How to Overclock Your Monitor

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Do you want to push your monitor a little further to up the visual quality? It’s relatively easy to overclock a monitor beyond its factory settings limits to achieve higher performance output. The manipulation will allow you to gain additional refresh rates, enhancing the visual quality and achieving more fluidity. In this article, we will detail how you can overclock your monitor and what are the risk and benefits associated with it.

Table of Contents

Why do you Overclock a monitor?

The answer is the same as with overclocking of any other hardware, to squeeze out some extra juice in terms of performance. In the case of monitors, that extra performance means a higher refresh rate.

The refresh rate of the monitor is how many times images refresh on the screen per second. So a 60Hz refresh rate monitor is capable of refreshing or updating images 60 times a second. In terms of visuals, it’s how fluid and realistic a motion will appear on the screen. That means, higher the refresh rate, the more fluid and smooth will be the visual output. 

Normally, monitors come with a stock value of refresh rate, like a 60 Hz monitor, 120 Hz monitor, 144Hz monitor, or 240 Hz monitor. But with a little tweak, you can alter these values to achieve a higher refresh rate. That is why we overclock a monitor – to achieve a higher refresh rate.

Should you really overclock your monitor?

While it certainly is easy to overclock your monitor, the big question is, should you really attempt it? The answer might come to personal preference. But you should always consider the risk-reward ratio before meddling with any hardware’s stock settings, monitors included. 

Risk Involved with overclocking of the monitor

In terms of risk, the first thing you must take into account is the warranty. Any tampering with the internal settings of hardware can result in its warranty being void. So it’s recommended that you should check with the vendor.

The next thing is the monitor’s life span. Nothing comes free. It applies here too. Squeezing out that extra refresh rate will put a toll on your monitor’s hardware. It might not be very significant, but it can reduce the lifespan of your monitor.

That being said, here are all the steps to overclock your monitor.

Overclock Your monitor Using the Custom Resolution Utility or CRU

There is another fairly straightforward way to overclock your monitor and increase its refresh rate. It’s the Custom Resolution Utility or CRU, in short. The utility has existed since before AMD and NVIDIA embedded the capability to change the setting directly from their respective software’s control panel. If you don’t have CRU Software then you can download it here.

  • First, install the CRU on your computer. The utility can be easily found on the internet.
  • After installation, run the utility with administrative privileges. Expand the monitor selection menu and choose the monitor type you got.
  • Give a click to the add button. The next window that appears will allow you to alter the refresh rate value.
  • After making the increment, click the ‘OK’ button to save the overclock value.
  • To enforce the overclocked refresh rate value, go to the Display Settings Window.  You can do so by right-clicking on the desktop and then selecting the Display Settings from the pop-up menu.
  • Click on the ‘Advanced Display Settings’ link. Next, choose, ‘Display Adapter Properties’.
  • In the pop-up menu that appears, choose the monitor tab, and from the resolution menu, choose the refresh rate value you have created earlier.
  • If no flickering or blacking of the window happens, the applied settings are accepted by the monitor; otherwise, you have to lower the overclock value.

How to Overclock Your monitor For AMD Users

If you have an AMD GPU and want to test your monitor beyond its default refresh rate, you can easily achieve it via the AMD RADEON Settings. Complete the below-given steps, in their respective order.

  • First, open the AMD Radeon Settings Panel. To do this, right-click on your desktop and select the ‘AMD Radeon Setting’ option from the pop-up menu.
  • You will find the ‘Global Display’ setting option under the Gaming Tab; click on it.
  • In the custom resolution section, click on, ‘create new’ button.
  • You can now change the refresh rate values. Make the increment in the multiple of five. Keep increasing till you reach the intended value. 
  • Click the Create button to save your chosen refresh rate value. 

The next thing is to apply the incremental refresh rate value. You can do this from the Windows Display settings.

  • Once again, go to the home screen and right-click on it. When the pop-up menu appears, this time select the ‘Display Settings’.
  • When you reach the Display Settings screen, click the ‘Advance Display Settings’ option. Then choose, ‘Display Adapter Properties.‘
  • A pop window will open; here, click the ‘Monitor’ tab. Expand the refresh rate menu and select the refresh rate value you have created. 
  • Lastly, click on the apply button to affirm the change and apply it to the monitor.

However, it depends upon your monitor’s capacity to accept the overclock settings or discard them. If, after applying the new refresh rate values, the screen does not flicker, your monitor has accepted the settings, and you’re good to go. 

On the other hand, if your screen goes black, you need to lower the custom refresh rate value via the AMD Radeon control panel to reach the stable setting. 

How to Overclock Your monitor For Nvidia Users

  • Give a right-click of the mouse on the Home screen of your PC.
  • From the menu that appears, choose ‘NVIDIA Control Panel option.
  • When the NVIDIA Control Panel window opens up, navigate to the Display tab on the left side of the screen.
  • You will find the ‘Change Resolution’ link; click on it.
  • When the screen moves to the change resolution page, click the Customize button under the resolution option.
  • Next, tick mark the box with the statement – “Enable resolution not exposed by the display” and then select, ‘create custom resolution’ option.
  • A new, ‘create custom resolution’ window will pop up. It will have all the options that will allow you to tinker with the refresh rate of your monitor.
  • To overclock the refresh rate, increase it in the multiple of 5. So if your monitor’s default refresh rate is 60 Hz, try 65 Hz settings.

If your monitor is capable enough to handle the setting, it will ask if you want to save the settings? At this point, you can save the setting, or you can overclock further.

On the other hand, if your screen goes black, it means the overclock setting is beyond your monitor’s capacity. In that case, the screen will revert to its default settings. 

It’s a good indicator to find the maximum overclock value your monitor can handle. 

Once you have reached the maximum overclock value without your screen going black, click the Apply button, and when the pop box appears to confirm the setting, click the Yes button.

How to Overclock Your monitor For Intel Users

Intel Graphics Settings Panel is your go-to point if you want to overclock your monitor for intel users. Follow these steps to implement the process;

  • You can reach the Intel Graphics Settings Panel through the home screen of your PC. Just right-click on the desktop window and choose the Intel Graphics Settings option from the pop-up menu.
  • Click on the Display link and when you reach the Display Settings Window, click on the Custom Resolution option. If a warning prompt appears on the screen, click the Yes button.
  • First, enter your monitor’s dimensions, like the height and width in the respective boxes, then increase the refresh rate value by five units. 
  • To apply the incremented value, click on the add button. If a pop-up box appears concerning the change, click ‘Yes’.
  • Keep increasing the value till you reach a point where your screen starts to flicker and go black. That’s the limit of your monitor, and you cannot overclock it beyond that. Just set your monitor to the maximum value where it does not flicker.

That’s it; your monitor is now overclocked.

How to determine if the Monitor is really Overclocked?

After overclocking the monitor, we have to ensure that overclocking is working, and the monitor can operate at the increased refresh rate. Yes, it’s possible that even after overclocking, your monitor may not refresh the frames at the overclocked refresh rate settings. 

There’s a simple procedure to test whether the new refresh rate is working. There are multiple websites online that could detect your monitor’s exact refresh rate.

One such site is Testufo. Just visit the website via a browser and follow the on-screen instructions.

The website will detect and display the current refresh rate of your monitor.

What’s the deal then?

Overclocking is simply pushing the hardware beyond its specified limits. That definitely involves risk. Our only recommendation for overclocking your monitor is to be careful and start things slow. The chances of you blowing up your monitor are slim, yet caution is necessary. If you apply the settings correctly and they work, you may get an enhanced viewing experience, it’s not mandatory, though. Your monitor might be good enough without the need for overclocking. But if you are a good hand at tweaking things and confident enough that your monitor can handle it, you should surely go for it. 

Ankit is a software engineer. A pro lover of Technology and tech gadgets. I am a gamer too. Our team is here to help you find the best monitor products to decide which one is best for you.

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