Graphics cards might be the king of the gaming world and even processors are super important, but you won’t have a perfect system without a good gaming monitor. They will give you a better experience resulting in a competitive advantage and we’ve tested the best you can buy.

Are gaming monitors worth it? Yes! It’s not even about having the best combination of things, having a super powerful gaming machine is a bit pointless without a gaming monitor. Your graphics card might be capable of throwing out more than 100fps (frames per second) at a Quad HD resolution but you’ll be throwing that away with a basic screen.

You might not be using a gaming PC, but a gaming laptop instead, but if that’s got a small 13in screen you might want a gaming monitor for when you’re at home with a desk. You might even want a gaming monitor to use with your console like the PS5 or Xbox Series X.

The problem is that like a lot of technology, buying a gaming monitor is very complicated with a lot more than just screen size to decide on. You need to consider resolution, refresh rate and whether to get flat or curved.

Furthermore, there are various technologies that you might want to add to your must-have list like , AMD FreeSync and HDR.

The good news is you’ve landed at the right place to get a critical upgrade. We’ve been testing gaming monitors for years and in 2021 there are so many to choose from – starting at cheap 24in Full HD and going all the way up to 49in Ultrawide 5K curved.

It gets pretty confusing but fear not, below are our current top 10 best gaming monitors with a range of different options to suit all budgets and needs. Below the chart is a full buying guide if you’re unsure what Hz are or what 1900R means.

If you’re picking up a screen for a different purpose, why not take a look at our best monitors chart. 

Best Gaming Monitors 2021

How to choose a gaming monitor

Unless you’re an expert in display technology, it can be difficult getting your head around all the jargon relating to gaming monitors. They’re a significant investment though, so it’s worth understanding which features are the most important for playing games.

If you’re not sure what a specific aspect means, or how it will affect your experience, read our detailed buying guide before making a purchase. We also have a dedicated section on what to look for if buying for a student. 

Resolution & Refresh Rate

The first thing to consider is resolution. While it’s great to have a super high pixel density on your display to make your games look as crisp and realistic as possible, there’s a sacrifice to be made: extra pixels mean more graphical power is required.

You may be tempted by one of the UHD displays (also known as 4K). They boast a whopping 8.2 million pixels, suggesting they’ll provide the best-quality experience. They will show the most detail – that’s true – but you’ll probably have to sacrifice frames per second.

In fact, many 4K displays are capped at 60Hz (60 frames per second). That may be enough for you – if you have a graphics card that can cope. Even with a higher refresh rate UHD display, the graphics card setup you’d need to get more than 60fps at 4K would set you back thousands.

Lower resolutions mean higher refresh rates are much easier to achieve and you’ll likely be better off with 144Hz or 240Hz. You can even get 360Hz now if you feel the need, but it is diminishing returns.

Our advice is to aim for the sweet spot – 2560 x 1440, or Quad HD as it’s better known. It offers more pixels than a standard 1080p display without having to compromise on refresh rates, and the extra strain on your GPU shouldn’t be too bad either. You can always run it at 1080p if the game in question doesn’t run fast enough for you.

Panel Tech

Panel tech is the second most important consideration when buying a gaming monitor. In theory this is much more straightforward than other areas. Put simply, the best performance for gaming comes from TN panel tech. Twisted Nematic screens tend to have the fastest response times, which is more important for gaming than perfect colour accuracy and contrast. Better still, TN screens won’t break the bank.

Always read our reviews if you want to make sure your chosen monitor has decent image quality: we understand that you’ll want to use it for things besides playing games, including editing the odd photo and perhaps video.

The most common size for monitors is 24-27in, but if you’re looking for something a little larger your best bet would be to opt for an IPS or VA display – both offer premium viewing experiences, but at a higher cost.

There are also curved panels to consider. It’s a personal preference, but some people really like the way the display wraps around them and gives a more immersive experience than a flat screen.

Similarly, if you plan on buying three monitors, make sure to choose a model with the thinnest possible bezels to minimise the gap between screens.

G-Sync vs Freesync

Adaptive refresh revolutionised video processing in PC gaming. Why? For the first time, it enabled monitors to adjust refresh rate in step with the output of the graphics card, preventing frame tears. Tearing appears when rates are mismatched as the PC sends a new frame before the monitor has finished displaying the previous one. It looks ugly and you don’t want to see it.

There are two types of adaptive refresh – and Nvidia’s G-Sync – and while each essentially provides the same thing, there are differences between the two, notably that they’re not compatible with each other.

However, you can get Freesync monitors that also support G-Sync. 

G-Sync monitors have dedicated hardware for adaptive refresh, which is why G-Sync-enabled displays are more expensive. You can check for more details on G-Sync.

AMD took a different route – instead of offering additional hardware, the company added new functions to the existing DisplayPort specification (any DisplayPort 1.2a port or higher can support adaptive refresh rates). This means Freesync monitors can be a lot cheaper.

As they are basically the same, there’s no real need to choose a monitor based on whether it has one or the other. You are better off focussing on things like resolution and refresh rate based on what graphics card you have.

Motion Blur Reduction

Motion Blur Reduction is worth looking out for. It allows the display to maintain motion resolution when the on-screen visuals become more intense and fast-paced. How? It works by strobing the backlight between frames, creating a shutter-like effect similar to that found by a film projector.

The idea behind it is to shorten the time a single frame appears on-screen, thus increasing motion resolution. There is a downside though, as Motion Blur Reduction can have a negative effect on the overall brightness of the display, sometimes to a noticeable level.

It’s not necessary if you’re planning on buying a monitor with adaptive refresh and the aim of playing at more than 60fps though, as the monitors should perform well enough without it.

Ports & Connections

Most gaming monitors offer more than one input connection – some may offer a combination of HDMI, DisplayPort and even DVI – each with their own benefits. While DVI is useful, we’d focus on making sure you have at least one HDMI and one DisplayPort connection on your gaming monitor. If for nothing else, it allows you to quickly switch between multiple inputs via the display controls.

Why HDMI or DisplayPort? HDMI and DisplayPort offer both audio and video transfer, allowing your PC audio to play through the display speakers (if you want) without the use of any additional cables.

While both also offer 4K playback for high-end gaming, you’ll also need to make sure both the GPU and display offer HDMI 2.0/DisplayPort 1.3 support for [email protected] gaming. 

Read our guide on DisplayPort vs HDMI.

Audio Output

We wouldn’t worry too much about the audio output of gaming monitors. Yes, some are better than others in reproducing an acceptable audio reproduction, but if you’re a gamer, you’ll either have your own speakers or a gaming headset.

On the plus side, most monitors have a 3.5mm auxiliary output for a convenient way to quickly connect your headphones.

Gaming monitors for students

Many of the regular buying advice also applies to students, with a few notable exceptions. 

Students are more likely to have space constraints, whether it’s in uni halls or a small room at home. As such, we’d recommend checking out some of the smaller monitors on this list. 24in or 27in are good options, but we wouldn’t recommend any larger than 32in. Whether it’s curved or not very much depends on the room you’re working with.  

Full HD (1080p) is the baseline for gaming monitors, and that should serve students just fine. 4K is a nice touch, but probably more appropriate for when you have a dedicated space for gaming. This will help to keep costs down, and means you can easily upgrade in a few years when the technology has moved on. 

Having some decent speakers is great if you’re planning on using the monitor for things besides gaming, but otherwise it’s worth picking up a cheap gaming headset to go with it. 

Ideally, the monitor will have built-in speakers, which means it can double up as a monitor for