A New Monitor Is Your Best PC Upgrade!

Technology is always improving, and there’s no place that’s more evident than in the latest monitors. Our Monitor Buyer’s Guide continues to feature the best offerings, a total of ten models in all, many of them launched in the past year. This just goes to show just how fast the industry is moving.

From mainstream to 4K to ultra-wide, there’s something new and better at every pricepoint! And a quick shoutout to gamers: if you’ve been holding off on a new GPU upgrade due to high prices, use the money you’ve saved up on a new gaming monitor and get the most from your current PC today!

All the Best Picks for Fall 2022!

There’s a monitor in our guide for everyone, from home and small office users, to content creators, traders, and gamers. They include models ranging in size from 24″ to 38″, and just about every resolution you can think of, from 1920 x 1080 to four times that (3840 x 2160 or 4K). But there’s more to monitors than just size and resolution. Therefore, we’ve broken down our picks into two main categories:

• Home- and Small-Office Monitors: The first five monitors on our list fit into this category, offering prices, features, and designs for any office environment. They start at just over $100 and go up to around $1,000.
• Gaming Monitors: The last five monitors on our list are gaming-specific monitors, which at this point must feature both frame syncing technology (AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync) and high refresh rates (at minimum we recommend 144Hz, but our picks now go up to 175Hz). There’s no reason to buy a “gaming monitor” that doesn’t have both of these features today. While Acer and Asus used to dominate the gaming monitor market, there’s more competition than ever, including from the big names in the TV industry, particularly LG, plus the elite gaming brands Alienware and Gigabyte. This is pushing innovation forward and bringing prices down. It’s an exciting time to be a gamer!

A Quick Primer on Frame Syncing Technology

Gamers who have been out of the market for a while may want to learn more about the concept of frame syncing. This method of displaying images on screen matches a monitor’s refresh rate to frames rendered, rather than refreshing at a locked 60Hz. Sounds simple, but it makes a big difference. By eliminating lag and screen tearing caused by too many or too few frames being displayed, frame syncing provides truly fluid images.

There are two types: Nvidia’s G-Sync, which requires additional hardware in the monitor along with a licensing fee that drives up the price, as well as AMD’s FreeSync, which uses capabilities built into the DisplayPort standard. While this led to confusion among gamers for years, Nvidia finally relented in early 2020 and unlocked FreeSync compatibility in its modern GPUs via drivers. Today, any monitor marketed as “G-Sync Compatible” actually works on either Nvidia or AMD GPUs! With that said, “G-Sync” monitors still only work on Nvidia GPUs, and we typically only recommend those to gamers using ultra-high-end Nvidia GPUs. To see our recommend video cards, definitely check out our Video Card Buyer’s Guide.

Final Thoughts

As always, links to Amazon are provided for our US readers, which will auto-convert for readers in Canada, the UK, and parts of the EU, with automatic substitutions made where necessary. If you decide to purchase any of the models we profile, please support this site by using the links we provide.