Building a top gaming rig can be an arduous process, but it’s not impossible if you know where to look. Take gaming monitors, for instance. Nowadays, not any old display will do, especially judging by how advanced modern games are. Not even the best gaming desktop or the best gaming router can save you from poor latency if you’re displaying the game on a dusty CRT monitor – yes, some people still use them.

Then there are other things to consider – how fast do you want it to be? What type of screen do you want? What about resolution? 4K? Your head must be spinning by now, and understandably so. Fortunately for you, we’ve compiled a list of the best gaming monitors on the market now to same you some time and effort.

Similar to our previous best of lists, we’ve made sure to include a mix of expensive and budget products to accomodate all pockets. And while you’re at it, make sure to take a look at our previous lists, where we rounded up the best gaming headsets, best gaming keyboards and best gaming mice.

Kicking off this list is the BenQ EL2870U, an affordable option if you’re looking for a 4K monitor without destroying your bank account. In fact, it’s not every day you find a 4K HDR monitor for less than a grand, and with so many options that you would normally find in a more expensive model.

This monitor boasts a wide range of functionality that will make for a smooth and immersive gaming experience.The BenQ EL2870U is a 28-inch gaming monitor with a native response time of 1ms, a hard-wired HDR button for toggling on and off high-dynamic range, two HDMI 2.0 connections and a DisplayPort 1.4.

What’s more, it boasts a pair of integrated 2W speakers for those moments when you don’t feel like having grenades blasting in your brain and you just want to lay back on your best gaming chair and watch dumb videos in Youtube. There’s also a headphone jack, so you don’t have to twist your back trying to reach the motherboard.

Of course, it does have a few downsides, namely the poor viewing angles and the fact that it foregoes Nvidia G-Sync in favor of AMD FreeSync. But other than that, this is a solid choice for gamers on a budget.

Even though it’s quite expensive, the MSI Optix MPG3 — come on, we’re not writing all that – is a sound choice for people who have money to spare. Its defining characteristic is undoubtedly the VA panel technology, which has the capability of rendering more natural colors and offering better contrast.

In most monitor reviews, the focus is set on the display, but in this case, there’s more interesting stuff to talk about. Yes, the display is great – it wouldn’t be on this list otherwise – , but the facial recognition software deserves more attention.

The software in question is similar to that of a smartphone, but with one major difference. It doesn’t lock the computer if someone else sits down, rather it recognizes saved users and loads up their respective profiles and settings.

Another neat feature worth mentioning is the integrated camera. Apart from its rather obvious function of facilitating video communication, it keeps tabs on the light levels in the room and adjusts the brightness according to your preferences – you have to fiddle with the settings a bit, tho. The MSI Optix is a must-buy if you’re a fan of smart devices.

In case you haven’t noticed, this here is a gigantic monitor. I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw the chief of a spy agency briefing their agents through one of these things. Ok, it’s not that big, but you get the drill.

With the Samsung CHG90, the renowned Korean company not only popularized QLED displays in the gaming industry, but also brought one of the biggest monitors in the market right now. It boasts a staggering 144 Hz refresh rate, flawless image quality and the warm, realistic colors you would expect from a QLED display.

Due to its huge size, it’s quite taxing on the system, so using it at full potential will require a powerful rig. Another thing worth mentioning is the hefty price – but for a monitor this powerful, it’s worth every penny.

By now, ASUS needs no introduction – they’re one of the masters of the gaming peripheral market. The ASUS VG279G (God, what’s with these names?) is a solid choice for those who have some extra dollars to spare.

What can I say about this particular monitor that hasn’t been already said by now? It’s got a great look, very similar in design with previous models and a sturdy stand that support the monitor with little to no wobble. Despite being made of plastic, the build is actually pretty sturdy.

The picture quality is outstanding, with the wide viewing angles and peak brightness deserving special praise. The motion also looks good thanks to the fast response time. Its only major quirk is the poor performance in dark rooms, but this issue can be easily solved by fiddling with the settings. All in all, a great choice if you value solid ergonomics and stark picture quality above anything else.

Similar to Alienware, Gigabyte is one of the last companies you would expect to produce monitors. They’re known and respected for their wide range of top-quality motherboards and video cards, but only now did they decide to dip their toes into this side of the pond. And what a spectacular debut.

The Gigabyte Aorus AD27QD has the weird distinction of being the ‘’game-ist’’ looking monitor on the market that many gamers don’t even know it exists. Everything, from the build, design to the features themselves are custom-built to accommodate gaming.

The monitor lets you control all of its setting through the software, so you won’t be forced to fiddle with the physical buttons while aiming headshots in Rainbow Six: Siege. The menu is loaded with settings and options, so users can customize the monitor down to the tiniest detail. And you don’t feel like browsing the monitor’s extensive menus, you can always program hotkeys.

But the monitor’s biggest features are the IPS panel and the active noise cancellation. IPS panels are loved for their natural colors and wide viewing angles and from this point of view, the Aorus delivers in spades.

As for the other feature that I’ve mentioned above, a tiny microphone placed under the front logo does the grunt work by cancelling out ambient sounds. So if you have a particularly noisy mechanical keyboard, like the Razor Huntsman Elite, the Gigabyte Aorus has your back.

Quick, what’s the first thing that pops in your mind when someone mentions ‘’Alienware’’? Is it monstrously high-performance gaming laptops? High prices? Soda sponsorships? How about monitors? Yes, they do monitors to, and they’re every bit as expensive and high-tech as you would expect.

Besides the striking and (sorry) alien design, this Alienware models delivers a high level of immersion and refresh rate that will fully absorb you. With a response time of 4ms and a 120Hz refresh rate, you’ll have a hard time pausing your favorite best fantasy RPG of choice to do whatever mundane house chores you’ve assigned for that day. There are few monitors capable of rendering Anor Londo’s decrepit vistas and Toussaint’s picturesque beauty better.

If you’ve read my previous hardware reviews, you might have noticed that I’m slightly biased against products that cater a little too much to gamers in terms of design. I try not to let it weigh too much in my final ratings, but ya know, matching furniture is pretty hard as it is. The AOC Agon’s biggest sin is sporting such a design. Its redemption is dumping all of that on the backside of the monitor.

Other than that, this is a pretty solid monitor that offers tons of features and functionality. The reason why I bashed it so hard in the introduction is because it’s shamelessly and unapologetically tailored for esports players, which reflects badly on the design, but makes it a top-quality product in all other aspects.

The AOC Agon AG271QG sports a curvy 27-inch screen with a ridiculously fast refresh rate and response. Similar to the BENQ PD3200U (more about it below), this is a professional-grade monitor made, besides esports, for video editors and graphic designers.

Because it supports G-Sync, Nvidia users can experience a significant performance boost because it takes some load off the CPU. The keyword here is ‘’Nvidia’’ – sadly, AMD graphics card owners don’t benefit from this feature. Fortunately, AMD users can opt for the cheaper, FreeSync compatible model AOC Agon AG271QCX.

All in all, this model is a sound choice thanks to its ridiculously fast refresh rate (165 Hz) and Nvidia’s adaptive sync tech, amongst other things.

Some readers will wonder why this monitor made the list, since it was originally made for CAD professionals and graphic designers. Well, you’ve just answered my hypothetical question – this monitor is great for gaming exactly for those reasons.

Thanks to BenQ’s PD3200U focus on graphic design, it’s capable of offering some things that other gaming monitors lack, one of them being the wide viewing angle. Gone are the days of awkwardly repositioning the monitor or rearranging the layout of the room so you and your buds can watch stupid YouTube videos. Furthermore, each unit is calibrated before shipping, so users don’t have to fiddle with the settings to get the best picture.

Additional features consist of a flicker-free backlight and an OSD puck controller, and an anti-glare layer.

Oh, sorry, I almost forgot – you can flip this freaking this vertically. Yes, you heard me right. On top of that, for a monitor with this kind of feature, the BenQ PD3200U is surprisingly sturdy. The manufacturers were thoughtful enough to cast a handle into the solid-aluminum upright to make it easier to carry because it’s very beefy. It’s quite flexible, too, as the upright supports a full range of movements, including a 45° swivel and a 25° tilt.

I could talk all day about this monitor, so I have to stop here. The reason why it’s so low on the list (if you consider the third spot as being low) despite all the praise is the dull design and the clunky settings controller. Nevertheless, you’ll have a hard time finding a 4K, professional-grade monitor at this price point, so it’s a definite must buy if you want to mix work with fun – graphic design with gaming.

Our second spot is reserved to the Acer Predator XB273K, one of the best gaming monitors that money can buy – but it’s just a few features away from being the best. Essentially, it’s a distant relative of the XB273K which offers mostly the same features, but with a slightly worse HDR quality.

So, what does the Acer Predator XB273K offer to deserve the second spot? Actually, lots of things. An excellent panel with terrific image quality (despite the mediocre HDR capabilities), bright, warm, natural colors and great contrasts that will immerse you fully into the game world.

Contributing to the list of perks is the fast refresh rate, the wide range of ports (making it compatible no matter what gear you have) and 4K support, the cherry on top of this delicious technological cake. Again, some people may be turned off by the mediocre HDR, but it’s not a deal breaker here considering the plethora of quality features and customization options.

This brings us to the final item on our list, the ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q. Measuring 27 inches with a 2560×1440 resolution, this monitor is the best of all worlds. It has everything a gaming monitor should have, and at a decent price.

Its optimization deserves special praise, because it offers more pixels than a regular 1080p would, and without excessively overwhelming the GPU. Add to that a 60Hz refresh rate, low input lag, sturdy build and excellent picture quality, and you’ll have one of the most immersive gaming experience possible.

If there is one thing to criticize about this monitor, that would the limited range of connectivity. Like many other monitors, it’s optimized to run on Nvidia’s G-Sync, so it is limited to just one HDMI and one DisplayPort. This warrants the purchase of a separate HDMI switcher if you want to use the display with other gaming devices.

However, if you are an Nvidia user and you’re looking for the best thing money can buy, the ASUS ROG Swift PG270Q is a must-buy.

CONCLUSION

This wraps up our list of the best gaming monitors. What did we miss? What’s your favorite monitor? Tell us in the comments below!