📺 The list in brief
1. Best overall
2. Best 4K
3. Budget 4K
4. Best 1440p
5. Budget 1440p
6. Budget 1080p
7. Best ultrawide
8. Budget ultrawide
9. Best 42-inch
10. Best 1440p OLED
11. Best ultrawide OLED
12. Also tested
13. How we test
14. Find the deals
15. FAQ
16. Jargon buster
The best gaming monitor is an incredibly important piece of a PC gamer's setup. Why spend lots of money on a gaming PC if you're going to play it through a tiny, 20-year-old workstation monitor? Fortunately, there are many great gaming monitors available today, including those offering ultra high-refresh 1080p, zippy 1440p options, high-fidelity 4K, and a slew of ultrawide panels.
While we're expecting further fantastic panels throughout 2024, right now the best gaming monitor is the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM. Packed with features, finely tuned for gaming and delivering all the benefits of OLED on the desktop—it's the gaming monitor we all crave. Check out our guide to the best OLED gaming monitors for even more options.
You need to match your monitor choice with your PC specs to get the most for your money. A 4K monitor with a high refresh rate would be overkill if your rig only packs a GTX 1060, and for those cases, the BenQ Mobiuz EX240 is the best budget 1080p monitor at the moment. If you prefer high refresh over resolution, check out our guide to the best high refresh rate gaming monitors.
Dave's been testing PC hardware for the best part of 20 years and has seen every kind of screen imaginable. As such he knows what makes a good gaming monitor and what makes a bad one, too. Whether it's LCD, OLED, mini-LED, or plain ol' CRT, he's had his eyeballs on them all and has personally checked out all of the best gaming monitors on this list.
The Quick List
The best overall
The most desirable gaming monitor money can buy right now. The ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM is speedy, stunning and the 4K resolution offers a crisp and detailed picture. This is the gaming monitor most people want.
The best 4K
The LG UltraGear 27GR93U is LG's IPS tech at its best. It's absolutely gorgeous with colors that are accurately calibrated. With key gaming quotas reached for refresh rate and response time, it's the best in show for a standard 4K panel.
The best budget 4K
Gigabyte's more affordable 4K monitors go down a treat with us. They're fast and bright where it counts, and they offer USB hubs despite their good value. The stands are a bit basic, but we'll take it.
The best 1440p
Thermaltake has stormed out the gate with its first gaming monitor; it's a zinger. A 27-inch IPS panel with a 165Hz refresh rate and 1ms response—standard, yes, but it's really good looking.
The best budget 1440p
The PXC277 doesn't look like a bargain basement item it might have done. At this price point, we were willing to make a few excuses, but that's not actually necessary. This monitor delivers: The Pixio PXC277 Advanced does almost everything pretty darned well.
The best budget 1080p
Strictly not to be confused with the Mobiuz EX240N—and that's very important, because it's a far worse monitor—this 1080p IPS display is a proper 165Hz gaming monitor that ticks all the boxes for mainstream PC gaming.
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The best ultrawide
This dual-4K monster does things no other gaming display can. Admittedly, the mini-LED technology can't match OLED for lighting precision and panel response. And it costs an enormous pile of money. But this is still the most spectacular gaming experience currently available.
The best budget ultrawide
A contrasty VA panel, plenty of backlight punch provided you run the screen in HDR mode (where SDR content looks better anyway), reasonable pixel response, and high enough refresh for most gamer's purposes. That you can have all this for $370 is fantastic.
The best 42-inch
The ROG Swift brings all the best parts of the LG C2 into the gaming space, improving it in a host of ways that gamers will be better pleased with. Sure the adjustments are limited, but the PG42UQ is a gamer's bestie where it matters and another champion for the OLED cause.
The best 1440p OLED
If you prefer a smaller resolution and a higher refresh rate, this is the OLED gaming monitor for you. It's the ultimate 1440p monitor, but it's so expensive it disqualifies itself from contention for most gamers.
The best ultrawide OLED
Alienware and its use of the Samsung-made QD-OLED panel, has created the best gaming monitor, and changed the perception of OLED screens for gaming. This is the cheaper version of Alienware's OLED and the better, glossy version.
Recent updates
Updated May 3, 2024 to add a new best gaming monitor, the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM.
Best gaming monitor
✅ You want all-round excellence: An OLED with a 4K resolution is crisp, detailed and practically unbeatable for gaming right now.
❌ You want eye-searing brightness: OLED monitors offer high brightness across small patches of the screen at one time, rather than full-screen brightness.
The Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM is the best gaming monitor right now. It's an enviable blend of 4K and OLED, which is a match made in heaven.
The PG32UCDM is part of a second wave of OLED gaming monitors, with a sparkling new QD-OLED panel from Samsung. It has launched alongside some similar gaming monitors, including the Alienware 32 AW3225QF and Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2, but neither could match the calibration and feature set of the ROG. They come close, however, so don't write either off with a discount.
Like many other OLEDs, the PG32UCDM smashes all expectations for contrast and vibrancy. Any game played on this gaming monitor looks better for it. The moodier the game, the better. This OLED panel deals particularly well with moody scenes, though does struggle with bright light and bright scenes. That's true of most OLEDs, however.
The glossy coating across the panel helps make up for any misgivings I have about overall brightness, and it's still plenty bright enough while actually gaming to offer an excellent and lasting impression.
You'll need a powerful graphics card to make the most of this screen's full 240 Hz refresh rate at its native 4K resolution. However, that 4K resolution pays dividends in many other ways. Pixel density is fantastic across the 32-inch size panel, and that makes for a super sharp image. Due to an unusual subpixel layout, most OLED monitors struggle with something called text fringing. Though the PG32UCDM's resolution and density means that's barely noticeable on this panel compared to others.
While familiar features for many OLED gaming monitors, the 0.03 ms response time and support for both FreeSync and G-Sync variable refresh rate technologies are icing on an already delicious cake.
The PG32UCDM's build might not be to everyone's taste but the stand is sturdy and Asus has stuffed a heatsink inside to keep heat away from the panel. That and other OLED care features for burn-in, in theory, all help to keep this monitor working over a long lifespan.
Overall, the ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM is the OLED gaming monitor to beat today, and if you have the budget to buy one, you will not be disappointed.
Read our full Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM review.
Best 4K gaming monitor
✅ You want a top-notch 144Hz 27-inch 4K gaming panel: While this LG model doesn't offer anything especially new, what it does have is all exceptionally good.
❌ You want the best value for money: At this price point, there are lots of choices on the market. It's very expensive for a 27-inch gaming monitor with limited HDR support.
The LG UltraGear 27GR93U is the best 4K gaming monitor for its stellar picture quality and all-round performance. It might not be the flashiest monitor around, but it delivers the fundamentals of a great 4K gaming monitor better than most.
LG makes a lot of panels for monitors, but it's paid particular care with this monitor to tune it wonderfully out of the box. Just plug this monitor in, boot up your favourite game (I recommend something vibrant, like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora) and you'll quickly realise just how gorgeous this screen is. There's loads of pop to the picture without going overboard and oversaturating.
As a 27-inch, 4K panel, the resolution squeezes plenty of pixels per inch. That means it's a supremely clear picture and great for gaming but also showing off lots of text. That said, it's not as immersive as some ultrawide gaming monitors, which will wrap around your vision, and being a full 4K panel this LG will actually often require more computational power than most traditional ultrawides with fewer pixels overall.
That's the thing, you will need a mighty graphics card to run this UltraGear gaming monitor at its fullest. It runs up to 144Hz, which is attainable with modern GPUs, though you'll likely want to turn to upscaling methods to help you reach full speed. It depends on the game, however.
We recommend you switch on HDR with this monitor, despite it only scraping in with 400 nits of peak brightness. It still looks really great with both HDR and SDR content with HDR enabled, which is a pleasant surprise.
The LG UltraGear 27GR93U is a really strong pick for single-player gamers looking for a gaming monitor that will show them the best of their games and the best of 4K gaming. Also, it's great for editing content on and working with throughout the day—it's a really flexible monitor. Though not literally, unlike some, so don't try and bend it in half.
While you do have to pay for the privilege of this LG UltraGear gaming monitor, it's quite simply the best all-round 4K gaming monitor we've tested.
Read our full LG UltraGear 27GR93U review.
Best budget 4K gaming monitor
✅ You want a great budget 4K panel: High resolution panels are a joy to work and play on but they're usually very expensive. Not this one.
❌ You don't have a powerful graphics card: As with all 4K panels, running it at a lower resolution doesn't look nice and you really need a top-end GPU to make the most of this monitor.
The best budget 4K gaming monitor is the Gigabyte M28U. And yeah, budget and 4K are not words often seen together. Yet Gigabyte is offering a cheaper 4K panel than most here, and yet it's still a glorious IPS.
With a 28-inch IPS panel, the M28U offers plenty of pixels per inch. The result is a super clear and crisp picture while gaming, which is paired well with the rich tone of the IPS. For a bright and vibrant game such as Deathloop, it's honestly stunning. As long as you avoid using it in HDR mode, that is, as like many IPS panels it doesn't offer the best HDR experience out there.
What's impressive about the Gigabyte M28U is just how much is stuffed into the Gigabyte M28U for the money. Beyond the pretty speedy IPS panel, there's a USB hub on the rear that includes multiple Type-A connections. Useful if you want to keep your cables tidy and run your mouse and cable directly to the monitor itself.
The stand is perhaps the only let-down on the M28U, but I'm willing to let this one slide. It's sturdy enough and offers some height and tilt adjustment, but it's a bit plasticky and not altogether as flexible as some. Though something had to give for this price bracket, and I'm happy it's the stand that's been trimmed back rather than the panel or refresh rate.
You can't go wrong with the Gigabyte M28U, assuming you have the graphics card capable of driving it. We've been using this monitor in the team for over two years now and it's still performing as well as the day we got it.
Read our full Gigabyte M28U review.
Best 1440p gaming monitor
✅ You want the best 1440p monitor: Thermaltake hasn't rewritten any rules with this model but it has produced a very good 1440p gaming panel.
❌ You want to power a laptop with the USB hub: The KVM switch is very useful but the 15W USB-C power delivery is barely good enough for a phone, let alone another PC.
A surprise hit, the Thermaltake TGM-I27FQ is our pick for the best 1440p gaming monitor. It's a prized and heavily contested spot, too. I think many PC gamers would agree that 1440p and 165Hz is the perfect blend of speed and resolution, and that means there are heaps of gaming monitors vying for your attention. But the TGM-I27FQ has absolutely got ours.
This is one of the first gaming monitors out of Thermaltake. Ever. You wouldn't expect such high results from a new entrant, yet it's becoming something of a theme in gaming monitors. After all, ASRock's first line of gaming monitors are also fantastic, and superb value. But less about them, let's talk Thermaltake.
At 27 inches, this is about as big as you'd want to go at 1440p. While bigger is certainly possible, such as the Dell S3222DGM, you'll start to notice each pixel as the pixel density decreases. The Thermaltake offers a decent density by comparison.
With a 165Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and IPS panel, Thermaltake is ticking all the boxes we would like to be ticked with a 1440p gaming monitor. In a way, then, this monitor isn't doing anything radical, but it's the best of a well-priced bunch that we've seen in getting this stuff right.
The stand is also solid here, and offers proper adjustments including rotation, if you're into that. The only weird bit of this entire monitor is the little Thermaltake logo projector, which I'd rather Thermaltake kept for themselves. I don't need a brand name beamed onto my desk, thank you very much. At least the RGB lighting on the rear isn't so egregious.
With both AMD and Nvidia variable refresh rate support, this is what we'd consider a great 1440p gaming monitor for a wide range of PC gamers.
Read our full Thermaltake TGM-I27FQ review.
