If you are a gamer or have gamer friends, you must have heard the term “FPS” by now. FPS stands for “frames per second” and it essentially describes how many frames (or pictures) there are on your screen in one second. So, is 60 FPS good for gaming?
60 FPS will give you an excellent gaming experience and it has long been considered a standard for PC gaming. Gaming consoles have also received some games that can run at 60 FPS too, which is great news for those looking for a smoother experience.
But there is so much more to this topic. If you are wondering what the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS or more is, you came to the right place. Also, the types of games you play have a direct impact on how much FPS you need. So, let’s take a closer look at this topic.
Is 60 FPS Good for Gaming?
Now we know that FPS stands for “frames per second”, but what does that mean to you? It is actually quite simple – the more FPS you have, the smoother the experience. If you have ever looked at a high refresh rate panel, such as a 144 Hz one or more, you must have immediately noticed how much smoother games look on it.
But we are not here to talk about the monitor refresh rate (which is written in hertz), we are here to talk about FPS. So yes, 60 FPS should be enough for many gamers nowadays. You need a decently powerful graphics card to run the latest AAA titles on your computer at 60 FPS on high settings.
Most people who play single-player games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Cyberpunk 2077 will agree that 60 FPS with the graphics turned up a bit is much better than having 90 FPS on low settings. These games are made to look gorgeous, so it would be a shame not to enjoy the immersive experience.
But when is 60 FPS not enough? If you are playing first-person shooters, incidentally also abbreviated as FPS, then 60 frames per second is not a perfect experience. The game will not lag or look stuttery, that is not the problem here. It is simply that FPS games just look so much better on 144+ FPS or more.
Even if you do not have a high refresh rate monitor, games will look much better at 120 FPS than 60 FPS because the frames sync up better. This largely depends on your monitor and post-processing, though. Also, enemies on higher refresh rates appear slightly sooner because the monitor refreshes more often and keeps the image updated.
But what if you are not interested in FPS games and are simply looking for a great immersive experience while playing some World of Warcraft, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, or Forza Horizon 4? In that case, 60 FPS will be good enough and you will not feel like you are missing out. Of course, strategy games look great even below 60 FPS, so that will not be an issue.
So, unless you are playing fast-paced multiplayer games where every frame counts, 60 FPS is enough. You still may want to invest in a higher-quality graphics card so that you can run all games on ultra settings to have the best experience possible. And you also want your computer to be able to run the games at a stable frame rate, as FPS drops are very noticeable and annoying.
30 FPS vs 60 FPS
There is an ancient discussion between console and PC gamers alike, one group saying that 30 FPS is good enough and another one saying that 30 FPS is stuttery. If you have ever played games on a console, you most likely played them in 30 FPS. Since games on consoles are optimized to run well and look great at 30 FPS, this is fine for most people.
It is only when the frames drop below 30 FPS that you really start noticing stutters. You need at least 24 unique frames per second to experience a moving image. Anything below that looks like a stuttery mess. But the problem on PC is that even if you are getting 30 FPS, the games look quite stuttery because there are many repeated frames and problems with syncing.
Nonetheless, if you can run a game at 30-40 FPS, it can be an enjoyable experience if you are not that sensitive to the lower framerate. Or perhaps you prefer to have stunning visuals over higher FPS, which is a very compelling reason too.
What About 100+ FPS?
If you are a competitive gamer and mostly focus your gaming on online FPS titles like Call of Duty and Overwatch, then you probably want to get more than 60 FPS. Remember, the more FPS you have, the bigger your advantage. So, a 144 Hz monitor and a powerful graphics card that can put out 140-150 FPS in the game you are interested in is much better than 60 FPS.
But 240 Hz and even 360 Hz monitors are a thing too. But the difference between 60 and 144 FPS is much more noticeable than the one between 144 and 240 FPS. How much FPS you want to have is up to you and it is directly related to your budget. Remember that you can have a lot of fun and kills in FPS games even with 60 FPS!
Final Thoughts
60 FPS is enough for gaming for most people. You can have a great experience in both single-player AAA games and online games with 60 FPS. But you can get away with 30-40 FPS in some games, especially in genres where there aren’t any rapid movements that require you to act fast.
On the other hand, in games where your reflexes matter a lot, which is all FPS games, 60 FPS can be limiting. You will not feel like the game is lagging at 60 FPS, but you want to get a high refresh rate monitor and a powerful graphics card that can put out over 100 FPS to have the best experience and a slight competitive edge.
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