Today’s market is flooded with brands, each offering a wide range of monitor types and sizes: curved, widescreen, and ultrawide, cheap or expensive, portable and fixed, for PC and console gaming. The variety is such that every type of gamer can be certain to find a monitor with the appropriate settings and within their budget. However, with this variety comes complexity, and you must know what to look for in terms of value to purchase an affordable monitor without wasting your money on a piece of plastic that will break after a few months of use. It must also be compatible with your computer and the types of video games you enjoy playing.
Our Top 7 Picks
Samsung CHG90 QLED
Screen size: 49″ | Aspect ratio: 32:9 | Resolution: 3840 × 1080 | Brightness: 350 nits | Refresh rate: 144Hz | Response time: 1ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 3,000:1 | Color support: 95% DCI-P3, 125% sRGB | LCD type: VA | Dynamic refresh rate tech: AMD FreeSync 2 HDR
This ultra-wide behemoth has a 49-inch screen and a 32:9 aspect ratio, which is rough twice the size of the 16:9 format. The QLED Vertical Alignment panel is fantastic, with superb color reproduction and HDR support. It’s not the sharpest monitor for the money, as its 2840×1080 resolution means it’s still a 1080p monitor. The monitor software includes useful gaming presets for various types of games, and the 20-step Black Equalizer helps you spot enemies in the screen’s dark zones. The curved shape immerses you in wide-open vistas, and when combined with the perfect 1ms response time, this monitor is an excellent choice for professional FPS gaming.
Asus ROG Strix XG32VQR
Screen size: 31,5″ | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2560 × 1440 | Brightness: 450 nits | Refresh rate: 144Hz | Response time: 4ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 3,000:1 | Color support: 94% DCI-P3, 125% sRGB | LCD type: VA | Dynamic refresh rate tech: AMD FreeSync 2 HDR
This monitor supports Full HD gaming and AMD FreeSync 2 technology for a super-smooth experience. Aside from the specifications listed above, the monitor has a down-firing LED from the base that illuminates your desktop with whatever shape you choose to throw into the software. The only minor flaw we discovered is a slight color shift that becomes noticeable when changing the viewing angle across the vertical stretch.
Acer Predator XB273K
Screen size: 27″ | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3840 × 2160 (4K UHD) | Brightness: 350 nits | Refresh rate: 144Hz | Response time: 4ms GtG | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1,000:1 | Color support: 90% DCI-P3 | LCD type: IPS | Dynamic refresh rate tech: Nvidia G-Sync
This top-tier 4KIPS panel with G-Sync, which features High Dynamic Range and a fast response time, is unquestionably a good choice for any type of gaming. It comes with three custom panels that can be added to the sides and top to block out light, but you may want to leave the top one out so that you can mount a webcam on the monitor. The panel’s Quantum Dot technology makes it suitable for professional color correction and video editing, which is useful if you’re a streamer.
BenQ EX3501R
Screen size: 35″ | Aspect ratio: 21:9 | Resolution: 3440 × 1440 (Ultra WQHD) | Brightness: 300 nits | Refresh rate: 240Hz | Response time: 1ms GtG | Viewing angle: 170/160 | Contrast ratio: 2,500:1 | Color support: 100% sRGB | LCD type: VA | Dynamic refresh rate tech: AMD FreeSync HDR
This ultra-wide monitor with UWQHD resolution has the excellent color quality and supports HDR mode, making it an excellent general-purpose multimedia monitor, though the lack of quantum dot technology means you won’t be able to make it bright enough to fully enjoy the HDR feature. In terms of gaming, a 100Hz refresh rate combined with AMD FreeSync provides a smooth gaming experience, though a 4ms response time may be too short for professional gamers. The input lag is 14.1 milliseconds when measured with a Leo Bodnar Lag Tester, which is quite good.
AOC G2590FX
Screen size: 24,5″ | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 1920 × 1080 (FHD) | Brightness: 400 nits | Refresh rate: 144Hz | Response time: 1ms | Viewing angle: 170/160 | Contrast ratio: 1,000:1 | Color support: 102% sRGB | LCD type: TN | Dynamic refresh rate tech: AMD FreeSync
Considering the low price, it has all of the key specifications of a good gaming monitor – a 1ms response time, a 144Hz refresh rate, Full HD resolution – and more. To TN-skeptics, we must say that it is not as bad as it appears. The latest 25-inch TN models do not have unacceptable color ranges and viewing angles, and they do not have the washed-out colors that we have come to expect from TN screens. Sure, they have lower color fidelity than VA screens and don’t have as wide a viewing angle as IPS, but they also don’t have the high price!
MSI Oculux NXG251R
Screen size: 24,5″ | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 1920 × 1080 (FHD) | Brightness: 400 nits | Refresh rate: 240Hz | Response time: 1ms GtG | Viewing angle: 170/160 | Contrast ratio: 1,000:1 | Color support: 72% DCI-P3 | LCD type: TN | Dynamic refresh rate tech: Nvidia G-Sync
This is indeed a hertz-rich monitor, with a staggering 240Hz refresh rate that makes it ideal for e-sports, where speed is of the utmost importance – no surprise there. Method, a gaming organization that founded one of the best WoW guilds and now competes in games like CS: GO and PUBG, has endorsed MSI. According to MSI, this is the monitor that the Method team uses for all of their training and tournaments. It is also one of the most affordable 240Hz monitors on the market. It, like the Samsung CHG90, has gaming presets from which to choose in the OSD: FPS, RTS, RPG, or Racing. The OSD is otherwise minimalist, with no controls for changing color temperature, gamma, hue, or saturation.
Dell 24 S2417DG
Screen size: 24″ | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2560 × 1440 (QHD) | Brightness: 350 nits | Refresh rate: 165Hz | Response time: 1ms | Viewing angle: 170/160 | Contrast ratio: 1,000:1 | Color support: 95% sRGB | LCD type: TN | Dynamic refresh rate tech: Nvidia G-Sync
This is without a doubt one of the best 1440p gaming monitors available for the price. It’s also a very ergonomic monitor, with the display pivoted 45 degrees left or right, tilted 21 degrees back, and 5 degrees forward. You can also raise or lower it by about 6 inches and swivel it into portrait mode to use it as a secondary screen for Twitch chat, for example. In terms of specifications, know that this is an excellent choice for fighting games or FPS, as its TN screen and 1ms response time provide a lightning-fast response to input.
