Top 7 Best 1080p Gaming Monitors – Gaming Monitors Under $200

Today we will talk about some of the categories I'll be going over are 1080p 144Hz 1080p 240Hz 1440p 144Hz, and 1440p 240Hz also. Since I don't have a PS5 or an Xbox series X, I won't be recommending anything in particular for the Next Gen consoles since I have no clue what works best 120Hz support seems finicky on next Gen consoles plus.

 I think Sony is stupid for not including 1440p support a couple more things before we get started. Keep in mind that I won't be able to talk about every monitor on the planet. There are a crap ton of monitors being released all the time. Because I work full time, I can't get to every gaming monitor that matters with that said, I'll be focusing primarily on the monitors I reviewed already and might throw in some monitors that I haven't tested myself but think are a good alternative or runner up.

Best 1080p Gaming Monitors

Let's begin. We'll start with the 1440p monitors, specifically 144Hz, because that seems to be the most popular monitor based on the nearly 9000 votes I received from you guys. I can see why not only have a drop-down in price considerably over the years but the price you can get them at now they offer an outstanding balance between high refresh rate gaining great color reproduction depending on the monitor and the high pixel density giving you those crisp images.

Dell S2721DGF VS LG 27GN850

Now when it came to choosing which 1 I thought was best, it was a super close fight between the LG27GN850 and the dell S2721DGF 27-Inch both of these monitors are pretty much the same minors the design, but the dell wins slightly overall design-wise I think the dell looks better between the 2.

I never like to V-Shaped legs compared to a square base because you don't get the freedom of pulling a monitor as close as you can with a square base. Now, sure you can use a monitor arm to solve this, but I'm not worried about that for this guide.

In terms of IO input-output, the dell wins this hands down, including the standard 2 HDMI 2.0 ports and 1 DisplayPort 1.4 port and just like the LG, but the dell takes it a step further by including 4 USB 3.0 ports to expand your USP needs further.

Other than that, they both use similar if not the same panel with a dell being jacked up on steroids giving you a refresh rate of 165Hz rather than the LG's measly 144Hz both have 8 bit plus FRC support to provide it with a 10-bit color depth and both are obviously 1440p they also performed very similarly when it came to peak brightness contrast ratios gamut coverage and out of the box color accuracy now when it comes to the gaming performance that's where the LG pulls ahead not just a disclaimer I did do these tests with the aliens set to 2400 pixels per second almost all of the other tests if not all the other ones will be set at 1920 pixels per second.

Anyway, at 144 plus Hz in the LG does the best compared to the Dell by producing an image that's slightly clearer when using the fast overdrive setting. Now is this something the average person will notice when doing a blind test between the 2 monitors? Absolutely not.

So if you're eyeing the dell, but now you're thinking of getting the LG because it's slightly better pixel response times, don't because you won't notice these differences in the real world. The LG does have a higher mode called faster, but it looks identical to the Dells extreme overdrive settings, so I saw no point in adding it not only because there's no point but also because I just don't have any more space.

Now when it comes to the black equalizer, they both perform pretty well, making dark areas quite bright so you can see those pesky campers hiding in dark areas. The dell takes 1 step further, though, by including a color vibrance feature in the form of color saturation which lets you add more colors when needed so people can blend in with their background as easily.

Then lastly for the gaming aspect with the input lag, which felt identical on both monitors as expected, so overall, I don't think you should decide based on their gaming performance unless you value the color saturation simply because they're very similar at this point it's a matter of which brand you like more if you need the Dells USB hub if you want to be v-shaped legs or square base which design you like the most and if you want a software-controlled OSD which the dell has with their display manager but the LG does not.

If I were to choose, I personally go the dell simply because it has everything to LG has except a better design. In my opinion, it has a higher refresh rate it has color vibrancy, and a USB hub, all for a slightly higher but justified MSRP. By the way, if you want the LG with a USB hub, the 2019 GL850 model is the exact same monitor as the 2020 GN850 but with a couple of USB ports on the back as well as with the older stand and like design.

1440p at 240Hz Alienware AW2721D

Next is 1440p 240Hz this one a pretty easy choice as well the absolute best monitor for the segment that I've reviewed so far is the newly released Alienware  aw2721D. Please start with the basics, and it has a beautiful 10-bit Nano IPS panel that gets as bright as 500 nits on STR, or standard dynamic range has an average 958 to 1 contrast ratio because it has an IPS panel and has G-sync alternate in terms of gaming performance the input lag is very low making it 1 of the most responsive monitors I've tested so far.

Alongside every other 240Hz monitor I've tested yet, there's a response time that are also extremely good, especially for an IPS panel doing a good job keeping up with the Alienware 360Hz model and the BENQ Zowie XL2546K, as long as we're not talking about backlight strobing results because as you can see the 360-hertz model and the ZOWIE leave the Alienware AW2721d in the dust when you enable their backlight strobing technologies.

Nano IPS panels don't get back like strobing because apparently, it looks absolutely horrible. I've never personally seen how it looks, but it's worth noting if you're someone who absolutely needs the best clarity when I came to the black equalizer, things were pretty okay. It performed pretty much the same as the dell S2721DGF mainly because dell uses the same black equalizer for older monitors. At least that's what it seems.

One thing this doesn't have, unlike the dell S2721DGF, is color saturation, so it seems that are washed out we'll stay washed out unless you're using something like Nvidia's color saturation feature color accuracy out of the box was great since Dell does basic factory calibration before sending you your monitor with my unit having an average DeltaE of 1.95 average DeltaE of 0.39 once I run it through portrait Calman calibration software.

Advantages and Disadvantages

It also had amazing gamut coverage covering 100 percent of the sRGB color space, 84 percent of the Adobe RGB color space, and 96 percent of the DCI P3 color space, so not only can you play on the highest level of competitive gaming, but you can do professional work on it as well the only problem I have in this monitor is that it doesn't support Nvidia's ULMB backlight strobing technology, but that's more of a panel issue.

It doesn't have a color vibrance. It doesn't support dell display manager software, at least when I was doing my review on that monitor, and HDR is not that great. It's not bad, but the issue I had with it were the ugly vertical dimming zones which grabbed my attention more than when I was watching when there was a dark scene.

So overall this monitor is great for people that want an all in 1 gaming and professional monitor, but for $1100, this isn't for most people; however, when I posed in the review for that monitor, it was going for $733 on Amazon making it a stupid good deal I have no clue if that was a mistake and if those orders were actually fulfilled but if they actually were going for that much. It was on the Alienware AW271D is an amazing choice.

Samsung Odyssey G7

The second place for the 1440p 24Hz Monitor segment is the Samsung Odyssey G7. Sadly, I lost all my files for the G7, so I won't be able to show your pixel response times the way I have been showing you throughout the guide so far.

Basically, though, it has extremely good pixel response times without backlight strobing and does even better with backlight strobing enabled but just like the G5 with backlinks strobing enabled, it lowers the peak brightness from 332, and it's down to 234 nits.

Which is still plenty bright for most people but lower than the peak brightness. It also has very good contrast ratios at 2443.1

Those blacks will be more black than your standard IPS NTN panel, which should add more depth and immersion. The black equalizer was also pretty good. It does extremely well going from the default settings to the lowest setting, brightening up everything so you can see those pesky campers a lot easier, but the image was washed out since there's no color vibrance feature just like the G5.

Input lag was also on part with just about any other 240Hz monitor I've ever used, so if you're worried about input lag, don't be. You'll absolutely love it. Another thing you'll love is the panel, well, mostly at least. It's got excellent camera coverage covering 100 percent of the sRGB color space, 80 percent of Adobe RGB, and 88 percent of the DCI P3 color space.

So it's not quite as good as the Alienware. However, it's still very good for some intermediate colorwork color accuracy was also extremely good out of the box since Samsung calibrates all their G7 before sending it to the customer. My unit, in particular, had a DeltaE of only 2.22, which is very accurate and 0.49 once I calibrated it myself. Design-wise it's nice, but one thing I really hated when using it was how big the legs were. They were a whopping 16 inches long per leg and had a wingspan of 22 inches, so it really invades your desk.

BenQ Zowie XL2546K - 1080 Gaming Monitors

Next is 1080p 24Hz, which can go many ways. If you're looking for a monitor that will give you the absolute best competitive edge, look no further than BenQ Zowie XL2546K. It has the best response time of any gaming monitor I've used so far, not only because of how clear the images because a lot of monitors with backlight strobing can achieve these results.

What's impressive here is how clear the images all while not sacrificing any brightness. The XL2546K stays as bright as 320 nits with or without diet plus, which is why I love using this monitor so much when it comes to competitive gaming, among other things.

The black equalizer is 1 of the best ones I've seen as well on any monitor making dark areas much brighter and also including color vibrance features. You can distinguish enemies not just from the shadows but also from the background if they're trying to blend in.

Input lag is as good as it gets for 240Hz, as well as being extremely responsive. The OSD is also 1 of the better ones I've mentioned so far, including their switch remote, which allows you to hold 1 of the three profile button for 3 seconds to save settings to that profile, so you don't have to keep fumbling around with an OSD nipple the only thing.

 I think it does poorly is media consumption with its poor viewing angles, typical contrast ratio of 1017.1, poor gamut coverage, and poor out-of-the-box color accuracy both pre and post-calibration. This is an eSports focus monitor and nothing else. That doesn't mean you can't use it for media consumption, though, because after using this zowie for a few days after using a Nano IPS panel for a few months prior, my eyes got used to it, and I wasn't worried about how colors look anymore.

MSI MAG251RX - 1080 Gaming Monitors

If you want a 240 1080p monitor that can do it, all the best 1 I've tested so far is the MSI MAG251RZX. It can do pretty much everything the zowie can do, but it hasn't an IPS panel, so that the media consumption experience will be much better.

It has excellent viewing angles had an out-of-the-box delta E of 3.33, so colors will be pretty accurate. Had an average deltaE of 0.46 after calibration so that colors will be perfectly displayed, has a peak brightness of 437 nits a contrast ratio of 1183:1, and covers 96 percent of the sRGB color space, 70 percent of the Adobe RGB color space, and 77 percent of the DCI P3 color space.

So you'll have no problems doing some basic colorwork. As I said earlier, you can do pretty much Zowie can do but fall short in a few minor things pixel response times are great without ELMB producing an image I actually prefer over zowie and does excellent with backlight strobing enabled as well, making the image super clear.

The only issue with the backlight strobing on this monitor is that it decreased and peak brightness from 437 nits down to 169 nits when enabled, making it pretty dark for a good amount of users. What is a dark, though, is whatever game you're playing as the black equalizer on this monitor is very good at doing almost as well as is that zowie by increasing the brightness of the dark areas very well but not having a Coloradans feature so colors will stay washed out in these gray scalish color-themed games

Input lag was also as good as it gets being extremely responsive, and when it comes to the OSB, this one was the 1 of the best always these I've seen so far as it includes almost all of the hardware is these functions within the software, and you can tie it into an application so when you open an application it enables that profile automatically for you.

So I think the MSI MAG251RX is probably the best overall 1080p 240Hz monitor since it can do it all while costing $140 less than zowie when comparing MSRP, which makes it much more attractive to potential buyers.

Is MSI a good monitor brand?

5.0 out of 5 stars because of good brand in the gaming monitor for people who like viewing angles , large display, and a large display while still being easy to drive. For what it is, it is a excellent gaming monitor that will provide you,1080, 1440, 144hz refresh rate and fast response times.

MSI Optix MAG251RX vs Dell Alienware AW2521HF

Reference website

bestbuy

pcgamer

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