Screen Refresh Rate - Custom for NVIDIA Brand

How to Create a Custom Screen Refresh Rate with NIVIDIA Control Panel in Windows​

   Information

Microsoft answer:
Certain monitors report a TV-compatibility timing of 59.94Hz. Therefore, Windows 7 exposes two frequencies, 59Hz and 60Hz, for every resolution that is supported at that timing. The 59Hz setting makes sure that a TV-compatible timing is always available for an application such as Windows Media Center. The 60Hz setting maintains compatibility for applications that expect 60Hz.

In Windows 7, when a user selects 60Hz, the OS stores a value of 59.94Hz. However, 59Hz is shown in the Screen refresh rate in Control Panel, even though the user selected 60Hz.


This will show you how to create and set a custom screen refresh rate using the NVIDIA Control Panel in Windows. The NVIDIA Control Panel is only available when you have a NIVIDIA graphics card or chip installed in your computer along with the drivers.

   Tip

Be sure to have the lastest NVIDIA video and your monitor driver versions for Windows 7 installed to see if they may support the screen refresh rate that you are wanting first.

This can be handy if you cannot set a refresh rate normally. For example, it will not stay set above 59 Hertz despite setting it to 60 Hertz, and your monitor supports 60 or above Hertz.

   Note

Credit for this tip belongs to our member Jimmy.

   Warning

DO NOT set the refresh rate above what your monitor supports. Doing so can damage your monitor permanently. Please look up your monitor's specifications at it's manufacturer's website to confirm what refresh rates it supports.

Here's How:
1. Right click on the desktop, and click on NVIDIA Control Panel.

2. In the left pane, select Change resolution. Now select the monitor that you want to change the refresh rate for, then click on the Add Resolutions button. (See screenshot below)

3. Click on the Create Custom Resolution button. (See screenshot below)

4. Click on Timing. (See screenshot below)

5. Under the Standard drop down menu, select Manual. (See screenshot below)

6. At the top (1 in image below), change the Refresh rate to the closest rate to what you want to set it as (ex: 60Hz). (See screenshot below)

7. At the bottom (2 in image above), change the refresh rate to .001 above the refresh rate you want to change it to. For example, if you wanted to have a 60Hz refresh rate, change this value to 60.001. Click on the Test button. (See screenshot above)

8. If the display looks ok, then click on Yes and go to step 9. If not, then click on No, and repeat steps 6 and 7 until it does or cancel the change. (See screenshot below)

9. Click on OK. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: If you wanted to Edit (pencil icon) or Delete (red X icon) this custom screen refresh rate, then you will need to select another screen resolution in the window below step 2 or 10 first before you will be able to. You cannot edit or delete a custom resolution if it is set as your current one.

10. You will now notice that you screen refresh rate (ex: now 60Hz instead of 59Hz) has been changed. (See screenshot below)

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Change the Screen Refresh Rate in Windows 7
• How to Change the Screen Resolution in Windows 7
• How to Force DVI or HDMI Resolutions and Refresh Rates in Windows 7

 

[Lee]

Thanks Big Guy, much needed information.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Lee.

 

[karthikv]

Thx Brink YOu ROck Buddy..

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Karthikv, and welcome to Seven Forums.

 

[Zidane24]

You're welcome Karthikv, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Blast you Shawn...

I was in the tutorial mood today...was going to release the one we discussed yesterday and this one to fix screen resolutions

You and your *AMC


Alien Mind Control

 

[Brink]

Blast you Shawn...

I was in the tutorial mood today...was going to release the one we discussed yesterday and this one to fix screen resolutions

You and your *AMC


Alien Mind Control

LOL, well if you have a way to do this for ATI, you can make one if you like. I do not have a ATI card.

 

[Zidane24]

Blast you Shawn...

I was in the tutorial mood today...was going to release the one we discussed yesterday and this one to fix screen resolutions

You and your *AMC


Alien Mind Control

LOL, well if you have a way to do this for ATI, you can make one if you like. I do not have a ATI card.

Well...if I had one myself...

I did do a fair bit of research a bit back and found out that NVIDIA's way of doing it is a lot better than ATI

One thing to add to the tutorial Shawn is that this will only work on Desktops. I am running custom drivers for my 8600M GT and I can do this BUT on vanilla drivers the custom resolution entry isn't there

 

[Brink]

Hello Chris,

Yeah, you will have to have the NVIDIA drivers installed from NVIDIA and not generic ones. I have this option available as well with a 9800M GTS on the laptop.

 

[saytr79]

I havent been able to play games due to the sporatic flickering / freezing since i upgraded to Windows 7 64 about a week ago and finally a fix ! I joined the forums just to say thanks and nice find. Great forum as well .

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Saytr, and welcome to Seven Forums.

 

[Paft]

I cannot set a custom res. It says I already have it.

---------------------------
Custom Resolution Test
---------------------------
Duplicate resolution. 



Custom resolution 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz (32-bit) already exists in HD, SD section.
---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

 

[Brink]

Hello Paft, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Are you able to select and use that resolution option in the location in stated instead?

 

[Paft]

Hey, thanks for the welcome.

The res under "HD, SD" is 1080i @ 30Hz. Under "PC" is 1920 x 1080 (native) @ 59 Hz.

It is strange. When I first open up NVIDIA's 'Change resoloutuion' window my native res says it is @ 59Hz, but If I just single click on 1080i and then go back and single click on the native res it now shows as 60Hz..
It still reverts back to 59Hz when I hit apply.

Also, my LCD monitors OSD menu says it is in "1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz"... but Windows and Nvidia say it is at 59Hz


Is it important to be at 60Hz? Because my monitors instructions states to do so.

 

[Brink]

Paft,

Changing from 59Hz to 60Hz with this is more of a cosmetic change since there is very little difference between them. If you are not experiencing any resolution or refresh rate issues, then I would not worry about it.

 

[bala7]

Hei this is amazing pal!!

 

[serpent1234]

AWESOME

That fixed helped me sooooooooooo much. Your ace's in my book !!!!!!!

 

[frisco]

hey there!

nice work this forum!

i still cant find a fix for my problem.
i need a refreshrate of 75hz. both in 800x600 and 640x480 resolution fullscreen.
i added the custom resolution following your tutorial.
BUT:
there is no Custom section when i pass all OK's in the overview of all my resolutions. only sections "HD,SD" and "PC". In your screen there is a "Custom" section as well.
the 800resolution appears by default. now when i check it, its still set to 60hz but on 16bit. if i switch to 32bit it shows 75hz. but it does not change anything.
the 640resolution does not appear at all! i dont know why.

the next problem is, that when i start my game (Counter-Strike 1.6 for example) and i have those custom resolutions checked, that i can not choose any of these customized resolutions. they simply are not listed in the game any more. if i delete the custom resolutions. i can choose all resolutions but they will play on 60hz instead of 75hz.

i use the Samsung SyncMasterp2250 with drivers installed and it supports up to 75hz. especially in those small resolutions. and on windowsXP i had no problems with 75hz in any game i played.

any help?

best regards
frisco

 

[Stevy22]

KOOL Man good definition... Thanks buddy

 

[Woundman]

Tutorials like this are exactly why I come here. Thank you!