Gaming monitor articles

If you're tight on cash but want a really good monitor, this is the article for you. For putting together this buying guide we narrowed down our options to displays that give you the best experience for the lowest possible price.

For 2020 we've decided to take a different route for recommending gaming monitors. With such a vast array of options, we've recognized a few segments that deserve our full attention. Today's guide will cover exclusively 1440p gaming monitors which is perhaps the most mainstream and popular category.

The Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ is a hot item at the moment and we believe this is due to a combination of factors: it's a 27-inch 1440p 165Hz IPS display, it includes a novel feature called ELMB-Sync, it's well built and price of admission is just $430.

The HP Omen X 27 is a standard 1440p display (2560 x 1440), but it pushes the refresh rate up to 240Hz for the first time. We've had 240Hz available on 1080p monitors for some time, but 1440p hasn't been able to step up to the super high refresh podium until now with these modern panels.

The Acer Predator X35 packs the same specs as Asus' ROG PG35VQ which we recently called the best monitor we'd ever tested, because it uses the same panel. It's a 35-inch ultrawide 3440 x 1440 VA panel with up to a 200 Hz refresh rate, 1800R curvature, proper HDR and G-Sync Ultimate support.

The LG 27GL850 is currently one of the most popular and hotly requested gaming monitors in the market, but what makes it so special? It is the first IPS monitor that claims to hit TN-level response times. Combine that with a 27-inch panel size, 2560 x 1440 resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate with adaptive sync, it's positioned as the perfect monitor for gaming.

The XG350R-C is ViewSonic's latest ultrawide monitor aimed exclusively at the gaming market. A 35-inch 3440 x 1440 MVA display with a maximum refresh rate of 100 Hz, an 1800R curvature and FreeSync. It retails for $700, so it's a little on the premium side, but we'll see how it performs and whether it stacks up to other popular monitors in this category.

The gaming monitor we're reviewing today has been a long time coming. The Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ is, in short, a wallet-destroying 200Hz HDR ultrawide monitor: 35-inch 3440 x 1440 curved VA panel running up to 200 Hz, full HDR functionality, 1,000 nits of peak brightness and G-Sync Ultimate support.

PC gamers can enjoy today's competitive pricing in CPUs, graphics cards and memory, and build a highly capable gaming machine without having to overpay or spend a ton of money (unless you want to). We're glad to report this PC builder's friendly environment extends to gaming monitors as well, with dozens of great options at record-low prices for the kind of technology that you get.

TechSpot's Best Monitors guide covers key categories: 4K displays at a wide range of price points, the best all-rounders that mix great price and performance, enthusiast monitors for pros, the best options for gaming, and some excellent budget models that come with what were once flagship-only features.

We were excited about testing today's monitor because the product falls into one of our favorite categories: affordable but decent gaming monitors. Lots of companies try and target this market segment but it's difficult to come away with a winner, but we think LG might have just managed it with the 32GK650F.

The Acer Nitro XV273K is the first monitor to bring a 4K resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate to gamers at a more affordable price point. At about $900, we wouldn't call this a value offering, but given what's on offer and at half the cost of competing high-refresh 4K monitors, it is no doubt a tempting proposition for those buying a premium display.

Following up to our best value FreeSync monitors feature, we though this review would be ideal. Today we're looking at the Viotek GFT27DB which is a brand new display release, sporting a new TN panel (ideal for gamers) that promises a lot on paper. Having reviewed several Viotek displays in the last year, we've been consistently impressed with the value proposition, so we are hoping nothing changes here in that respect.