Last Updated on 2021/04/16
Yes, it’s actually very easy to overclock your monitor. Here’s how to do it. Open your AMD or NVIDIA drivers’ settings, and locate where you can create a custom resolution. Begin by increasing the refresh rate until you see such side effects as frame skipping. Once you’ve done that, decrease edit by 1Hz until you’re happy with it.
You may already know this, but you can easily overclock a lot of hardware for enhanced performance. That’s also true of computer hardware, as you can overclock your CPU, RAM, and graphics card. If you keep up-to-date with the latest technology and gadget news, you’ll be aware of the most recent models of this kind of hardware that you can potentially overclock.
Now while you may have already known this, what’s less likely that you know is that you can also increase your refresh rate by overclocking your monitor. And it isn’t even difficult to do. If your panel is of decent quality, you can push your monitor’s refresh rate beyond the specifications to create a more fluid gaming experience. To overclock it, you simply tweak your driver settings.
Table of Contents
When is the Right Time to Overclock Your Monitor?
If your monitor is 60Hz and you are getting more than 60 Frames Per Second (FPS) when you’re gaming, you’ll only be able to see a maximum of 60 whole frames, as that’s the highest that the monitor can display. The good news is that if you’re monitor shopping, you can expect the best portable monitors for laptops and desktops to be at least 60Hz.
Overclocking for AMD Users
The first thing to do would be to open your Raden settings, and click on ‘Create’. Next, type in your desired refresh rate in the field marked Refresh Rate. You would be wise to overclock by 5Hz until the screen goes blank for a few seconds before reverting to the original settings. Or if you observe any side effects. Then you can decrease until you reach a satisfactory refresh rate.
Another thing you could do would be to use the Custom Resolution Utility (CRU), which is a popular option for increasing the FreeSync damage range. This software allows you to increase the frequency with ease by using its automatic modes. If you have sufficient experience, you can take advantage of the program’s additional features, like creating custom display modes.
Overclocking for NVIDIA Users
If you’re a NVIDIA user, you’ll find the option to adjust the refresh rate integrated into the GeForce driver. You can overclock your monitor in NVIDIA’s control panel. Go to Display Tasks, and click on ‘Change Resolution’, then click on Customise. You’ll see all the screen modes currently available to you. Next, you click on ‘Create Custom Resolutions’ and increase the HZ until you see synchronisation errors.
Other Tools
Now run your favourite games, watch videos, and move windows around while you watch closely for skipped frames, blinking horizontal lines, and other strange behaviour. If one or more of these is observable, reduce the refresh rate by just a few ticks and give it another go. It will take some testing, as you can overclock to different refresh rates on even the same monitor model. You need to find your sweet spot.
You can also use an online tool for testing. NVIDIA users, for example, can use a utility tool called Precision X16, which is a simple program that can be used to change a monitor’s refresh rate via the slider.
You should bear the importance of cables in mind. Ensure that the connector versions and cable have sufficient bandwidth for the refresh rate/resolution you’re looking for. Also, don’t use a cable that’s too long, so that the signal doesn’t suffer from degradation. Avoid adaptors whenever possible.