Frequently Asked Questions

Question

How are monitor refresh rate and frames per second (fps) related?

Answer

CRT Only: Monitor refresh rate is basically the rate that the image on the screen is redrawn/refreshed and measured in Hz. The higher the refresh rate the less flickering. Frames per second (fps) is the rate that your game image refreshes and is dependent upon you video card, processor speed and the game engine. You can play (and play well for that matter) at a refresh rate of 60Hz and 40fps. However, it is healthier for your eyes to look at a monitor screen with a higher refresh rate. Current monitor and video cards are made to operate at higher refresh rates. It makes sense to get the most out of your PC investment . 60Hz is the bottom end of performance and also the default refresh rate for OGL if windows doesn't recognize your monitor and its drivers. Enabling Vsynch forces the value of the fps of the game to match the refresh rate of the monitor in OpenGL. This is a good thing because it gets rid of those horrid horizontal shear lines in the screen when you move your mouse/point of view. Its a bad thing when the refresh rate of your monitor is maxed out at 60Hz in windows XP. Then it locks your fps to 60 as well.