The Best Budget Gaming Monitors in 2024

One of the most important aspects of gaming on a budget is to find a good monitor since what you see is one of the main ways you interact with your games and it can either make or break your gaming experience.

Budget monitors have gotten a lot better with time, where what we consider budget right now would be regarded as pretty good even for eSports gaming in the past. When hunting for a budget monitor you are most likely looking at a 1080P panel that can do as many refreshes as possible in a 24’’ (possibly 27’’) form factor.

Since gaming and hardware have been evolving the popularity of 1440P monitors has also been growing so we tried to find a couple of decent budget 1440P monitors as well. Considering that these are all budget options you may find that these are older tech and designs but such is the way of the budget gamer that looks purely at value for their money and tries to grab the best deal possible.

Best Budget Gaming Monitors

Gigabyte G24F 2

The Fastest Budget Gaming Monitor

gigabyte g24f 2
  • 1920x1080P 24’’
  • IPS 1ms MPRT
  • 95% DCI-P3,& 125% sRGB

The Gigabyte G24F 2 is an interesting choice because this monitor is a refresh (2022) of the regular G24F which makes it a bit better since it uses better tech. This is a 1920×1080 IPS monitor that can refresh at 180Hz in OC mode or 165Hz regularly (OC mode has no downsides).

Since this is an IPS panel you get 95% DCI-P3 and 125% sRGB accuracy so this is effectively a gaming and content consumption and creation monitor since the color reproduction is accurate. You also benefit from features like AMD FreeSync Premium which also translates to G-Sync compatibility which might come in handy if you want to play casual games with 0 tearing.

You can buy this monitor for around 150-170$ (depending on sales), making it a good bang-for-buck purchase for a gamer that wants both a response and color-accurate monitor while not breaking the bank.

Pros:
  • 180Hz is a decent spot to be in when looking for a budget monitor
  • IPS panels are both color accurate and fast making it great for everything you do
  • The viewing angles on IPS panels are superior to TN/VA
  • There is no downside to using the full 180Hz in OC mode
Cons:
  • The monitor stand has only forward/backward tilt which is not an issue if you use a monitor arm
  • The fact that you need to “overclock” the monitor to hit the 180Hz might make certain people uncomfortable leading to them ignoring the feature that makes this monitor special

Acer Nitro VG240YSbiip

The Best Value Proposition

acer nitro vg240ysbiip
  • 1920x1080P 24’’
  • IPS 2-0.5ms G2G
  • 99% sRGB

The Acer Nitro VG240Y is an interesting case because the normal price is even higher than the 180Hz G24F 2 but because this monitor spends most of its time being discounted to around 130-140$ this monitor suddenly becomes a super good value pick for anybody looking for a 1080P 165Hz monitor.

This is an IPS panel so once again your viewing angles and colors (99% sRG) will look great compared to a TN panel and with varying overdrive modes you can go between 2ms and 0.5ms (G2G measurement).

If needed you can also use FreeSync/G-Sync to get rid of tearing in less competitive games at the cost of 1-2ms depending on the implementation itself. Overall this is a great gaming monitor that ticks all the boxes when it comes to performance making it hard not to recommend at ~140$.

Pros:
  • 165Hz IPS panel for 140$ or maybe even less if the sales go even crazier
  • G-Sync/FreeSync is available
  • Is VESA compatible
  • Great viewing angles and color reproduction
Cons:
  • Only forward-backward tilt 5-20 degrees
  • The 0.5ms response time is misleading since you can only achieve 0.5ms when in maximum overdrive mode which makes the monitor unusable (ghosting/haloing)

Asus VG258QR

TN Is Still Viable

asus vg258qr
  • 1920x1080P 24’’
  • TN 0.5ms
  • 90% sRGB

TN panels get knocked down quite a bit on current monitor lists for obvious reasons – bad viewing angles, bad color reproduction, and varying levels of performance depending on the manufacturer. At the same time, TN panels are usually the cheapest and offer one of the fastest response times with the least ghosting and blurring.

The Asus VG258QR is part of the TUF monitor lineup (VG models) being the cheapest option because it uses a TN panel. The VG258QR is a 1080P, 165Hz monitor with 0.5ms response times and Adaptive-Sync technology included.

Since this is a 24’’ 1080P monitor you can negate some of the bad viewing angles by positioning the monitor right in front of you while when it comes to colors you will just have to live with a 90% sRGB rating. Overall if you only care about gaming and want a fast panel the VG258QR is a decent choice for the money you are paying.

Pros:
  • 144-165Hz is decent for gaming
  • TN panels are fast and do not suffer from blur/ghosting
  • G-Sync certified
  • Ergonomic stand with full height/tilt/swivel/pivot adjustments
Cons:
  • The 0.5ms advertised response times are more of a gimmick than an actually usable overdrive mode

HP X27q

The Best Entry-Level 1440P Monitor

hp x27q
  • 1440P 27’’
  • IPS 1ms
  • 165Hz

1440P is becoming a lot more popular with hardware being able to push higher resolutions and FPS in games with the only downside being the cost being higher. If you do want to try 1440P without breaking the bank, you should look at the HPX27q which is an excellent entry-level 1440P monitor with decent specs at a very decent price (around 200$).

For your money, you get an IPS panel that runs at 165Hz with 1ms response times. This is all packaged in a 27’’ form factor on a height, tilt, and pivot adjustable stand. Since this is an IPS panel you get great viewing angles and 99% sRGB accuracy. As with all other monitors, you get Adaptive-Sync compatibility and other general features you might expect from a modern device.

The only real downside of this monitor is that it is rather plain-looking, but if you are trying to get gaming at 1440P on a budget that should be the least of your concerns!

Pros:
  • You can often find this model selling for 200$ which is a huge discount for 1440P
  • 1440P, 165Hz, and 27’’ is all perfectly balanced in terms of specs
  • Fully adjustable stand
Cons:
  • Varying levels of quality depending on panel manufacturer – some are better than others
  • A little bit plain looking

ViewSonic VX2718-2KPC-MHD

Budget 1440P Monitor

viewsonic vx2718-2kpc-mhd

The ViewSonic VX2718-2KPC-MHD is another great budget monitor option for 1440P gaming because it is a 165Hz, 1ms response time panel that can dish out some good colors since this is a VA panel.

Being 2560x1440P and 27’’ in size means you get a nice clear image and good pixel density for clear gaming visuals. Also since this is a VA panel, the monitor is curved (1500R) which for some helps with the immersive aspect of games.

The downside of all of this for gaming is that while VA panels have great color accuracy (102% sRGB) they are not the fastest in terms of ghosting and blur resulting in less-than-clear images under certain circumstances. So although the panel is advertised at 1ms response times, when compared to a TN or IPS 1ms there is a clear visual difference.

Overall for a budget monitor for casual and semi-competitive gaming, the ViewSonic VX2718-2KPC-MHD is a good choice since you can get it at around 200$ most times and enjoy the benefits of higher resolution and pixel density.

Pros:
  • Great color accuracy with a VA panel
  • Certain people prefer curved monitors for immersion reasons
  • 165Hz is good enough for even semi-competitive gaming
  • Has Adaptive-Sync and all the usual settings for a gaming monitor
Cons:
  • Tilt/forward only stand
  • VA panels are on the bottom of the list for gaming purposes because these are the slowest type
  • Overall pretty basic looking monitor

About The Author

Chris (vile_is_dead)

Custom Windows ISO enjoyer, FPS optimizer, and aim improvement enthusiast. Will disassemble all of his peripherals (and sometimes PC parts) to mod them even if all of them work perfectly fine. Discord/Twitter: vile_is_dead

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