I'm looking at getting a pc with a gtx 570 to play with a samsung 40inch full 1080p hdtv. However, the tv refesh rate is 60hz as opposed to the newest 120hz tech.
Will I be utilising the full potential still or will the 60hz not do the card justice
120 makes a difference for thinks like sports, fast moving things tend to ghost especially on tv, however you dont really tend to notice it in films / games. If you were watchign football etc then 120 tv can often make it looks a lot crisper.
And just as is important as anything else, the technology of the telly, the quality of the telly etc etc. e.g. the response time on our plasma in the front room blows my LCD away - but both are still more than good enough. This is usually the case. Old CRT monitors have superb response times and rock for FPS games.
As Frenchy says football is one of the great examples of ghosting etc. You won't notice much with films etc as they have a much lower frame rate anyway. If you want to read more into it look up "24p blu-ray" as I'm in danger of going on too long.
To add on to what Tom said I've been using a 120Hz monitor for about a year now (Alienware Optx AW2310) and I honestly haven't noticed any difference at all while playing games or watching films/tv series. The only time I can tell that it's more than 60FPS is when Ive got the fraps counter up.