Monitor refresh rate test: is your screen running at full speed?

01How the test works#

It counts how often your browser draws this window for three seconds.

A browser redraws a page once per screen refresh, so the time between two frames is the refresh rate of the screen the window is on. The test takes the middle value of about three seconds of frames, so a single slow frame does not move it, and rounds it to the nearest common rate: 60, 75, 120, 144, 165, 240 and so on.

Nothing is sent anywhere. The result stays on this page.

02If it shows less than your monitor can do#

Four checks, the most common first.

1. Settings > System > Display > Advanced display > Choose a refresh rate. Pick the highest one.
2. Plug the monitor cable into the graphics card, not into the motherboard.
3. Use a DisplayPort or HDMI cable whose version supports that rate at your resolution.
4. On a laptop, plug in the charger and turn battery saver off.

Then run the test again. Windows keeps the rate per monitor, so check each screen you play on.

03When the number looks wrong#

A few things make a browser draw less often than the screen can.

• Two monitors: the test measures the screen this window is on. Drag it to the one you play on.
• Battery saver, an energy saving power mode or a busy processor can slow the browser down.
• Other tabs and windows playing video: close them and keep this tab in front.

If the result still looks odd, try Chrome or Edge.

04Why it matters for games#

The refresh rate is how many new pictures your monitor shows per second.

A game can render 200 frames per second, but a monitor set to 60 Hz still shows 60 of them. Switching a 144 Hz monitor from 60 to 144 Hz costs nothing, and it is the cheapest smoothness fix there is.

The refresh rate is one setting. Stutter at a high frame rate usually has other causes: why a good PC can still be slow.