There’s one thing nobody tells you when you buy a gaming monitor: taking it out of the box and plugging it in isn’t enough. Windows will set it to 60Hz, the cable in the box may not carry what you paid for, and several settings that genuinely matter ship turned off or set wrong.

None of this costs money. It’s fifteen minutes, and it’s the difference between using the monitor you bought and a noticeably worse one wearing the same label.

1. Turn on the real refresh rate

This is the most widespread mistake of the lot, and it catches people who’ve been gaming for months without knowing.

When you connect a new monitor, Windows usually sets it to 60Hz, even if the panel does 144, 165 or 240. The system doesn’t pick the maximum on its own: it stays on the default mode the monitor declares.

To change it: Settings → System → Display → Advanced display, and pick the highest rate on the list.

Then actually verify it. The quickest way is opening testufo.com in your browser: it reports the rate the screen is receiving, and with the moving ships you can see instantly whether you’re at 60 or 144.

If the rate you expect isn’t on the list, that’s not a Windows fault. It’s almost always the cable, which is the next point.

2. The cable: what came in the box may not be enough

The connectors look alike and their capabilities don’t match. This is where half of what you paid disappears without you noticing.

Connection	Handles
HDMI 2.0	1440p at 144Hz, or 4K at 60Hz
HDMI 2.1	4K at 120-144Hz
DisplayPort 1.4	1440p at 240Hz, or 4K at 120Hz with compression
DisplayPort 2.1	4K at 240Hz with no compromises

Three practical consequences:

If you have a high-refresh 1440p panel, use DisplayPort. It’s almost always the connection with the most headroom on PC monitors, and it tends to cause the fewest compatibility problems at high rates.

The cable in the box isn’t always the right one. Plenty of monitors include a basic HDMI cable even when the panel supports more. If the cable isn’t certified for the bandwidth you need, the high refresh rate simply won’t appear as an option.

And on a desktop tower, the monitor goes to the graphics card, not the motherboard’s video ports. It’s a classic first-build mistake and we cover it in the assembly guide: the board’s ports will give you a picture, but with integrated-graphics performance.

3. Turn on FreeSync or G-Sync, because it ships off

Adaptive sync removes screen tearing without the latency of classic V-Sync, and in 2026 practically every decent monitor has it. The problem is that you have to enable it in two places and people only touch one:

1. In the monitor’s own menu (OSD), usually listed as “Adaptive-Sync”, “FreeSync” or “G-Sync Compatible”.
2. In your graphics card’s control panel: on NVIDIA, “Set up G-SYNC”; on AMD, the FreeSync option in Adrenalin.

Enable it in only one of the two and it doesn’t work. Why the monitor’s brand barely matters at this point is in the gaming monitor guide.

4. Overdrive: neither minimum nor maximum

This setting lives in the monitor’s menu and decides how fast the pixels change colour. It may appear as “Overdrive”, “Response Time”, “OD” or “Trace Free”, depending on the maker.

What matters is understanding that more isn’t better:

• Too low — pixels change slowly and you see a trail behind moving objects. That’s classic ghosting.
• Too high — the monitor overshoots and a bright trail appears in front of or around the object. That’s inverse ghosting, and it usually looks worse than the problem it set out to fix.

The practical rule: use the middle setting. On the vast majority of monitors, the medium level is the right one and the maximum introduces artefacts. You can check it with the ghosting test on the same site, moving the setting and watching the ships.

And a word about the “1ms” marketing: that figure is almost never the real colour transition time. It’s measured under specific conditions, and two monitors both claiming “1ms” can behave very differently in real motion.

5. HDR, which is often better left off

Here’s the uncomfortable part, because it’s the opposite of what the box says.

HDR needs plenty of brightness and control over lighting zones to look better than SDR. A monitor that reaches 400 nits with no local dimming doesn’t have the tools: turning HDR on leaves the image dull and washed out, worse than without it.

The honest rule:

• On OLED, or a high-brightness LED with zone-based local dimming, HDR does add something and is worth configuring.
• On a modest-brightness monitor, leave it off. You aren’t missing anything; you’re avoiding making it look worse.

If your monitor does justify it, turn it on in Settings → System → Display → HDR, and note that Windows has a separate calibration slider to balance the desktop in HDR mode.

6. Picture mode: turn down the “vivid”

Almost every gaming monitor leaves the factory on a saturated profile, designed to catch your eye on a shop shelf.

If you care about colours resembling what the game or the video intended, look in the OSD for an sRGB or standard mode. It looks less spectacular for the first few minutes and considerably more correct from then on.

And if your monitor has backlight-strobing blur reduction — ULMB, DyAc, “Motion Blur Reduction” — know this before enabling it: it cuts brightness noticeably and on most models can’t run alongside adaptive sync. For most players, keeping FreeSync or G-Sync active is the better trade.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my 144Hz monitor running at 60Hz? Because Windows doesn’t pick the maximum rate on its own. Change it in Settings → System → Display → Advanced display. If 144Hz isn’t listed, the problem is the cable or the port.

What cable do I need for 1440p at 144Hz? DisplayPort is the safest choice; HDMI 2.0 also gets there. The cable in the box isn’t always certified for the bandwidth you need.

How do I know I’m really gaming at 144Hz? Open testufo.com: it shows the rate the screen is actually receiving. That’s more reliable than trusting the Windows menu.

What is ghosting and how do I remove it? It’s the trail a moving object leaves. You adjust it with overdrive in the monitor’s menu. Use the middle level: the maximum usually causes an even more distracting bright trail.

Should I enable HDR on my monitor? Only if it’s OLED or a high-brightness LED with local dimming. On modest-brightness monitors, HDR leaves the image dull and looks worse than without it.

Is the “1ms” mode on the box worth anything? Not much. That figure is measured under specific conditions and doesn’t represent real motion behaviour. Two monitors claiming “1ms” can look very different.

Bottom line

The short order, if you only do four things: turn on the real refresh rate, check the cable carries it, enable adaptive sync in both the monitor and the driver, and leave overdrive on medium.

That alone means you’re using the monitor you bought. HDR and picture mode are fine-tuning, and on a modest-brightness panel HDR is a checkbox best left alone.

Still choosing? The tier-by-tier comparison is in best value gaming monitor, and if the wraparound format tempts you, in curved monitors.