Windows 10: The refresh rate on my second monitor is extremely unstable when gaming and often it...

I am completely out of ideas, this issue stressed me out a lot, im fighting with it for around 3 years already now. And nothing, absolutely nothing I did helped. However I think I found out what the reason for this could be, but I dont know why it's the reason, why it's not more known and why it's doing it.Current Hardware im using:-Windows 11-Ryzen 7 5700X3D,-Asus Strix X370-F Gaming,-MSI Suprim X RTX 4080, connected with PCIe Riser from Hyte Y70 Case-4x8GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4 3600 CL16-Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB-Corsair HX850 Platinum with Cablemod sleeved cables-Razer ARGB Controller-A

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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.

 

Hooking up a second monitor with different resolution and refresh rate?

Nvidia gpu drivers will sometimes default to the lower refresh rate of the two monitors on both monitors when you connect a 60Hz

second monitor, but you should be able to re-set the main monitor to the higher refresh rate in Display Settings after you enable monitor 2.

I also find the main monitor refresh rate tends to revert to 60Hz after running old low resolution games, or games with a built in frame cap.

Hmm... When testing monitor 2 with Intel graphics, I just discovered the HDMI cable I am using on monitor 2 must not be suitable for 120\144Hz,

as this 144Hz monitor was limited to 60Hz. Hadn't worried about it before because I don't use #2 for games.

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Setup 2 monitors with different refresh rate in duplicate mode

Hi, СуминНикита

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.



Unfortunately, running two monitors with different refresh rates in duplicate mode may cause some issues. Duplicate mode essentially mirrors the exact same image on both screens. Since the refresh rates differ between your monitors, Windows will default to the lowest common refresh rate to ensure compatibility, which in your case is 120Hz.

To run programs or games at 144Hz on your internal monitor while duplicating the display on your external monitor, you may need to utilize third-party software that can manage this kind of setup, but it may still lead to graphical issues or performance anomalies.

Here are some steps you can try:

1. Set Primary Display:
   
   • Right-click on the desktop and select “Display Settings.”
     
   • Scroll down to “Multiple displays” and select “Duplicate these displays” from the dropdown menu.
     
   • Choose the monitor you wish to set as your main display and check the box that says “Make this my main display.”
     
2. NVIDIA Control Panel (if you have an NVIDIA GPU):
   
   • Open the NVIDIA Control Panel by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting it from the dropdown menu.
     
   • Go to “3D Settings” > “Manage 3D settings.”
     
   • Under the “Global Settings” tab, find the “Preferred refresh rate” option and set it to “Highest available.”
     

Please note that these steps may not fully resolve the issue due to the inherent limitations of running duplicate displays with different refresh rates. It’s generally recommended to use monitors with the same refresh rate for the best performance.

Best Regards

Martin | Microsoft Community Support Specialist