It's very subjective. For me, I prefer resolution as long as it can maintain at least 30 fps. I can immediately tell the difference between 4k HDR ultra settings and 1080p medium settings, but I can't tell the difference between 60fps and 144 without a frame counter. Furthermore, 60fps actually makes me motion sick in some games and I have to turn it down to 30 fps even though my hardware easily supports more.
Meanwhile, some of my friends not only notice the difference in fps, but refuse to play anything at 30 and will gladly play in 720p if that's what it takes for stable 144 fps. So, I guess do what feels best for you. It's nice that PC games usually give you a lot of customization options, and hopefully consoles will too.
--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
Since this is happening across multiple PCs and operating systems, it is almost certainly some price of software that is installed on all of them. I experienced similar freezes and it was malwarebytes, so try temporarily disabling your virus scanner and see if it persists. Be very careful not to install anything new from untrusted sources and make sure your browser is up to date though while the virus scanner is disabled.