control Panel.
  
• Click Appearance and Personalization, and then click Display.
• On the left pane, click Adjust resolution. Then click
  Advanced settings.
• Click the Monitor tab, and then click the screen refresh rate that you want to use.
  

Keep posted if you require further assistance.

Thank you.