Gaming has evolved to the point that gamers are no longer satisfied with long-standing gold standard of 60FPS gaming at FHD resolution.
No, gamers want so much more these days. They want to enjoy their games not only at higher and more crisp resolutions such as QHD or 4K, but they also want to experience the same at ever higher frame rates including 120FPS, 144FPS, and higher.
And for this reason, you will notice that a vast majority of the gaming-grade displays out there feature upwards of 120Hz, 144,Hz and 165Hz refresh rates as the new norm. No longer is 60Hz the typical refresh rate for gaming monitors.
In light of this, one may ask, is a 144Hz monitor worth it for PS5? Well, the answer to that question depends upon your gaming preference.
In short, though, yes 144Hz monitors are certainly worth it. But you HAVE to keep in mind that a 144Hz monitor will dial down to a 120Hz refresh rate. PS5 does NOT support a 144Hz refresh rate.
In the following text, I will talk in detail about refresh rate, frame rates, and what kind of display modes PS5 supports.
Understanding Refresh Rates and Frame Rates
Before we proceed, it’s crucial to understand the fundamental concepts of refresh rates and frame rates.
The refresh rate, measured in hertz (Hz), represents how many times your display updates with new images each second.
So a 60Hz and a 144Hz monitor refreshes 60 and 144 times in a second respectively.
On the other hand, frame rate (measured in frames per second or FPS) is the frequency at which consecutive images (frames) appear on a display.
FPS is the measurement of how powerful your graphics hardware is. Essentially, just because a monitor or a TV can support 120, 144, or 165 frames in a second, does not mean that your games will actually work at these frame rate.
You need to have a hardware capable enough that can render such high number of frames in a second in the first place.
PS5 Specifications and Display Modes Supported
PS5 is designed to support a number of different display modes i.e resolution and refresh rates. I have listed them as below:
- 1080 @ 30Hz – 30 FPS
- 1080 @ 60Hz – 60 FPS
- 1080 @ 120Hz – 120FPS
- 1440 @ 30Hz
- 1440 @ 60Hz
- 1440 @ 120Hz
- 4k @ 30Hz
- 4k @ 60Hz
- 4k @ 120Hz
As such, PS5 is capable of supporting only up to 120Hz refresh rates at FHD, QHD, and 4K resolutions.
In other words, there is NO native support for 144Hz refresh rate on PS5.
In the vast majority of cases, if you were to hook a 144Hz monitor to your PS5, the monitor will only be supported at 120Hz refresh rate max.
The 144Hz Monitor MUST Have a 120Hz Display Mode
It is absolutely worth noting that NOT all 144Hz monitors support 120Hz refresh rate mode.
Many newbies believe that a 144Hz monitor will naturally be able to support all other refresh rate modes that are lower than 144Hz.
However, that is not the case for some gaming monitors out there.
Take for instance the Display Modes of the following 144Hz Dell S2719DGF gaming monitor as shown below.
Despite this monitor being a 144Hz monitor, it DOES NOT support 120Hz refresh rate.
As such if you were to connect PS5 to this monitor, your display modes will ONLY work at 60Hz or 60 FPS max.
As such, when buying a 144Hz monitor for PS5, always make sure they support the 120Hz refresh rate as well.
So Is a 144Hz Monitor Worth it for PS5?
Now the thing is, if you were to go looking for a 120Hz gaming monitor for your PS5, you will have a hard time finding one.
This is because most gaming monitors are either rated at 144Hz or 165Hz. And of course, in the vast majority of the cases, they also support the 120Hz refresh rate needed by the PS5.
So if you wish to enjoy 120 FPS gaming, then yes, 144Hz monitors are absolutely worth it.
While you will miss out on the extra 24 FPS that the 144Hz monitor is capable of delivering, the cost-per-performance ratio is still worth it.
Again, let me reiterate the point that finding 120Hz-specific gaming monitors is difficult.
The Game Itself Matters
It should be noted that high FPS or 120FPS gaming is NOT supported by ALL PS5 games out of the box.
The vast majority of the games are rated at 60 FPS, particularly the newer AAA games.
Therefore, to gauge whether a 144Hz monitor for 120FPS gaming is worth it in the first place, make sure you check if the games you play support high frame rate modes.
You Have a Choice Between Quality and Performance
Games on PS5 give you a choice between performance and quality.
Quality mode gives preference to higher resolution and performance mode gives preference to higher frame rate.
For most games, you cannot have both high resolution and high frame rate.
In fact, while PS5 can support 4K at up to 120 FPS, this gaming mode is supported only by a handful of old and low-demanding games.
Here is a list of games that support 4K @ 120 FPS.
| Game | 4K Native/Upscaled/Dynamic at 120FPS |
| Centipede Recharged | Native |
| Gunborg | Upscaled |
| Jumanji: The Video Game | Upscaled |
| Knockout City | Dynamic |
| Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom | Native |
| Quake | Native |
| Rogue Company | Dynamic |
| The Touryst | Native |
You will realize these games do not even matter to most out there.
Rendering high resolution and high frame rate is seriously taxing on the hardware and is something that PS5 hardware is not advanced enough to handle.
Final Words
So the answer to the question is a 144Hz monitor worth it for PS5 is a yes IF you wish to play games at high frame rates.
It should also be noted that 144Hz monitors will only work at 120Hz mode max because PS5 does not support 144Hz refresh rate.
And finally, the 144Hz monitor MUST have the specific 120Hz refresh rate mode in order to support 120 FPS gaming on PS5.
