60 fps is still the minimum for half of PC Gamer readers, but 10% won't settle for less than 120

PC Gamer ran a week-long reader poll asking one simple question: what's the lowest frame rate you'll actually tolerate before a game feels unplayable? The results landed roughly where you'd expect — but the 120 fps contingent is bigger than you might think.

Around half of respondents named 60 fps as their hard floor, cementing it as the current de facto standard for PC gaming. More than 10% of readers, however, said they won't accept anything below 120 fps — a sign of how much high-refresh-rate monitors have shifted expectations. The remaining votes were spread across lower thresholds, with some players still comfortable dropping into the 30 fps range depending on the game.

60 fps became the dominant target as the PS4 and Xbox One generation pushed console games toward that benchmark, gradually replacing the 30 fps compromise that defined earlier eras. On PC, the spread has always been wider — hardware varies enormously, and players routinely dig through settings to find a frame rate and fidelity balance they can live with. The rise of 144 Hz and 240 Hz monitors over the past several years has pulled the upper end of expectations significantly higher, and features like DLSS, FSR, and XeSS have made it easier to hit those targets without gutting visual quality.

The 10%-plus holding the 120 fps line reflects a real generational shift in what "smooth" means to a growing slice of the PC audience. Whether that number keeps climbing as high-refresh displays get cheaper will be worth watching.