What a 1440p 240 Hz monitor is for

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Want a sharper picture without giving up the speed of a 240 Hz screen? That’s the pitch of a 1440p 240 Hz monitor: a 2560 by 1440 panel that can show up to 240 pictures a second. 1440p is about 1.8 times the pixels of 1080p. 27 inches is the usual size for that count. It only pays off if your PC can keep up. More in the best gaming monitor.

For context, I play on a 1080p 240 Hz panel for Overwatch and a 1440p 155 Hz panel for everything that wants more pixels, driven by an RTX 5080 and an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2. This guide walks you through when 1440p and 240 Hz together are worth it. More monitor guides.

Pictures you can hold at 1440p

Near 240

Near 240Around 144Not sure

The panel can start a picture about every 4.2 ms, and you will see that rate. 27 inches is the usual size for 1440p.

Panels worth a look

• IPS 27” 1440p 240 Hz, 1 ms GtG on the box: LG UltraGear 27GR83Q-B. Official US page: 27” QHD (2560 × 1440) IPS, 1 ms (GtG) with 240 Hz, DCI-P3 95% (typ.), VESA DisplayHDR 400, NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible, AMD FreeSync Premium, HDMI 2.1 ×2, DisplayPort, USB upstream plus two downstream, height / tilt / pivot. LG US page. Amazon search for 27GR83Q-B
• OLED 27” 1440p 240 Hz, 0.03 ms on the box: LG 27GS93QE-B. Official US page: 27” OLED QHD 1440p, 240 Hz, 0.03 ms, DisplayHDR True Black 400, 1.5M:1 contrast (LG), G-SYNC Compatible, FreeSync Premium Pro. You need DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.1 for 240 Hz. LG US page. Amazon search for 27GS93QE-B
• The two screens I actually sit in front of: 1080p 240 Hz for Zarya, 1440p 155 Hz for the rest.

The short version: buy 1440p 240 Hz when the counter in your game already sits near 240 at 1440p. The sticker on the box won’t add frames your PC can’t make.

The gap between pictures

Refresh rate is how often a new picture is allowed to start. The gap is 1,000 divided by that Hertz. At 60 Hz a new picture can start about every 16.7 milliseconds. At 144 Hz that gap is about 6.9. At 155 Hz, the sharper screen I actually use, it is about 6.5. At 240 Hz it is about 4.2. Those are spaces on a schedule. They are not response time, and they are not click-to-picture.

Going from 144 to 240 Hz is noticeable in fast games, but much smaller than going from 60 to 144. You see the shorter gap when the game is already making a number near 240. A counter at 150 on a 240 Hz panel is still about 150 pictures. In that case a 165 or 180 Hz monitor serves almost as well.

The same page puts a lighter competitive title near 240 on a mid-range card and a fast processor, and a heavy 1440p game there only with a high-end card and an upscaler. At 240 frames a second the CPU has about 4 milliseconds to finish a frame. That is why they mention an X3D or a high-clock chip next to the GPU. I sit in front of an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2.

You notice 240 when the camera already moves that often. You do not notice a 240 sticker on a scene that holds 90. An FPS monitor is still a size that fits your desk, at a resolution the counter holds. 27-inch 1440p is about 109 pixels per inch. Stretching 1080p across those same 27 inches is about 82.

What a mid-range PC actually holds

How-To Geek, on February 22, 2025, followed Ismar Hrnjicevic after he bought a 27-inch 1440p 240 Hz IPS panel — the 27GR83Q-B. The PC was an RX 6800 XT and a Ryzen 7 7700. Marvel Rivals, at the lowest settings, held about 100 to 120 frames. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle held about 70 to 90. Battlefield V, from 2018, held a steady 240. He could feel 240 against 144, and the gap was smaller than the one he already knew from 60 to 144.

Open the counter in a busy moment of the game you play, at 1440p, before you pay for 240. A listing cannot do that click for you. Generated frames can push the counter toward 240, and Hrnjicevic found they did not feel like frames the game had drawn. He set that feature aside in a competitive match because of the lag. An upscaler is the other way to hold a higher rate. It still reconstructs a picture the game did not draw at native 1440p. Neither trick is a reason to skip the counter.

The useful part is the method: count a busy moment at 1440p before you pay for 240.

My setup

Two panels, one RTX 5080, one AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2: 1080p 240 Hz for Overwatch on Zarya, 1440p 155 Hz for WoW, Minecraft, and the sharper desktop. The Zarya guide is the aim page. Sensitivity lives on /tools. NVIDIA’s official RTX 5080 page lists display support up to 4K at 480 Hz or 8K at 165 Hz with DSC. That is port headroom, not a 1440p 240 frame count. The 5080 PC page is the tower.

Wait on 1440p 240 Hz if the card does not already sit near 200 at 1440p in the game you play, or if a 155–165 Hz 1440p panel already fits. Upgrade the 1080p side first if you want 240 Hz and you aim for a living. Upgrade to 27-inch 1440p 240 Hz IPS in the 27GR83Q-B class when the 1440p counter is already there. Upgrade to OLED when you want the contrast and you have read the burn-in warranty. More in the OLED guide.

The port has to carry both numbers

How to set a monitor to 144 Hz is the same Windows page. Select Start, then Settings, System, Display, Advanced display. On the screen you are looking at, pick 240 if that is the rate you paid for. If 240 is missing, the current resolution and mode cannot do that pair. The panel, the GPU, the port, a dock, or the cable can all be why.

Microsoft’s Advanced display page puts an asterisk next to refresh rates that do not support the current resolution. Selecting one of those rates changes the resolution so the higher Hertz can run. If you wanted 1440p at 240 and the star drops the picture to 1080p, that pair is not available at the current mode. Put the resolution back. The picture got softer because the pixel count fell. A cable can still be one reason the pair is missing. So can a slow HDMI socket, a dock, a duplicated 60 Hz laptop panel, or a listing that only offers 240 at 1080p.

A monitor can have a fast port and a slow one. Both LGs name DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.1 for 1440p at 240. Use the cable that came with the monitor, or one rated for that row. Don’t type in a custom rate hoping to squeeze out more bandwidth. If the desktop is 1440p 240 and the match is still rendering 1080p stretched, you are not looking at the pair yet.

Cap and variable refresh

Variable refresh — G-SYNC Compatible or FreeSync on the two LGs — lets the panel wait for a late frame instead of tearing. It follows the frames you have, under the ceiling Windows is actually using. It does not fill the gap up to 240. A counter at 150 is still about 150 pictures, even with the badge on.

If VRR is on and you cap by hand, three under the refresh is the usual safety margin so a limiter overshoot does not leave the range: 237 at 240 Hz, the same idea as 141 at 144 and 152 at 155. NVIDIA’s Max Frame Rate note says to set that control slightly below the display’s maximum refresh to stay in the VRR range.

That number is not the only path. NVIDIA’s system latency guide says that for G-SYNC without tearing, keeping VSync on while using Reflex or Ultra Low Latency Mode will automatically cap the framerate below the refresh rate, so VSync does not add backpressure. If that stack is already on, do not add a second cap above it. NVIDIA also says that stack has a little more latency than uncapped Reflex. How to cap FPS is the longer page. For heat, cap at 240. For the lowest delay on a cool PC, leave it uncapped.

A cap never creates frames. It refuses frames above a number. If the scene was already at 140, 237 does not raise it.

IPS or OLED at this pair

27GR83Q-B (IPS) — 1 ms GtG, DisplayHDR 400, 95% DCI-P3 (typ.), two HDMI 2.1 ports. Cheaper class on most days. Useful if the desk gets bright or you leave a static UI up for hours — Discord, a WoW map, a browser column. Still on an older LCD? See IPS vs VA.

27GS93QE-B (OLED) — 0.03 ms, True Black 400, 1.5M:1 contrast (LG). That millisecond is the pixel’s own light rising and falling. Read a warranty that names burn-in. FPSHQ notes that a 240 Hz OLED can show motion as clearly as a faster LCD because the pixel does not lag the refresh. A 0.03 ms badge is not the same as input lag.

A curve does not add pixels or Hertz. 4K is four times the pixels of 1080p.

What 240 does not change

It does not add pixels, turn 27 inches into 32, or make the panel OLED. It does not finish a frame the PC never drew. Variable refresh does not either. Frame generation can raise a counter and still feel late. Duplicate mode holds both screens to the slower panel — extend them if you want 240 Hz on the faster screen.

How to choose

1. Count a busy moment at 1440p. If it sits near 144 or below, a 155–180 Hz 1440p panel already matches. If it already sits near 240, the shorter gap is the one you will see.
2. 27 inches is the usual 1440p pairing. A 32-inch 1440p sheet is about 92 pixels per inch, the same density as 24-inch 1080p on wider glass.
3. Read the port row for 1440p at 240, not the biggest Hertz on the box.
4. IPS if the room is bright or the UI stays put. OLED if you want the black and you have read the warranty.
5. Set 2560 × 1440 and 240 on that screen. If 240 is starred and the picture drops, put the resolution back. The asterisk meant that Hertz was not supported at the current mode.

Don’t buy 240 Hz to future-proof a PC that can’t hit 144 at 1440p today. Games only get heavier.

Buy 1440p 240 Hz when the counter at 1440p is already near 240. Keep 1080p 240 Hz when you want that schedule on a lighter pixel load — that is the Overwatch screen on my setup. Keep 1440p 155 Hz when the sharper picture already holds. More monitor guides.

Common questions

Is a 1440p 240 Hz monitor worth it?

It is worth it when your PC can already push close to 240 FPS at 1440p in the games you play. If you sit around 144 FPS or lower, a 144 to 180 Hz 1440p panel gives you almost the same experience for less money.

Is 240 Hz a big jump from 144 Hz?

It's noticeable in fast games, but smaller than the jump from 60 to 144 Hz. The gap between frames drops from about 6.9 ms to about 4.2 ms, and you only feel it when your frame rate actually gets near 240.

What cable do I need for 1440p at 240 Hz?

Usually DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.1. Use the cable that came with the monitor, or one rated for that port, and plug into a matching port on your graphics card.

Why does Windows show an asterisk next to 240 Hz?

It means 240 Hz isn't supported at your current resolution, so picking it will drop the resolution. If that lands you on 1080p, check your cable, port, and graphics card support.