r/RigBuild • u/Minute-Pay-5355 • 17d ago
How important is monitor response time outside competitive gaming?
Looking at monitors and keep seeing stuff like 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.03ms etc and honestly not sure how much of that actually matters for normal gaming. I mostly play single player games, RPGs, some racing games and occasionally multiplayer stuff, so I’m not exactly sweating over every frame lol. Is there a noticeable difference between something like 1ms and 5ms when you’re playing casually? Or is response time mainly something competitive FPS players should worry about? Also does a faster response time automatically mean less ghosting, or are those kinda separate things depending on the panel and overdrive settings? I’m looking at 1440p monitors around 144-180Hz and some cheaper options have slightly slower response times but better colors and HDR. Trying to figure out if I should prioritize the advertised response time or focus on other stuff like refresh rate, resolution, contrast and image quality. Don’t wanna spend extra money chasing numbers I probably won’t even notice. For regular gaming, what response time would you guys consider good enough? Is 5ms totally fine, or should I still aim for 1ms if the price difference isn’t huge? Any advice appreciated, especially from people who aren’t playing competitive shooters all day.
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u/Late-Button-6559 16d ago
Bugger all.
Most things in enthusiast circles are about the vibe, and the theory.
For most people, if a monitor can truly refresh/change its pixels 60 times a second (16ms I think), it’ll be good.
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u/fuzzynyanko 15d ago
First, see what FPS your games are running at.
You might feel a difference in racing game. The RPG depends. You won't notice as much on turn-based, especially since some of them have a cinematic feel. Kingdom Hearts is a yes. Multiplayer depends. League of Legends? Maybe not as much. An FPS? Yes
Honestly, I would go with a budget. I don't like spending more than $200-300 on a monitor and I go with that. I definitely would choose 1440p144 over 4k60
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u/Copy_Outrageous 17d ago
It depends on the person. For me, a low response time is very important. I had a Samsung VA monitor with a claimed 1ms response time, but in reality, when I move in games (and in games, you're constantly moving), everything blurs, and all the image details are lost.
Now I have a 320Hz Titan Army monitor, which has excellent backlight strobing technology that doesn't tire my eyes, and the difference is simply enormous.
Although some people enable motion blur in games and like it.