A 144 Hz gaming panel next to a 60 Hz side screen is common and, on some driver versions, causes micro stutter in fullscreen games. There are two working fixes.
Either run both panels at the **same** refresh rate, or keep the game in **fullscreen exclusive** so the desktop compositor is out of the path. Windowed borderless is what makes the mismatch visible.
The advanced display page lists the active refresh rate per monitor. A game in borderless windowed goes through the compositor, which is where the two rates interfere.
Settings > System > Display > Advanced displayChanging the game's display mode costs nothing and often removes the stutter entirely. If the game keeps its own window mode setting, override it in the launcher.
Running the side screen at the same rate as the primary removes the conflict without touching the game. A 60 Hz panel at 144 Hz does not gain anything anyway.
A high refresh rate needs the bandwidth of the connection. A second display on an old HDMI port can force the whole GPU link into a lower mode.
Some drivers show a stutter only for the pointer on a mixed setup. Turning off hardware cursor rendering removes the symptom, with a slightly softer pointer.
An average frame rate hides a regular spike. A frame time graph over two minutes in the same area tells you whether the fix worked.
That game forces borderless windowed. Change it in the game's config or the launcher.
Bandwidth or cable. Use DisplayPort and check the driver's display mode.
Rendering across two GPUs. Connect both panels to the same card.
Something else: a background task or a power limit. Check frame times with the second panel disconnected.
A little, especially with video on it. The refresh mismatch is the separate problem.
For chat and browsers, yes. Only the mismatch against the main panel matters.
Set both panels back to their original refresh rates and the game back to borderless windowed. Nothing is stored outside the display and game settings.
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