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Best gaming monitors 2026

We pick the best monitors for gaming currently available, including FHD, QHD, UHD, ultrawide, and super ultrawide displays
Aaron Ritchie
Last Updated on

Reviewed By: Kevin Pocock

Best gaming monitors 2026
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Table of Contents

Cast your eyes below for the best gaming monitors available to buy in 2025, covering the full range of sizes, resolutions, refresh rates, panel types, and budgets. Buying the right gaming monitor is one of the most important parts of any setup, after all, there’s no use spending a wedge on a powerful gaming PC if you don’t have the screen to appreciate it. 

The benefit of getting a good monitor is that (depending on your specific needs) they tend to have a much greater useful lifespan than other components in a gaming build, providing you take good care of them, so it’s often money well spent. That being said, there are some great value options out there, which means you don’t need to spend a lot for a decent experience.

This main guide covers the best of every type of gaming monitor; however, we have more specific guides available for you if you want to see more options from each category. Check out our guides to the best 4K monitors, G-Sync monitors, OLED monitors, and mini-LED monitors.

How do we pick the best gaming monitors?

Our selection process for identifying the best gaming monitor is meticulous and grounded in thorough research. Where possible, we benchmark every screen we recommend, testing the color accuracy, color gamut, brightness, contrast, white point, black point, gamma, and panel uniformity, and comparing them against the wider market.

For this, we use a combination of the DisplayCAL software along with the X-Rite i1Display Pro calibration device. We carefully consider the specs, build quality, ergonomics, and use case of each device, and how much value they represent when measured against the asking price.

Best fast refresh rate
01
Outstanding

ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27ACDNG monitor

Hands-on Review
5.0 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • Refresh rate: 360Hz
  • Screen Size: 26.5″
  • Resolution : 2560 x 1440
  • Panel type: QD-OLED
  • I/O ports: 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-C (90W power delivery), 3x USB-A 3.2, 1x USB-B 3.2 (upstream), 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
Reasons to Buy
  • 360Hz refresh rate
  • OLED panel has fantastic contrast ratio
  • Excellent response time & motion clarity
  • 100% sRGB coverage & high color accuracy (with some manual calibration)
  • FreeSync Premium Pro
  • HDMI 2.1
  • 90W USB-C Power Delivery & KVM switch
  • An excellent array of ports
  • Sturdy stand with great adjustability
  • Reasonably priced for the specs
Reasons to Avoid
  • Peak SDR brightness low as with other OLEDs
  • 100% DCI-P3 coverage achievable but at lower accuracy

If you’re looking for a monitor that blends performance and speed perfectly, we’d highly recommend the ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27ACDNG gaming monitor. This beast scored a perfect 5/5 in its review and is ideal for competitive gaming, working, consuming content, and more. 

Sporting a whopping 360Hz refresh rate, this gaming monitor should be perfect for fast-paced titles like CS2, Valorant, and more. On top of that, it has an OLED panel that delivers next-level contrast, detail, and blacks, and with a 1440p resolution, it should be a good fit for mid-range setups as well. The reason is that this resolution isn’t as taxing on the GPU as 4K and offers better fidelity than 1080p. 

So, essentially, it is the sweet spot, and GPUs like the RX 9070 XT should be able to provide a solid experience with it. However, if you want to hit the 360Hz ceiling, you’ll need a high-end GPU like the RTX 5080, and even then, DLSS 4 might need to be called in, depending on the title. 

The ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27ACDNG has virtually everything you could want in a gaming monitor, with all the extras like HDMI 2.1 and FreeSync Premium Pro, and a 360Hz maximum refresh rate, as well as the terrific response time you’d expect from an OLED panel.

PC Guide

When it comes to content creation and other graphical applications, this gaming monitor boasts nearly 100% coverage of the sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces, respectively. The Adobe RGB coverage was only 94.1%, which isn’t recommended for this type of work. As expected from an OLED monitor, the contrast and black levels were exceptional across all presets, but other aspects, such as gamma and DeltaE*00, weren’t the best. 

So, after fiddling around, we found a setting that worked best for us. User mode with the sRGB gamut, red set to 100, Green set to 94, Blue set to 97, and brightness 51. This gave us the best results, including a DeltaE*00 score of 1.22.
This means the monitor is excellent for gaming and productivity, with outstanding panel uniformity. Keep in mind that this is a 27” monitor, so it doesn’t have a lot of screen real estate for effective PIP and PBP working. Besides that, it passed with flying colors and is one of the best 360Hz gaming monitors we’ve seen.

Best 4K
02
Excellent

MSI MPG 32″ QD-OLED 4K Gaming Monitor (321URX)

Hands-on Review
4.5 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • Panel type: QD-OLED
  • Resolution: 3840 x 2160
  • Refresh rate: 240Hz
  • Response time: 0.03ms
  • Panel size: 32″
  • I/O ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C (DP & 90W Power Delivery), 2x USB-A 2.0, 1x USB-B 2.0 upstream, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
Reasons to Buy
  • 240Hz refresh rate at 4K resolution
  • OLED panel has fantastic contrast ratio
  • Excellent response time & motion clarity
  • 100% sRGB coverage & high color accuracy
  • HDMI 2.1
  • 90W USB-C Power Delivery & KVM switch
  • A good array of ports
Reasons to Avoid
  • Peak SDR brightness low as with other OLEDs
  • Only comes with basic G-Sync support (no native integration)
  • Limited to DisplayPort 1.4

Looking for one of the best 4K monitors that money can buy? The MSI MPG 32” (321URX) is definitely worth taking a look at. We’ve put this gaming monitor through its paces in our in-house testing lab, and it delivered excellent performance, earning it a 4.5/5 from PC Guide. 

To begin with, it features a 32” QD-OLED panel, so we’re off to a great start, and it has a 240Hz refresh rate with a super low response time of 0.03ms. This means you should have an amazing gaming experience and plenty of space to handle non-gaming tasks efficiently. 

However, keep in mind the 4K resolution, and for solid gaming performance, we recommend a powerful GPU for a streamlined experience. If you want suggestions, we’ve compiled the best GPUs for 4K gaming to help you find what is suitable and fits your budget. 

The MSI MPG 321URX is very nearly the perfect monitor for 4K gaming, as long as you don’t mind the low peak SDR brightness that affects basically all OLED displays, the DisplayPort 1.4 limitations, or the lack of native VRR support.

PC Guide

It also supports HDMI 2.1, which is great for gaming consoles, and includes a KVM switch. This allows you to use it with different devices and switch between them seamlessly without any issues. The color profile of this gaming monitor is also impressive, covering 99.9% sRGB, 94.1% Adobe RGB, and 97.4% DCI-P3. 

This means the sRGB color gamut is best for editing, design, and overall content workflows, and this preset also has the best average deltaE*00 score of 1.03. However, there is a downside. When we tested the panel uniformity, most zones showed a moderate level of variance, which might not seem extreme, but it doesn’t make this monitor the best for color grading work. So, we won’t recommend this monitor for that at a professional level, but for students and amateur-level work, it should get the job done.

Best dual mode
03
Highly Recommended

Philips Evnia 27M2N3800A

Hands-on Review
4.0 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • Panel type: IPS
  • Resolution: 3840×2160 / 1920×1080
  • Refresh rate: 160Hz/320Hz
  • Response time: 1ms or 0.5ms with MPRT/MBR enabled
  • Panel size: 27”
  • I/O ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
Reasons to Buy
  • Fantastic value for money
  • 160Hz at 4K resolution
  • 320Hz at 1080p resolution
  • Decent brightness
  • Decent color accuracy for the price
  • Great adjustability (including portrait mode)
Reasons to Avoid
  • Very poor contrast without HDR enabled
  • Backlight bleed as with all IPS monitors
  • High sRGB gamut coverage requires tinkering with the OSD
  • Plastic chassis feels a bit flimsy
  • No USB connectivity

Sometimes we can’t decide whether we want the best picture quality or super-smooth gameplay, and one way to address this is to use a multi-monitor setup. However, that can be expensive and takes a lot of space. 

The Philips Evnia 27M2N3800A addresses this issue by being a dual-mode monitor that lets you switch between 4K and 1080p at the touch of a button. We’ve reviewed this monitor thoroughly and think it is definitely worth considering if you’ve found yourself in this boat. 

For starters, this monitor has an IPS panel and offers 160Hz at 4K and 320Hz at 1080p. This is amazing, and it gets even better with a 1ms or 0.5ms response time when MPRT/MBR is enabled. So you can enjoy movies and videos in the best possible quality, switch to 1080p for competitive gaming, and get the most out of this monitor.

That said, we’d recommend a high-end GPU with this monitor because it’ll deliver good 4K performance, and when you switch to FHD, it’ll be a breeze to hit 320Hz in various titles. That being said, it has a high PPI of 163, something we’d expect from a 4K monitor, but the 1080p resolution lacks in sharpness compared to a native 1080p monitor, as this resolution is artificially simulated. 

Dual-mode monitors often feel a bit gimmicky and not worth the asking price (which is typically expensive), however the Evnia 27M2N3800A is such good value for money that it’s a great option for those looking for both a 4K and high-refresh rate FHD display.

PC Guide

The claimed color gamut coverage of 130% sRGB, 95% DCI-P3, and 90% Adobe RGB was not observed during our testing. The closest we could get to these numbers with a preset was by enabling the ‘Movie’ preset with DCI-P3, which churned out 94%, 77.2%, and 73.7%, respectively. 

We manually adjusted the RGB to 100, 98, and 94, respectively, and saw that the numbers shot up to 98.7%, 83.8%, and 78.9%. While this is a dramatic increase, it is nowhere near what Philips claimed, and we won’t recommend grabbing this gaming monitor for creative workflows. 

On top of that, the panel uniformity was decent, but medium levels of variance were spotted as 11 out of the 25 zones were yellow with one zone coming in at red, which, once again, isn’t a great sign for content creation, designing, etc. While the versatility of dual-mode is great, we’d recommend this option for gaming only.

Best Ultrawide
04
  • The MSI MPG 341CQR X36 sat on a white table facing the camera. With a background of PC components on a bookshelf.
  • The MSI MPG 341CQR X36 sat on a white table sideways. With a background of PC components on a bookshelf.
  • The top of the MSI MPG 341CQR X36 monitor back shows the vents coming out from the sides.
  • The MSI MPG 341CQR X36 sat on a white table facing away. With a background of PC components on a bookshelf.
  • The MSI MPG 341CQR X36 sat on a white table facing away, showing the right side. With a background of PC components on a bookshelf.
  • The MSI MPG 341CQR X36 sat on a white table facing away, showing the logo on the left side. With a background of PC components on a bookshelf.
  • The box for the MSI MPG 341CQR X36 monitor is standing on a white table. It has the monitor shown on it with a colorful display and with the specs and features written around it.
  • A photo of a desk setup with the MSI MPG 341CQR X36 up against the wall. Above it a pink light, on either side blue lights. underneath a keyboard and mouse on a mousepad.
  • A photo of a desk setup with the MSI MPG 341CQR X36 at an angle away from the wall. Above it a pink light, on either side blue lights. underneath a keyboard and mouse on a mousepad, and on the right, a PC.
  • A photo of a desk setup with the MSI MPG 341CQR X36 up against the wall. Above it a pink light, on either side blue lights. underneath a keyboard and mouse on a mousepad and on the right a PC.
Excellent

MSI MPG 341CQR X36

Hands-on Review
4.5 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • Panel type: QD-OLED
  • Resolution: 3440 x 1440
  • Refresh rate: 360Hz
  • Curvature: 1800R
  • Panel size: 34-inch
  • I/O ports: 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 2.1a, 1x Type-C, 2x USB 5Gbps Type-A, 1x USB 5Gbps Type-B, 1x Headphone-out
Reasons to Buy
  • Three-year warranty that covers burn-in
  • A load of burn-in protections in the settings of the monitor
  • Great feeling usage with 360Hz and G-Sync
  • Amazing-looking screen of colors and looks
  • Excellent connectivity, including KVM and PD charging
Reasons to Avoid
  • Little to no cable management
  • Corner brightness of screen vary wildly
  • Expensive to purchase

If you’re looking for the best of both worlds (high refresh rates and ultrawide immersive visuals) then MSI’s latest MPG 341CQR X36 is a fine choice. The high-end 34-inch ultrawide QD-OLED display not only features a rapid 360Hz refresh rate (that’s the X36 part) and near-instantaneous response time, but also brings with it the immersive qualities found in a 1800R curved, 1440p display.

MSI has equipped this panel with all the latest AI features geared towards gamers, panel efficiency, and OLED burn-in care. The screen turns off when you walk away to help reduce the chance of OLED damage, turning back on instantly when you return to your desk.

Other features of the display include a new QD-OLED 5th gen panel – delivering punchier colors and better text clarity – DarkArmour coating (which neutralizes some color issues and delivers a more natural black level), and stunning color accuracy right out of the box.

“the MSI MPG 341CQR X36 is a fantastic display. Its ultrawide 1800R curvature helps create an immersive experience, offering a large amount of screen space while maintaining strong visual quality. With a 3440 × 1440 resolution and a 360Hz refresh rate, it delivers a combination of smooth performance and sharp visuals that result in an excellent overall viewing experience.”

PC Guide


All this should ensure you have an amazing experience and feel as if you’re sitting in a cinema or have been transported into the game. All you’ll need is a sound system or a headset with spatial audio to get the most out of it. Overall, we’d highly recommend this gaming monitor, as it is one of the best ultrawide monitors we’ve seen.

Best value
05

Philips Evnia 25M2N3200U/00

Hands-on Review
3.5 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • Panel type: IPS
  • Resolution: 1920×1080
  • Refresh rate: 300Hz (310Hz with OC)
  • Response time: 0.3ms with MPRT/MBR enabled
  • Panel size: 24.5”
  • I/O ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
Reasons to Buy
  • Good value for money
  • 310Hz max refresh rate
  • Decent brightness
  • Great color accuracy for the price
  • Good contrast (for an IPS monitor)
  • Great adjustability (including portrait mode)
  • Great reflection handling
Reasons to Avoid
  • Heavy anti-glare coating muddies text clarity
  • Significant motion blur at max refresh rate unless MBR is maximized
  • Backlight bleed as with all IPS monitors
  • High sRGB gamut coverage requires tinkering with the OSD
  • Plasticky design (though build quality isn’t terrible)
  • No USB connectivit

If you have a strict spending limit and want a gaming monitor that offers great value for money, we just might have the perfect option for you. We tested and reviewed the Philips Evnia 25M2N3200U/00 monitor, and it is a solid gaming monitor for competitive gaming. 

It has a 24.5” IPS panel, which is great because this size is what is used in LAN tournaments, and with a resolution of 1080p, a 300Hz refresh rate, and a 0.3ms response time, this is the perfect monitor to set you up for the big stage. It is perfect for budget setups, as 1080p is easy for budget GPUs to handle as well, and the modern offerings can output high FPS without breaking a sweat at this resolution. 

You can increase the refresh rate to 310Hz by overclocking it. If you’re wondering how to overclock a monitor, we have a complete guide that will take you through the process step by step. The OSD settings are typical, and there are plenty of modes, but we rarely use them. 

The Philips Evnia 25M2N3200U/00 performs decently as a cheap, compact gaming monitor. Considering the asking price, it has surprisingly good sRGB accuracy and gamut coverage (with some tinkering), solid brightness, and of course the very fast 310Hz maximum refresh rate.

PC Guide

Philips claimed a color gamut coverage of 123%, 91%, and 91% for the sRGB, DCI-P3, and Adobe RGB color spaces, respectively. However, we’ve seen that this wasn’t the case, as with the Standard preset selected, the values we got were 96.5%, 71.5%, and 69.4%, respectively. 

This is not good for color grading, content creation, editing, or similar tasks, but we played around with the settings and manually set the RGB values. We set Red to 94, Green to 98, and Blue to 98, with brightness set to 21, and achieved 99.2% sRGB, 89.4% DCI-P3, and 87.4% Adobe RGB, which is the closest we got to the numbers claimed by Philips. 

What this means is that as long as you’re using the sRGB color space, you should be able to do color-accurate work, but you’ll need to set it up a bit. Besides that, the viewing angles were decent; even though IPS panels have great viewing angles, the color and image quality dropped well before 178 °. 

Overall, this is a good gaming monitor to consider, as it offers strong specifications, is well-suited for creative tasks, and is perfect for competitive gaming. The best part is that it doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket.

Best 27”
06
Excellent

ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM

4.5 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • Refresh rate: 240Hz
  • Response time: 0.8ms
  • Screen Size: 27″
  • Resolution: 2560 x 1440
Reasons to Buy
  • 240Hz refresh rate
  • OLED panel has fantastic contrast ratio
  • Excellent response time & motion clarity
  • 100% sRGB coverage & high color accuracy
  • Great HDR performance
  • Peak SDR brightness low as with other WOLEDs
Reasons to Avoid
  • Text clarity could be better
  • Only comes with basic FreeSync
  • Lacks HDMI 2.1
  • Not the cheapest

ASUS has some of the best PC hardware on the market, and if you were looking for a 27” gaming monitor, we’d recommend the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM. This is an excellent OLED and 27” monitor that we’ve reviewed in-house, and it has a score of 4.5/5, which is amazing. 

The best part of this monitor is its OLED panel, which means the graphics quality should be exceptional. On top of that, the 240Hz refresh rate and a 0.8ms response time are perfect for fast-paced and competitive gameplay. However, keep in mind that this isn’t a 4K monitor as it has a 1440p resolution. 

This should make it easy to get high FPS from the GPU and get smooth gameplay in various titles while enjoying outstanding visual quality. However, there are some downsides to OLED monitors, such as text clarity and SDR brightness not being great, but we didn’t find them deal-breaking, as there are many more pros. 

If you’re willing to pay extra to take the leap to an OLED panel, the PG27AQDM is a great option for those after a 27-inch gaming monitor. It does all the basics as well as you’d expect, with most of the negatives (text clarity and a limited peak SDR brightness) being limitations that apply to all OLEDs and not just this one.

PC Guide

Aesthetically, it has great looks and features the ASUS logo on the back, and the ASUS logo is projected at the bottom, meaning they didn’t hold back when it came to “gamer-aesthetics.” Regarding color accuracy, the contrast and blacks were outstanding, as expected from an OLED monitor, but the best color accuracy we achieved was with the sRGB preset, which achieved an average deltaE*00 of 1.24. 

Besides that, the panel uniformity was amazing, with only one zone showing medium variance, which won’t affect creative workflows or color grading. So, you should be able to get pretty much all of that handled with this gaming monitor. The matte panel is great at reducing glare and visual noise, but it also takes a bit of color vibrancy out of the equation. 

Overall, this is an amazing gaming monitor and a solid option if you are looking for a 240Hz monitor, as it offers that and more. You should get the complete package with it, but keep in mind that this is an expensive option and doesn’t have HDMI 2.1.

Best super ultrawide
07
Excellent

Acer Predator Z57 monitor

Hands-on Review
4.5 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • Refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Screen Size: 57″
  • Resolution : 7,680 x 2,160
  • Panel type: VA with MiniLED backlighting
  • Curve: 1000R
  • I/O ports: 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-C (90W power delivery), 2x USB-A (KVM Switch), 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
Reasons to Buy
  • Hugely immersive for games and video
  • Enormous screen real estate for productivity
  • Crisp, high-resolution image
  • Respectable SDR brightness
  • 100% sRGB coverage & high color accuracy
  • 90W USB-C Power Delivery & KVM switch
  • HDMI 2.1
  • FreeSync Premium
  • Cheaper than the Samsung alternative
Reasons to Avoid
  • Limited to 120Hz (compared to the 240Hz Samsung G9)
  • Dimming zone issues with HDR as with other Mini-LED monitors
  • Only a 2 year warranty
  • You’ll struggle to run most games at the native resolution
  • Huge desktop footprint
  • Still pricey

If you’ve checked out the Samsung Odyssey G9 and the Innocn 49Q1S and aren’t satisfied with those behemoths, maybe the Acer Predator Z57 might be something up your alley. This 57” monster is in a league of its own and features a 7,680 x 2,160 resolution, meaning this beast has a 4K resolution. 

It has a VA panel, which might explain the 1000R curva and behind that are mini-LEDs, which should deliver precise light control for exceptional contrast, brightness, and dark scenes. That being said, you should know that powering a monitor of such size isn’t something any GPU can do, and to run it natively, you’ll need the best GPU on the market. 

This should ensure you don’t run into issues, but you can also shrink the workspace on the monitor and use a smaller 4K monitor. With that out of the way, productivity with this monitor should be through the roof, thanks to screen real estate you’ve never seen before. 

A truly colossal display, the Acer Predator Z57 is a fantastically immersive viewing experience for games in particular, although you’ll struggle to find many that can run at the native resolution.

PC Guide

You should be able to easily connect different devices with it, split the screen, and work without interacting with each other. Opening apps and games side by side should be a breeze, but keep in mind that this is a large monitor and it takes up a lot of desk space. 

It is also limited to 120Hz, but at 4K on a 57” panel, that is understandable, and if you have a heavy-hitting GPU, you can try to achieve that via HDMI 2.1. The color profile of this monitor is great, as we got 99.9% sRGB coverage and 91.7% for DCI-P3. So, color-related workflows should be a breeze in the sRGB space, and when it comes to presets, the ‘Standard’ mode was the best. 

The panel uniformity wasn’t the best as we saw high levels of variance, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Let us explain, on a smaller monitor, there isn’t a lot of space, so there is less room for error, but when you’ve got 57”, the playing field is different. You can avoid high-variance areas by running the test there and excluding them, or by shrinking the working area by placing black bars along the border. 

So, you should be able to handle creative workflows with ease, but you’ll need to figure out the panel zones and problematic areas first. Overall, this behemoth is exceptional due to its size and aggressive curve that demands your attention. 

Why you should trust us

Here at PC Guide, we’ve spent years getting our hands dirty testing monitors and TVs—from superwide beasts and crisp IPS panels to blazing-fast OLED gaming screens. Our process dives deep: real-world hands-on trials, thorough performance checks, and close looks at everything from build quality and response times to panel uniformity, brightness, and beyond.

 We aim to test every product we recommend in person, but when that’s not possible, we rely on reliable data from trusted third-party sources. We don’t have brand bias; we judge purely on merit and lay out the real results for you. Transparency is our top priority; we hold ourselves to it and expect the same from the gear we cover.

Things to consider when buying a gaming monitor

Whether you’re a first-time gaming monitor buyer or just need a bit of a refresher, these are the main things you should think about when trying to pick the right monitor for your needs. If you’re looking for more detail on all of these, do also have a read of our FAQ section towards the bottom of this guide.

Size

Screen size is measured diagonally and is typically quoted in inches. The right screen size depends on your desk space, needs, and subjective preferences. One large screen can be used in place of two when it comes to opening multiple windows for work, or you might prefer to have two smaller ones. 

Larger screens tend to provide a more immersive experience when gaming, but are more expensive and take up a lot more space. That being said, both settings have their pros and comes and it ultimately boils down to preference and budget. 

Aspect ratio

Related to size is the aspect ratio, which determines the screen’s proportions. The traditional 4:3 is rarely seen anymore, with 16:9 being the most common standard for gaming monitors (which is also the aspect ratio used by Netflix and most YouTube videos). 16:10 screens give you slightly more vertical headroom, which is better for viewing documents and web pages. 

For most, this is the sweet spot: it feels and offers more space for gaming, and for the most screen real estate, nothing beats the 21:9 and 32:9 aspect ratios for ultrawide and super ultrawide displays, respectively. 

Resolution

Higher resolution screens make for a sharper image, which affects how games, video, still images, and text look – but running games on higher resolutions requires more computing power (from your GPU and CPU) and will lead to lower Frames Per Second (FPS). 

The right resolution monitor to pick, therefore, depends on the power of your PC, but also should be determined by your screen size: lower resolutions can still look sharp on smaller screens as they have higher PPI (Pixels Per Inch), conversely, even high resolutions can look pixelated when spread across a very large monitor. 

1920×1080 (aka FHD, 1080p) was the gaming standard, but is gradually being overtaken by 2560×1440 (aka QHD, 2K, 1440p). There are also the 16:10 versions of these: 1920×1200 (FHD+) and 2560×1600 (QHD+). 

3840×2160 (4K, UHD) remains the highest resolution you can game on, though you will need a very powerful machine; still, with the latest advances in DLSS and 4K-capable GPUs, it’s more achievable than ever.

Refresh Rate

This is essentially how many still images your monitor can display in a second – the higher the number, the smoother any movement will appear. Regardless of how many FPS your PC can run a game, if the refresh rate (measured in Hz) doesn’t match the FPS, then you won’t be able to experience them visually. 

For a gaming monitor, you really want a refresh rate of at least 120Hz. For fast-paced competitive gaming, particularly shooters, a higher refresh rate (ideally 240Hz or above) will give you an edge in performance, although you do get diminishing returns the higher you go. If a refresh rate isn’t stated in the specs, it’s likely 60Hz. It’s generally harder to find higher resolution screens at the highest refresh rates.

Panel type

There are three primary types of panel: TN (faster but lower color accuracy), IPS (better color accuracy but slower), and VA (somewhere between the two, with good contrast).  However, these days you’re less likely to see TN or VA panels. IPS remains the common ‘standard’ type, but now the better options tend to be either OLED (fantastic contrast and response time, lower brightness and text legibility) or Mini-LED (great brightness but worse contrast and backlight bleed). You can read more details about all of these in our FAQ section.

Gaming Monitor FAQ

Have a read below for further information that should help you make your choice when picking up a new monitor.

What does response time mean for a monitor?

Response time is the time it takes for a pixel to change color, usually measured in Gray-To-Gray (G2G). Slow response times can lead to visual artefacts such as ‘ghosting’, which causes fast-moving images to appear to leave a blurring effect. 

Lower response times are better, with a respectable number considered 5ms or below, though players of fast-paced competitive games will likely want better than this. OLED displays almost always have an excellent response time of well below 1ms.

What are FreeSync, G-Sync, and Variable Refresh Rate?

VRR stands for Variable Refresh Rate, and it refers to technologies that enable displays to switch refresh rates on the fly to reduce the negative artefact of screen tearing. Screen tearing appears as jagged horizontal lines on your screen and occurs when the video feed from the GPU is not synchronized with the monitor’s refresh rate.

VRR tech includes DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync, Nvidia’s G-Sync, and AMD’s FreeSync. These technologies all function in fundamentally the same way: they prevent screen tearing by adjusting the monitor’s refresh rate (or skipping in-game frames) to match the in-game framerate. If you have an Nvidia graphics card, you’ll want a monitor with G-Sync; similarly, an AMD Radeon model requires a FreeSync monitor.

Is 1080p or 1440p better for gaming?

1080p is still better for competitive and pro gamers who prioritize higher FPS above all else. In gaming scenarios where every frame counts, a 1080p resolution allows the computer to achieve higher frame rates. 

1440p monitors, on the other hand, offer a richer, more immersive gaming experience with crisper, more detailed images, but they require a more powerful computer to maintain higher frame rates. Many competitive gamers with more powerful PCs now favour 1440p or 1600p due to the higher visual fidelity on larger screens.

Is HDR important for gaming monitors?

HDR capability is primarily important for those who want to use their monitor to view creative visual content, watch films and other media in HDR mode, or for high-end gaming on those games that support it, though it’s still a relatively minor consideration for most people when it comes to gaming.

HDR-enabled displays use technology that enhances clarity in even the brightest (or darkest) scenes. If a game or application has HDR support and this is switched on, it can provide an image with greater contrast and color vibrancy. Monitors with good HDR implementation tend to cost more money. See our best HDR monitor guide for more info.

How does the refresh rate impact the gameplay?

A simple way to understand the impact of refresh rate on the gameplay is that the higher it is, the smoother the gameplay. This happens because the screen is updated more frequently, which makes it more responsive and lets you see the latest GPU output. 

This also gives you a competitive advantage, as fluid motion enables better object tracking, which is crucial in FPS games and greatly reduces input lag. The bare minimum for competitive gaming is considered to be 144Hz. 

Does a 4K monitor need a high-end GPU?

A 4K monitor doesn’t necessarily require a high-end GPU just to operate, as it’ll work even with integrated graphics. You can browse the web, document, and take care of other tasks without any issues. However, when it comes to gaming or 4K content creation, that is a different matter altogether. 

For these activities, having a powerful graphics card will ensure that you get a smooth and stable output without the performance tanking when things get tough. GPUs like the RTX 5080 can handle 4K gaming natively and deliver exceptional performance. To experience the full potential of a 4K monitor for gaming and other tasks, a high-end GPU is recommended.

About the Author

Aaron Ritchie

Aaron's laptop knowledge makes him the go-to guy on PC Guide. But he still finds time for features, deals and much more.