Does 240hz make you better at first person shooters? (Tested & Explained)

Quick Answer: Yes, a Little — But It Will Not Carry You

Yes, a 240Hz monitor can make you slightly better at first person shooters, but the honest answer is “a little, not a lot.” It gives you smoother motion, slightly fresher information, and a small edge in tracking and flicking onto targets. It does not fix bad aim, poor positioning, or slow decision-making. Think of 240Hz as removing a small handicap, not as buying skill. If you are jumping from 60Hz, the difference is large and easy to feel. If you are already on 144Hz, the step up is real but much smaller, and many players will not see a measurable jump in their stats.

Below, we look at what the testing actually shows, why the benefit shrinks as refresh rates climb, and how to set up a 240Hz monitor so you get the advantage you paid for.

The Evidence: Tests, Data, and What They Actually Show

The strongest case for high refresh rates comes from controlled testing. NVIDIA’s 2021 testing found large gains when players moved from 60Hz up to 240Hz, with kill/death improvements reported in the range of roughly 7–15% in the scenarios tested. That matches what most players report: going from a basic 60Hz display to a proper gaming monitor feels like a different game. Targets are easier to follow, fast turns stop smearing, and your crosshair feels more connected to your mouse hand.

But newer research tells a more nuanced story. NVIDIA’s 2026 research found no statistically significant accuracy edge for 240Hz or 360Hz over 144Hz on target-based tasks. In plain English: once players were already on a good 144Hz display, pushing the refresh rate higher did not reliably make them hit more shots. That does not mean 240Hz is useless. It means the biggest wins happen early, and later steps are about feel, smoothness, and tiny timing advantages rather than dramatic accuracy gains.

This is also why two players can both be telling the truth when one says “240Hz changed everything” and the other says “I barely noticed.” The first probably came from 60Hz. The second probably came from 144Hz.

Here is the simple math behind it:

Going from 60Hz to 144Hz cuts the time between frames by almost 10 milliseconds. Going from 144Hz to 240Hz saves only about 2.7ms, and 240Hz to 360Hz only about 1.4ms. Each step is a smaller gain than the last, which is why the test results flatten out at the top end.

Why It Works This Way: The Mechanism, Simply Explained

A monitor can only show you a new picture when it refreshes. At 60Hz, the screen updates 60 times per second, so the picture can be up to a full frame old before the next update. At 240Hz, updates come four times as often, so what you see is closer to what is happening in the game right now. In a shooter, that matters in three ways.

First, target tracking gets easier. When an enemy strafes across your screen, a higher refresh rate draws their movement in smaller, smoother steps. Your eyes can follow a smoothly moving target far better than a juddering one, and your hand can make smaller, calmer corrections instead of over-aiming and snapping back.

Second, motion clarity improves. When you flick your mouse to check a corner, the whole scene sweeps across the screen. At low refresh rates that sweep blurs, and enemies hiding in it are hard to spot. At 240Hz the sweep stays clearer, so you pick up information during the movement instead of only after you stop.

Third, the delay between your actions and what you see shrinks slightly — only a few milliseconds, but your brain notices when a game feels “connected.” This is why related topics like does g-sync add input lag in competitive shooters matter: refresh rate is only one part of the total delay between your mouse and the screen.

Put together, 240Hz does not give you new information. It shows you the same information sooner, more smoothly, and more clearly — within limits set by your eyes, your hands, and your frame rate.

When It Matters — and When It Honestly Does Not

240Hz matters most in fast, competitive shooters where fights are decided by tracking and quick target switches: games built around constant movement, close-range duels, and split-second peeks. If that is what you play for hours every week, and you are still on 60Hz or 75Hz, the upgrade is one of the most noticeable you can make. Players often wonder is 144hz to 240hz noticeable in fast games, and the honest answer is that it is noticeable in motion, even if it does not always show up in your scoreline.

It matters much less in several common situations:

• Your PC cannot push high frame rates. A 240Hz monitor only helps if your game actually runs near 240 FPS. If your PC delivers 90 FPS, the screen mostly repeats frames, and the money is better spent on your GPU or CPU first.
• You play slower games. Story games, strategy titles, and turn-based games gain smoothness but nothing competitive.
• Your fundamentals are the bottleneck. If you lose fights because of positioning, crosshair placement, or game sense, a monitor will not fix that. Those skills decide far more fights than 2.7ms ever will.
• You are already on 144Hz and happy. The upgrade is a luxury refinement, not a necessity.

One buying note: if you are choosing between panel types, remember that burn-in is permanent pixel wear on OLED screens, while temporary image retention is different and usually clears with a pixel-refresh cycle.

How to Apply It: Exact Settings to Use

Many 240Hz owners never actually run at 240Hz. Follow these steps:

1. Turn the refresh rate on. In Windows, go to Settings, then Display, then Advanced display, and select 240Hz. In your game’s video settings, confirm the same refresh rate is selected. Monitors often default to 60Hz out of the box.
2. Use the right cable. Use the DisplayPort cable that came with the monitor where possible. Older HDMI cables and ports may cap the refresh rate below 240Hz at your resolution.
3. Match your frame rate to the monitor. Lower demanding settings like shadows and effects first, and aim for a frame rate near 240 FPS in competitive titles. A high refresh rate fed by low frame rates wastes most of the benefit.
4. Remove the frame rate cap. Set the in-game and driver FPS limits to unlimited or just above your refresh rate, so the monitor is never starved of new frames.
5. Keep total latency in mind. Use wired peripherals where you can, and favor responsiveness over visual extras. Refresh rate works best as part of a low-latency setup.

FAQ

Is 240Hz worth it if I am on 144Hz now?
It is a nice upgrade for smoothness and motion clarity, but expect a small improvement, not a transformation. Recent testing found no statistically significant accuracy edge over 144Hz on target tasks, so buy it for feel, not promised rank gains.

Do I need 240 FPS to benefit from a 240Hz monitor?
Mostly, yes. The monitor can only display frames your PC produces. You get some benefit above 144 FPS, but the full advantage comes when your game runs close to 240 FPS consistently.

Will 240Hz help in every game?
It helps most in fast competitive shooters with lots of camera movement and tracking. In slower games you will see smoother motion, but it will not change your results.

Conclusion

So, does 240Hz make you better at first person shooters? Yes — by a small, real margin from smoother motion, clearer targets, and slightly fresher information. The leap from 60Hz is big; the leap from 144Hz is modest, and the latest research suggests it may not move your accuracy at all in controlled tests. Buy 240Hz if your PC can feed it and you play fast shooters seriously, set it up correctly, then put the rest of your effort into practice, positioning, and crosshair placement. The monitor removes a handicap. You still supply the skill.