You paid for a 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitor, and the mouse moves the way it did on the old one. Windows says 60 Hz, or the rate you paid for is not in the list at all, or the desktop is right and the game is not.
Microsoft defines the refresh rate as "the number of times per second that the image refreshes on the screen". At 60 Hz each refresh lasts 16.7 ms; at 144 Hz, 6.9 ms. The graphics card, the cable, the monitor and Windows all have to agree on it, and any one of them can hold it at 60. Work down the list below in order.
1. What Windows is set to
Open Settings > System > Display > Advanced display. With more than one monitor, make sure the selected display is the one you mean. The Display information panel shows its current resolution and refresh rate, and whether it supports variable refresh rate (VRR). Pick the highest value next to Choose a refresh rate.
Two details from Microsoft explain what you see there:
- A rate marked with an asterisk does not work at your current resolution, and choosing it changes the resolution to reach it. If the top rate carries the asterisk, run the display at its native resolution; NVIDIA's latency guide also says that may be needed "to run at the maximum refresh rate".
- "The refresh rates that appear depend on your display and what it supports." If the rate you paid for is missing entirely, Windows is not being offered it, and the reason is further down this page.
On Windows 10 the same list is under Settings > System > Display > Advanced display settings, as Refresh rate.
2. The cable and the port
Every link has a bandwidth limit, and resolution and refresh rate both spend it. HDMI Licensing Administrator (HDMI LA) certifies cables by what they carry:
| Cable | Bandwidth | Formats HDMI LA names |
|---|---|---|
| High Speed | up to 10.2 Gbps | 1080p, 4K at 30 Hz |
| Premium High Speed | up to 18 Gbps | 4K at 60 Hz, HDR |
| Ultra High Speed | up to 48 Gbps | 4K at 120 Hz, 8K at 60 Hz |
| Ultra96 (HDMI 2.2) | up to 96 Gbps | 4K at 240 Hz, 8K at 60 Hz, uncompressed 4:4:4 |
HDMI LA requires the official name on every cable's jacket. The cable is only half of it: the Ultra High Speed cable is "applicable for system configurations supporting up to 48Gbps", which means the ports at both ends have to support that bandwidth too.
DisplayPort works the same way. DisplayPort 1.3 raised the link to 32.4 Gbps, and 1.4 added Display Stream Compression (DSC), which "enables up to 3:1 compression ratio" and which VESA, the standard's publisher, calls visually lossless; its DisplayPort 1.4 examples include 4K at 120 Hz with HDR.
In practice:
- Use the cable that came with the monitor. LG's support page for its UltraGear monitors says "To support higher refresh rates, make sure to use a DP 1.4 or HDMI 2.0 (or higher) cable included with the monitor", and that "issues may arise if a separately purchased cable is used".
- Check which input carries which mode. The manual says, and LG notes that supported modes vary by model. Its example table lists HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 1.4 for 2560×1440 at 239.97 Hz, so the graphics card's port has to support that mode too.
3. A desktop cable in the motherboard
On a desktop with a graphics card, the display cable goes into the card. Intel's support article says to connect it "to the Discrete Graphics Card's port instead of the motherboard's back panel". Another Intel article, about monitors that show no picture when a system has both integrated and discrete graphics, explains why: "By default, installing a discrete graphics card will disable the on-board graphics."
4. The graphics driver's panel
On NVIDIA, the classic route in NVIDIA's latency guide is NVIDIA Control Panel > Change resolution, where you "Set the refresh rate to the highest possible." In May 2026 NVIDIA announced that the classic Control Panel is retiring for its Game Ready and Studio drivers: existing installations stay unless you do a clean install, and display options now sit in the NVIDIA app's System tab. NVIDIA Control Panel settings for games covers the move.
Custom resolutions are a different tool. NVIDIA says creating one "enables power users to overclock their displays", and moved the feature into the app's System tab in March 2026. A mode above the panel's rating is an overclock, not a repair: if a rated mode is missing, the cause is elsewhere on this page.
5. The monitor's own menu
Some monitors reach their top rate only after a menu change. ASUS sells the VG248QG as "165Hz(overclockable)", and ASUS's support page on monitor overclocking gives the on-screen menu path as Gaming > Over Clocking > On > Max Refresh Rate, with the VG27AQML1A as its example. The same page has you turn off Adaptive-Sync or G-Sync first and says ASUS does not guarantee the result. If the screen goes blank, ASUS says to disconnect the signal cable and use the menu to try again with a lower Max Refresh Rate.
On some monitors the menu also shows what is arriving. LG's instruction is to open the Settings menu and "check if the input refresh rate (120Hz and above) is displayed correctly".
6. Laptops and Dynamic refresh rate
On a laptop with a fast panel, look at Dynamic refresh rate on the same Advanced display page. Microsoft describes DRR as adjusting the refresh rate "based on what you are doing at the time" to save battery. It needs a VRR display of at least 120 Hz, and it can only be turned on where the hardware supports it. Microsoft's own caveat: DRR "can limit the maximum refresh rate of other games", meaning games not designed for VRR, and "If you enable DRR and find that a favorite game appears to be running at a lower refresh rate, the best mitigation is to disable DRR."
7. The game's own setting
For CS2, Valve's support page spells out when the desktop setting applies: "When playing CS2 windowed or fullscreen windowed, the refresh rate is determined by your system's display settings". CS2's video settings also have a Refresh Rate setting; in those two modes, Valve's June 2024 release notes say, it shows the display's current refresh rate. The same notes added a recommendation at startup when the display's refresh rate is set below its maximum. In other games, look for a refresh rate option next to the display mode.
Confirm the real rate
Three readings should agree:
- Windows: the Display information panel above.
- The monitor: its own menu, as in LG's instruction.
- A browser test: TestUFO's refresh rate test is "designed to accurately measure your refresh rate of your display". Its instructions: wait at least 30 seconds, close other applications and browser tabs first, and avoid multi-monitor mode, because "Single-monitor is more reliable".
When all three agree, the rate is real. w0a's Home page also checks every connected screen against the highest rate it supports at the same resolution and says "Your monitor isn't running at full speed"; on a laptop it leaves a 60 Hz panel that offers 120 Hz or more alone, since that can be DRR at work (the input lag no software can fix).
What does not help
- A new cable when the rate is already listed, selected and confirmed. The cable is already carrying the mode, and a different one has nothing to add to the refresh rate.
- A custom resolution as the first step. It overclocks the panel and leaves whichever link above is holding the rated mode back exactly where it was.
- Frame caps and sync settings. They work inside the refresh rate the link gives them, and none of them raises it. G-SYNC, FreeSync and V-Sync covers what they do.
Related
- G-SYNC, FreeSync and V-Sync: how they fit together
- The input lag no software can fix
- Windows 11 gaming settings that actually matter
- Gaming laptop slower than it should be
- Monitor overdrive: ghosting, overshoot and the right setting
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