Best gaming monitors in 2025

You have finally managed to buy all the components for your new gaming rig, including a new graphics card. I hope you still have some money left in the budget because now it's time to complete your rig with one of the best gaming monitors. Luckily, there's no shortage of great monitors on the market, so you can pick up the one you want based on the GPU you bought.

There are a few things to consider while shopping for gaming monitors. The one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work here because each user has a different preference. OLED and QD-OLED are taking over as the main panel technology for new gaming monitors, but some users will prefer IPS or VA as fears of OLED burn-in still linger. While some users want a high-refresh-rate panel, others may want to buy a high-resolution monitor for 4K gaming. And still other people give more importance to extra technologies like HDMI 2.1. So, not all of these recommendations might suit your unique needs, but these monitors are worth getting.

These are the best gaming monitors in 2024

The ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM is one of the best gaming monitors in 2024, thanks to its stunning OLED panel, ultra-fast response time, and super-speedy refresh rate. The OLED panel delivers a spectacular 1440p resolution with deep blacks, vivid colors, and wide viewing angles. The 2560 x 1440 resolution on a 27-inch OLED panel delivers sharp details and a peak brightness of 1000 nits. HDR content looks stunning on the PG27AQDM. The anti-glare coating is great, and the included stand has a 1/4-inch thread on top for mounting a heavier camera, something content creators will appreciate.

It's worth mentioning that the HDMI 2.0 ports limit this monitor to a refresh rate of 120Hz, so you'll want to use the DisplayPort 1.4 input to get the 240Hz refresh rate the panel is capable of. The PG27AQDM is great for high visual quality and high framerate gaming. The PG27AQDM features a 0.03ms response time, making it one of the fastest gaming monitors on the market. The monitor can handle fast-paced games without ghosting, blurring, or graphical smearing. That's supported with G-Sync and FreeSync compatibility for blur-free gaming.

The PG27AQDM is undoubtly more expensive than your average monitor. However, if you are building a mid-range to high-end gaming computer, it's one of the best monitors thanks to its beautiful OLED panel, 240Hz refresh rate, and excellent HDR support with 1,000 nits of peak brightness.

Powerful new graphics cards like the RTX 4090 enable 4K gaming as the norm. If you have one of these powerful GPUs and want to pair it with a high-end 4K display, then I recommend picking up the Alienware AW322QF. It's one of the first 4K QD-OLED panels on the market with a blisteringly fast 240Hz refresh rate and will likely hold up as one of the best gaming monitors through the next generation or two of graphics cards.

While there are more OLED panels on the market now, QD-OLED is still my preferred panel type. That's because it has better color accuracy than WOLED, even if it can't quite manage the same brightness levels. This Alienware monitor has a subtle curve, which isn't strictly necessary on a 32-inch panel, but we found that it distorted screen reflections a bit so that they didn't affect the image as much. This panel is a third-generation QD-OLED, which has a different subpixel arrangement that reduces fringing around horizontal edges, like on text, which is a welcome change.

That reduced fringing will also benefit UI elements in games, and the rest of the panel is superb for gaming use. The 4K resolution and 240Hz refresh rate combine for a crisp, smooth picture, and support for both G-Sync and VESA AdaptiveSync means tear-free gaming. It supports Dolby Vision in supported games and apps and also HDR 400 TrueBlack and HDR Peak 1000 modes for HDR. We found that the panel has a warmer, punchy color balance in SDR on our review unit, which will please most users but may cause issues with color-sensitive work. Its HDR performance is among the best panels we've tested and is a worthy pairing with high-end graphics cards.

While 4K gaming is no longer a distant dream for gamers, most are still leaning towards 1440p gaming thanks to its lower price, lower graphical demand, and higher refresh rate. If you want a great OLED 1440p gaming monitor, check out Acer's Predator X27U.

The Predator X27U sports a 27-inch OLED panel with a 240Hz refresh rate and support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. The display has a peak brightness of 1000 nits, providing an excellent OLED gaming experience. Colors appear bright and vivid in HDR content, and are true to realistic coloration.

The Zero-frame design with thin bezels provides an expansive space to game or multitask on, and there's a wide range of connectivity options, whether you prefer to use HDMI, DisplayPort 1.4, or DisplayPort over USB Type-C.

With 1440p still being the sweet spot for PC gaming, it's no surprise to see a 27-inch, 1440p monitor take the budget crown here. The Asus ROG Strix XG27ACS uses a 27-inch IPS panel that's overclocked to a 180Hz refresh rate. That means it's perfect for playing games at high framerates, and support for both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync means buttery smooth frames no matter what rate they come at.

With a fairly subdued gamer styling, this monitor wouldn't look out of place on an office desk. It's got a mostly frameless front with a small bezel on the bottom edge, and comes with a sturdy, adjustable stand. It also features USB-C with power delivery, alongside the DisplayPort and HDMI inputs, which is a rarity on any budget monitor.

The big surprise when we reviewed this monitor was how accurate the factory calibration was. It covered 100% of sRGB, 82% of Adobe RGB, and 91% of DCI P3, which is great for any IPS panel, let alone at this price point. It's worth mentioning that the HDR 400 certification on this panel won't pop as much as on an OLED, mainly because IPS has a very noticeable glow on dark areas. Still, we are talking about a $300 budget monitor here. Asus spent their development budget wisely here, with the resolution, color accuracy, and refresh rate necessary to give you a capable monitor at an affordable price.

You might think 1080p monitors have been relegated to the low-end, budget part of the market, but that's not entirely true. There's actually a small segment of top-end 1080p gaming monitors that have the highest refresh rates you can get, much higher than the refresh rates on even the best 1440p and 4K panels. Of all the 360Hz monitors you can buy today, Dell's Alienware AW2523HF is the best overall, though it will cost you.

The AW2523HF goes for the standard minimalist look many monitors have these days: thin bezels at the sides and top, slightly thicker chin at the bottom, and an all-black plastic theme. It's an unassuming monitor that certainly doesn't look eye-catching, although that's not really a problem when it's the panel that's supposed to look good and not what surrounds it.

Speaking of the panel, it measures 25 inches across and is rated at 360Hz. The AW2523HF comes with support for AMD FreeSync and is G-Sync Compatible, which pretty much has to be on a monitor that sells itself on its refresh rate. Its peak brightness of around 400 nits is decent enough, though out-of-the-box reviews indicate that its color accuracy isn't amazing, and it doesn't have any HDR certification either.

Although it's our top pick in this segment, Dell's Alienware AW2523HF is undeniably in a niche within a niche. A 1080p monitor, even with a 360Hz refresh rate, is expensive at $300+. However, the AW2523HF is really made for games like Valorant and Overwatch, and not so much for gaming in general. If you have the money and don't plan on playing all your games at over 300FPS, you should probably consider HP's X27q or Acer's Nitro XV272U, which are 1440p gaming monitors that cost less.

In recent years, entry-level gaming monitors have gotten better while prices remain about as low as they've always been. It's not uncommon to find a 1080p display with a high refresh rate for less than $200, but LG's 24GN600-B UltraGear manages to stand out from the crowd by offering tons of features and impressive specs for just under $200 (with frequent sales bringing it under $150).

From the front, the 24GN600-B is a pretty normal-looking 24-inch monitor. It has a thin, pure black bezel made of plastic decorated only by the LG logo. On the back, however, this monitor can only be described as gamer-y thanks to its purely decorative wheel-like image with red accents. The back of the monitor stand is also pure red. It's kind of weird that all the flashy esthetics are put in the one area where you're the least likely to be looking, but that might work out if you prefer the basic appearance of this monitor from the front anyway.

On a technical level, the 24GN600-B has quite an impressive set of features. 1080p and a 144Hz refresh rate is nothing special these days, but this is also an IPS display with AMD FreeSync Premium. That basically ensures good color accuracy (LG says this monitor hits 99% of the sRGB color space) and good enough latency for gaming. For $150, you're getting a high refresh rate, decent color accuracy, and limited to no screen tearing, no matter what GPU you're using, since all three major vendors support FreeSync. It's hard to ask for anything more.

There are other contenders in the sub-$200 segment, but LG's 24GN600-B UltraGear checks off the most boxes for the least amount of money. Asus's TUF Gaming VG27VH1B is one such alternative, which bumps up the screen size to 27 inches, the refresh rate up to 165Hz, and it has a curved display. However, the 24GN600-B goes on sale more frequently and for lower prices than the VG27VH1B, which makes it a generally better deal as long as you can wait for LG's monitor to hit that expected $150 price point.

Ultrawide monitors are the realm for gamers who want to make full use of their peripheral vision. Gaming at an ultrawide resolution can be buggy at times and requires more graphical horsepower than the typical 16:9 aspect ratio, but the visual experience has proven to be worth those issues. Of all the ultrawide monitors out there, Dell's Alienware AW3423DW is certainly one of the best, though it's not exactly easy on the wallet.

From the front, the AW3423DW presents its thin bezels and almost pure black design, making it look like a pretty normal monitor. On the back, however, there's quite a bit of visual flair; the black largely gives way to white, and there's some RGB around where the monitor stand meets the monitor itself. However, what a monitor looks like from the back isn't always important, especially if you have this monitor up against a wall or something.

The AW3423DW has a top-end Quantum Dot OLED 1440p panel with a 175Hz refresh rate. This is also an 1800R curved display, which is sometimes not desirable on typical gaming monitors but is often very appreciated on ultrawide models like this one. The AW3423DW supports G-Sync (not G-Sync Compatible but actual G-Sync) and AMD FreeSync, which means no screen tearing in games, no matter what GPU you have. One weakness of this monitor is its relatively low SDR brightness of 250 nits, but in HDR content, the brightness is allowed to hit values closer to 1000 nits. It's worth mentioning that firmware updates are now possible to do at home by the user, whereas they used to require sending the monitor back to Dell to be updated.

Dell's Alienware AW3423DW is undeniably one of the best ultrawide gaming monitors out there, but it's also one of the most expensive monitors overall. Cheaper alternatives include Samsung's SJ55W, which is also 1440p and $300 but is limited to 75Hz, Gigabyte's GG34WQC A, which offers 1440p and 144Hz for $400, and Dell's non-Alienware S3422DWG, which is also around $400 for a 1440p, 144Hz panel. These displays are all, of course, inferior in quality to the AW3423DW, which is the best as long as you can afford it.

While most people don't lean towards buying monitors bigger than 32 inches, there are people who like huge monitors for their gaming setups. If you are one of them, then you'd be interested in checking out the MSI MAG401QR. This monitor is essentially a TV replacement, packing a massive 40-inch panel; however, it doesn't have typical TV functions like channel switching, and it doesn't even come with a remote. But you can sit close and enjoy content or play games on it.

As an ultrawide display, the MSI MAG401QR comes with a 3440x1440 IPS with 21:9 aspect ratio, making it quite useful for productivity-driven users. As for gamers, it has a 155Hz refresh rate, a 1ms response time, and supports FreeSync, so you can get rid of those nasty tears on AMD Radeon-powered systems. In terms of image quality, the monitor offers 300 nits of brightness and a 1000:1 contrast ratio, on top of featuring a DisplayHDR 400 certification. It also houses three USB 2.0 Type-A sockets (one of them being a downstream port) and one USB Type-C port to provide additional connectivity should you run out of ports on your PC.

If you're focused on size or a display that has great gaming features for the living room, then the MSI MAG401QR would be an awesome choice. Aside from its massive screen size, the monitor also has lots of things going for it, like its decently 155Hz refresh rate, 21:9 aspect ratio, and additional USB ports.

If you're looking for a monitor with HDMI 2.1 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X console support, you can't go wrong with the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8. This high-end monitor comes with a 4K, 144Hz VA panel certified with AMD FreeSync Premium and sports an HDMI 2.1 port. It's a great high-end monitor, although it will cost you a high price.

This monitor features the sweet specs you'd expect on a model at this price point: 4K resolution, 144Hz, 2500:1 contrast ratio, HDR 10, and AMD FreeSync Premium. Unlike many high-end monitors, however, the Odyssey Neo G8 uses a VA panel instead of an IPS panel, allowing it to have a super high contrast ratio. However, poorer color consistency across the display and higher response times offset this.

While the Odyssey Neo G8 is an expensive monitor, if you need HDMI 2.1, it's the best option on the market for next-gen support. There are cheaper HDMI 2.1 monitors out there, though, like LG's Ultragear 27GP95R-B and Acer's Nitro XV282K, but they don't offer the expansive 32" screen size of the Odyssey Neo G8.

Picking the best gaming monitor to buy in 2024

There are many options for gaming monitors, but my favorite is the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM. It's pretty expensive, but it has the kind of specs that make it more future-proof than other monitors, and it'll go well with pretty much any PC. A cheaper alternative would be Asus' ROG Strix XG27ACS, which is also 1440p and uses an IPS panel but only goes up to 180Hz (which is still pretty high, in all honesty), and the panel quality is generally a little worse. Still, it's less than half the price and very affordable for most gamers. And if you are building a new setup from scratch, then we have some other collection articles that you might be interested in, including the best mechanical keyboards.