As I’m getting closer and closer pulling the trigger on my GTX 1070 gaming pc build, it’s also a time that I am looking into which gaming monitor to buy. If you didn’t already know, your gaming performance is also affected by how demanding of a gaming monitor that you have. That means that the performance output of a GTX 1070 will be less on a 4k gaming monitor, but it will absolutely crush framerate demands on a 1080p monitor. With that being said, two things come to mind.
- It makes the most sense to get a gaming monitor that is tailored to the ability level of your graphics card
- It’s unnecessary to get a 4k monitor if your graphics card can’t handle 4k gaming
Each of the following categories features a higher end and an entry-level end for the resolutions. Since different games are better optimized for different settings, you can still get a lower end 4k gaming monitor and have great results.
These are the Top Gaming Monitors for Each Resolution
For 1080p
Acer R24OHY
This one came up on multiple articles that I was searching for. If I had to rank the five I put in this article, I would place this one at number one. Compared to the AOC above, I would say they’re literally on the same par as one another.
You can get this one in multiple sizes but the standard is 23.8 inches. This is a classic IPS panel type, that provides 1080p resolution. It’s refresh rate is labeled as 60hz which is a good spec for any 1080p monitor. You won’t have to worry about motion blur. *Make sure to disable overdrive / OD in the settings to make your image run even smoother.* People also love how there is no backlight bleeding!
The other good thing about this one is that it’s also borderless, which means your screen will feel a lot bigger compared to ones with a thicker border. This is also great for dual monitor gaming setups. Ergonomic tilt is built into it so you can set it up and angle it with flexibility depending on your desk height.
ASUS VS239H
A slim design with a solid structure. Another 1080p display with IPS and standard 5ms response time with standard refresh rate. What I like about this one is that there is zero glare. Monitors that have glare aren’t fun to game with during dark cutscenes or environments and sometimes the sun gets in the way when it’s hitting your house at a certain angle. This monitor takes care of all that.
My friend used to have this one and before I got the AOC this was the one I was planning on getting because I liked how sharp the images looked. I felt that his monitor was able to capitalize on the fine details of modern games. ASUS, in general, is a good company to buy monitors from and most gamers would agree.
Brightness settings are something to be tinkered with if you don’t like the matte look that initially becomes apparent. Most people agree that this monitor delivers exceptionally sharp images and really makes the colors “pop” from the screen. This one is more ideal if you only plan to have one monitor as part of your rig.
This monitor is perfect for the price and ASUS could easily beef up their current asking value. I think the reason it remains so popular is that they purposely made it more affordable in order to beat out monitors within the same price range.
If you are new to gaming or looking to buy your first gaming monitor, I would definitely recommend this one. This monitor offers flexible brightness and contrast settings and already comes with good defaults. You’ll easily be able to appreciate its quality if this is your first one.
BenQ GW2280
This is BenQ’s 21.5 inch, 1080p LED Low Blue Light Mode monitor. They actually have a setting you can flip it on if you want less strain on your eyes. Eye strain can easily be reduced using this monitor also because it’s LED backlight. I wouldn’t have put this one on this list if I felt that it compromised on it’s resolution and quality. The product image doesn’t do it justice, give Ben a chance!
This is one of the lower prices ones I picked ($99). At first, it didn’t appeal to me that this would be in my top 5, but I’ll share why I decided to put it in. A lot of reviewers were saying that this one is priced much lower than it should be. It’s received tons and tons of five star reviews from people saying that they weren’t expecting it to be as high a quality as imagined.
For people that get migraines from gaming too long or already spend long amounts of hours in front of a screen, this is the monitor for you. YouTube reviews of this one agree that it’s great for gaming and in general it feels easier on your eyes. This would also be a good first monitor or if you’re not trying to break the bank right away.
HP Pavilion
This is a 21.5 IPS LED HDMI monitor that is considered a great entry level monitor for gaming. If you don’t play games that are heavily demanding on graphics then this would be the monitor I recommend. That being said, it is still good for gaming of all calibers since it is a standard 1080p monitor. Anytime you see a monitor that has LED backlighting as a feature (like this one), you be assured that it will display a nice, clean image.
The response time is a little bit higher than (7ms). If you’re not into competitive gaming and want a good monitor now, you really won’t notice this two millisecond difference. I’ve gamed on what many would call crappy monitors without even realizing it. This one is also great for portability if you move around from place to place (especially with a console)
I would probably say this monitor is best for college students about to live in the dorms. I had a 1080p monitor that was far worse than this one that I still found a way to get enjoyment on. I even found one review of this where the person was in the same situation and said that this monitor was great for gaming.
A lot of reviews also said that the shortened response time is nothing to worry about noticing. If you’re not trying to break the bank, this is the right one for you. If you like the brand and want to spend more, they have other sizes available but I didn’t check to see how those measure up in terms of quality.
Sceptre C248W
Okay, I admit this one is over $150 by about $20 but I put it in here for those who are looking for one of the highest end 1080p monitors. And this one is curved! It measures 27 inches and has 75hz response time! This will have an extremely smooth display with minimal ghosting to where you won’t even notice it. It still comes with the standard 5ms response time.
This would be a great first curved monitor to get or if you want the best of high end 1080p gaming. I would also recommend considering this if you don’t have a graphics card that can fully support 1440p on ultra settings. This monitor gives you a way to almost cheat the system and game on a sharper looking resolution because of the quality of the monitor.
If money is still tight on your gaming budget, this one will give you the biggest bang for the buck. It is so easy to blow hundreds of dollars on a curved screen just to get a slightly better look to your resolution. I think this would be a great, but not over the top investment if you don’t think your gaming rig is ready to take on 1440 and 4k.
One more thing that’s worth mentioning is how the default settings are ready to go for gaming. It’s basically plug and play and you don’t have to tamper with settings to get the best looking image. In short, this thing comes perfectly optimized unlike the ASUS and ACER monitors listed above.
For 1440p
Higher: MSI Gaming Monitor 32 Inch (click to see current price on Amazon)
- During my research, this one came up a lot throughout genuine reviews
- 32 inch, 144hz, curved screen
- Vesa wall mounting abilities
- Minimal backlight bleed
- Highly customizable
Lower: BenQ GL2706 PQ 27 Inch (click to see current price on Amazon)
- 60hz,
- Great for 4k console gaming on a budget
- Biggest bang for the buck
- Sharp images
- CON: some people are unhappy with BenQ’s customer service if something arrives defective
For 4k
Higher: ASUS Designo (click to see current price on Amazon)
Everyone’s opinion on what the best 4k gaming monitor is, I picked this one for the reasons listed below:
- Affordable price (under $600)
- 27 inch, 5ms response time BUT so well optimized that compared to a BenQ 1ms, you can’t tell the difference
- Awesome premium metal looking frame ( nearly borderless and your game will fill the entire screen)
- Sharp details even in dark areas with little lighting with great color reproduction
Lower: LG 24UD58-B 24 Inch (click to see current price on Amazon)
- 60hz, 5ms response time (anything under 10 is good)
- Really nice entry level to 4k
- Color contrast is OK- but a pro is that it can bring out details on dark images like Marcus wearing a black tux in Watch Dogs II
- Comes with an anti-glare material- only distorts if viewing from extreme angles like directly above or below (for graphic designers)
If you want more insight as to what to look for in a gaming monitor, check out the following article. Even I come back to this article to recall what some of the good specs are as I am also looking into monitors. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com.
How to Tell If A Monitor Is Actually Good
- It’s response time is under 10ms and pairs well with the resolution (1400 and 4k should have closer to 1ms and 1080p around 5ms). A 1080p monitor that claims it can do 1ms response time is inaccurate.
- The monitor is labeled as an IPS Panel Type (in plane switching- this offers you the most contrast in colors and sharpness).
- Refresh rate is around 60hz or above. If you’re not a pro gamer, I wouldn’t recommend getting anything around 165hz. This again just makes your game run smoother, but pro gamers want that 1 millisecond advantage over other people. The higher the refresh rate, the higher the price of the monitor will be.
- Aspect ratio is 16:9. Most monitors will already be in this range. If you always go with 16:9, resizing your image to fit a PC or dual monitor set up will always be an easy endeavor and will look the most appropriate.
- The only complaint with it is that the speakers suck. The monitors I was looking at that I knew were good were also the ones where the only “con” was that it has bad speakers. It’s good if you monitor speakers suck. That means it will be cheaper and you can invest that saved money into actual speakers that will always sound better than the ones they come with.
