The Curious Case of 1440p and Frame Rate Locking in PC Gaming

In the vast landscape of PC gaming, resolutions and frame rates play a crucial role in ensuring an optimal gaming experience. Over the past decade, gaming enthusiasts have noted an intriguing anomaly that persists across a variety of gaming setups—the perplexing restriction of 1440p resolution to a maximum of 24 frames per second (FPS).

Understanding the Anomaly

As a long-time gamer and the owner of several gaming PCs, I’ve consistently encountered an unexpected pattern when adjusting resolution settings in my favorite titles. When I set a game’s resolution to 1080p, a plethora of frame rate options become available, ranging from 24 FPS all the way up to an impressive 120 FPS. The same can be said for 4K (2160p), where every frame rate selection is accessible.

Yet, when I switch to 1440p, things take a turn. Surprisingly, the only frame rate option available is a mere 24 FPS. There’s no selection for 30, 50, or even 60 FPS. Furthermore, even titles that boast extensive graphics settings seem to adhere to this peculiar limitation, forcing gamers to accept a reduced frame rate at what many consider a sweet spot in terms of resolution and performance.

A Glimmer of Hope: Genshin Impact

Interestingly, there appears to be an outlier in this scenario. The highly popular RPG, Genshin Impact, defies this trend, allowing a range of frame rate options even at 1440p. This leads to the question: why has this limitation been imposed across so many games, while one title can seemingly bypass it?

The Search for Answers

For years, I accepted this strange limitation as an unavoidable quirk, attributing it to potential technical limitations of my hardware. However, recent online discussions have unveiled a different narrative. Many gamers have shared experiences of enjoying 1440p at 60 FPS without issues, indicating that this is not merely a standard expectation but rather a widespread concern within the gaming community.

Possible Culprits

Could the type of graphics card I have—predominantly NVIDIA—play a role in this frame rate restriction? It’s a question that lingers in the minds of many affected players. Despite creating custom profiles through the NVIDIA Control Panel that work seamlessly for Windows, games remain stubbornly locked to 24 FPS at 1440p