Whether it is for gaming, video editing, or something else, having an external monitor on your laptop is greatly beneficial. A better gaming experience, easier programming, or more productive work are some advantages you get.
While we know that almost all laptops can support 60hz monitors, we wonder can it support 144/165hz gaming monitors. After doing in-depth research, I have discovered the following:
A laptop can support monitor 144hz monitor if it has either HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, or a Dual-link DVI port. The laptop also needs to have a strong GPU to game on 144hz. However, the integrated graphics will do just fine for regular usage.
Next, I will dive into the following:
- How to know if a laptop supports a 144hz monitor?
- Can a 60hz laptop support 144hz gaming monitors?
- Do MacBooks support 144hz monitors?
- What if a laptop doesn’t have the necessary ports?
- Can integrated graphics run a 144hz monitor?
- What to do when the monitor doesn’t show 144hz
Without further ado, let’s jump straight in.
How to know if my laptop supports a 144hz monitor?
Ok, you want to connect a 144hz to your laptop for some reason. How do you know whether it is even possible for you? Good question.
One of the first things you should do is to see which ports your laptop has. To do that, you go and take a look at both sides of your laptop. You will need either HDMI 1.4, DP 1.2, or Dual-LINK. If you dont know how to differentiate them, check this article.
The next step is to see which model of a particular port you have. For instance, if your laptop only supports HDMI 1.2, you won’t be able to run a 144hz monitor. Also, if you want to play some games on 144hz on 1440p resolution, your laptops must support HDMI 2.0. To see the model, I would recommend simply checking the laptop’s specs on the user manual or the official website.
Here are some tables that will help you.
DisplayPort supported resolution/frequency table
| Resolution | Frequency | DP 1.0, 1.1 | DP 1.2 | DP 1.3 | DP 1.4 |
| 1080p | 120Hz | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1080p | 144Hz | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1080p | 240Hz | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1440p | 120Hz | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1440p | 144Hz | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1440p | 165Hz | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1440p | 240Hz | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| 4K | 120Hz | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| 4K | 144Hz | No | No | No | Yes? |
| 4K | 144Hz | No | No | No | Yes? |
HDMI support resolution/frequency table
| Resolution | Frequency | HDMI 1.0, 1.1 | HDMI 1.2 | HDMI 1.4 | HDMI 2.0 | HDMI 2.1 |
| 1080p | 120Hz | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1080p | 144Hz | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1080p | 240Hz | No | No | Yes? | Yes | Yes |
| 1440p | 120Hz | No | No | Yes? | Yes | Yes |
| 1440p | 144Hz | No | No | Yes? | Yes | Yes |
| 1440p | 240Hz | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| 4K | 120Hz | No | No | No | Yes? | Yes |
| 4K | 144Hz | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| 4K | 144Hz | No | No | No | No | Yes? |
Can a 60hz laptop support 144Hz?
Let’s think for a second logically. A 144 monitor simply means its maximum refresh rate is 144Hz. Particularly, it can receive and display valid refresh rates below, up to, and including 144Hz, at its native resolution that it can sync onto.
If you provide a 60Hz to it, it will display that 60Hz video as is, no problem. Displaying 144Hz requires many other things from your laptop, like graphic card, video ports, CPU, OS, drivers, config settings, etc., before it is realized.
The laptop monitor’s refresh rate has nothing to do with the output of an external monitor. That being said, a 60hz laptop can run a 144Hz monitor if it has the required ports and a GPU that can handle it.
For instance, my friend has a 120Hz screen on his laptop with a 2060 graphics card in it and can game at 144Hz on his external monitor.
Does Mac support 144hz?
This article would not be complete without mentioning a well-known Macbook. Lots of people are asking – Do MacBooks support 144Hz monitors?
Since most of today’s MacBooks either have either Thunderbolt 3 or 4, they can support 144Hz monitors. While regular usage is not a problem, gaming might be since not all of them have M1 chips or other strong GPUs.
MacBooks that sell best have had inferior graphics performance due to Intel’s integrated graphics. But now that these have been superseded by Apple’s M1 processor and the game graphics are taking a massive leap forwards.
For instance, the M1’s GPU hammers graphics cards such as the Radeon RX 560 and GeForce 1050 Ti and is not distant behind newer cards such as the GeForce 1650 Max-Q.
This tells us that besides regular web browsing, you could even do some decent gaming on a 144hz monitor connected to your Mac.
Just take a look at this video. We can clearly see that he plays Fortnite on a 144Hz monitor at 100 FPS which is pretty good. To connect your MacBook to a 144Hz monitor, you will need a USB-C to a DisplayPort 1.4 cable. While you could try with a USB-C to DP adapter, some people reported potential issues as it’s technically not a direct connection between the Mac and monitor.
So I would recommend spending around $30 on a dedicated cable to save yourself a headache. On the other side, if you have an M1 mini, you can use an HDMI 2.0 directly from the mini to your monitor to get the same result.
What if my laptop doesn’t have an HDMI or DisplayPort?
If your laptop doesn’t have either HDMI or DisplayPort, you either have an old laptop or a MacBook. Let’s analyze both scenarios.
If your machine only has a VGA port, you won’t be able to run 144hz. To my knowledge, even VGA adapters will not work in most cases because they are limited to 60Hz. However, there might be some that might work.
On the other side, if you have a MacBook, you can simply use either USB-C to HDMI or USB-C to DisplayPort cable or adapter.
Can integrated graphics run a 144hz monitor?
But what if you dont have a dedicated GPU? Will you still be able to run 144hz? Good question.
Here is the short answer:
Most integrated graphics can run a 144hz monitor. However, you probably won’t have a good gaming experience, if any. For regular use, integrated will do just fine with a 144hz monitor.
For example, my friend has Intel Graphics 5500. The specifications for 5500 say the maximum supported resolution is 2560×1600 and 60Hz
To get to 144hz, he would require to be running at a resolution low enough to push the extra frames he would need. 1366X768 would work, but most monitors look pretty crappy if you run at anything outside of their native resolution.
Dont worry; the monitor will usually inform you what its native resolution is. Or you can just connect it and see what resolution it comes up with. For most of the periods, it will be its native resolution.
Monitor doesn’t show 144hz
Imagine you bought the gaming monitor just to realize it is not performing 144hz as it says. Here are a couple of things you can do.
Check your monitor specs
I know it sounds silly, but it happens. There are people who thought they bought the 144hz, but when they checked a little bit better, they realized they did not. So, before you continue, make sure your monitor supports 144hz.
Manual adjustment
Note that sometimes monitors will be set at 60hz at default, even if they are 144hz monitors. To see your refresh rate, do the following:
For Windows users:
- Go to Start
- Click on Settings
- Select System
- Click on Display, then Advanced Display Settings
For Mac OS users:
- Go to Apple Menu icon
- Click System Preferences
- Select Displays and then Display Settings
To change the refresh rate on windows 10, you simply click on Advanced Display Settings and then choose the refresh rate you want. For Mac users, you simply click on Display settings and choose the desired refresh rate.
Update your monitor drivers
If your monitor still won’t work at 144Hz, the final step in troubleshooting is to check the graphics driver on your computer. Monitor problems are frequently caused by out-of-date drivers.
Updating drivers may keep your computer and display running smoothly. While you can manually obtain and install a driver to match specific computer hardware, it might be a time-consuming operation. You must first determine the sort of graphics card you have and then match the driver to your operating system.
Automatic driver updates are the preferred method for keeping your graphics card and 144Hz display operational.