The 4 Best Budget And Cheap Gaming Monitors - Fall 2023 Reviews

The best gaming monitor you can get on a budget is the ViewSonic XG2431. It's an impressive gaming monitor with more features than even more expensive options. It has a fast 240Hz refresh rate, and even though its 1080p resolution and 24-inch screen size may seem limited, this is typical of budget monitors, and the lower resolution makes it easier for your graphics card to maintain high frame rates. Despite its budget price, it's well-built, and the stand offers great ergonomics, making it easy to adjust to an ideal viewing position.

Its stand-out feature is the customizable backlight strobing feature, where you can adjust the flicker of it to your liking. Many monitors can't do this, so it's a nice addition to a budget-friendly display. It also has incredible motion handling, thanks to the quick response time across its entire refresh rate range. Lastly, it has FreeSync variable refresh (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing, and it's also G-SYNC compatible to work with NVIDIA graphics cards. If you want something with an even higher 360Hz refresh rate, you can also consider the Dell Alienware AW2523HF. However, it costs more, so it may be out of your budget.

If you're looking for a simple and cheap gaming monitor for your first gaming setup, check out the Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx. It has a 24-inch screen and 1080p resolution like the ViewSonic XG2431, but the main difference is that it has a lower 165Hz refresh rate. This means it isn't ideal if you want to play games at a consistently high refresh rate, but it's still fine if you have a basic gaming setup that can't keep up with high refresh rates.

Gaming on this monitor feels great because it has a quick response time at high refresh rates, but there's some overshoot at lower refresh rates with VRR enabled. You can disable VRR if the overshoot bothers you and you want better motion handling, but its overall motion handling isn't as good as the ViewSonic. Luckily, it also has FreeSync VRR and G-SYNC compatibility to reduce screen tearing.

Most low-cost monitors have a 24 or 25-inch screen like this one, as the gaming monitor market for cheap displays with larger screens is limited. However, if you want a bigger screen, the Gigabyte G27Q is a great gaming option with a 1440p resolution, so it delivers more detailed images but costs a bit more than the Acer and has worse motion handling.

If you don't want a cheap monitor like the Acer Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx as you're willing to spend more, and you want something bigger than the ViewSonic XG2431, look into the 27-inch Gigabyte M27Q p. There are trade-offs to getting this bigger size over the ViewSonic, as it has a lower refresh rate of 170Hz, and its backlight strobing feature isn't as versatile. However, its higher 1440p resolution results in a more detailed gaming experience with higher pixel density, giving you sharper and more detailed images.

It's an impressive gaming monitor with VRR support to reduce screen tearing. It also has a quick response time for smooth motion, but there's more motion blur than the ViewSonic. It has a few extra features to improve your gaming experience, like a black equalizer mode that makes it easier to see opponents in games and the ability to add different virtual crosshairs, giving you a competitive advantage. You can also consider the Gigabyte M27Q, which is an older version of this monitor and is also great for gaming, but it's sold with different panels, so it's unclear which version of that monitor you'll get. At least with the M27Q P, you'll know what you're getting when buying it.

If you're okay with getting something with worse gaming performance than the Gigabyte M27Q P to get the biggest possible size within your budget, check out the LG 32GN650-B. You can also find it as the 32GN63T-B at different retailers, and both variants perform the same. While it costs more than other budget monitors, there aren't many cheaper 32-inch monitors that offer great gaming performance like this one. It's a great gaming monitor with the same 1440p resolution as the Gigabyte, but because of its larger size, the pixel density is lower, so images aren't as sharp.

It also has worse motion handling than the Gigabyte due to its slower response time, but it's still decent enough for most casual gamers, and like most gaming monitors, it has VRR support. It's also a better choice than the Gigabyte if you want to use it in a dark room because its VA panel has a higher contrast ratio and decent black uniformity without much blooming around bright objects. However, that panel type has worse viewing angles, meaning images look washed out from the sides.