If you’re settling in for a winter break full of gaming, it might be time to pick up a new gaming display. When we evaluate gaming monitors to find deals, we look for screens with fast refresh rates, low input lag, and sharp, clear resolution to give you the best experience possible. We’ve gone through offers from top retailers to find the best prices on well-reviewed models that perform at peak. Here are our nine December picks for the best gaming monitor discounts.
The Best Gaming Monitor Deals for December
The Best Budget Gaming Monitor Deals
You don’t have to break the bank to get a good deal on a gaming monitor. Perfectly decent panels can be purchased for just a few hundred bucks each, and they’ll sport the essential features—high refresh rate, low latency, and capable resolution. They might not have the futuristic features of some higher-end models, but they’ll do the job and come with some solid discounts.
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Samsung Odyssey G55C 32″ Gaming Monitor
Samsung makes a wide variety of displays, but its budget models are quite solid for the price, and this one is no exception. The HDR10-compatible screen gives you decent color quality and deep blacks, and the refresh rate is speedy. This is also a curved display, which offers extra immersion. Samsung’s Eye Saver mode lets you dial down the blue light for extended sessions. There is a huge 39% discount right now.
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Alienware 27″ Gaming Monitor
Dell’s Alienware brand is one of the more dependable consumer-grade hardware choices out there, and for a budget monitor, this one exceeds expectations. The 1080p resolution is just fine for a screen this size, and a speedy 180Hz maximum refresh rate will keep up with all but the most demanding games. The display also features a hardware-based low blue light solution to reduce eyestrain over long sessions. Take 33% off at Amazon right now.
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Screen Size: 27″
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Resolution: QHD (2560 x 1440)
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Refresh Rate: 180Hz
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Screen Technology: IPS
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Adaptive Sync: AMD FreeSync, Nvidia G-Sync, VESA AdaptiveSync
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Asus ROG Strix 27″ Gaming Monitor
Even on a budget, you can still get some incredible gaming performance. If you’re devoted to games that require ultra-fast reflexes, you want a monitor with an ultra-fast refresh rate. That’s why this Asus deal is so notable: The resolution is only 1080p, but it refreshes at an absolutely ridiculous 380Hz, one of the fastest anywhere on this list. Throw in a 0.3ms response time, and you’ve got a high performer at a nice 34% discount. This one is moving fast, so snag it while you can.
The Best 4K Gaming Monitor Deals
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Samsung Odyssey Neo G7 43″ 4K Gaming Monitor
The Odyssey Neo G7 is a massive piece of screen real estate with some very attractive features, especially when Amazon gives you 46% off the retail price. In PCMag’s review, the site said that this display was “an impressive screen with vibrant mini LED backlighting,” noting that it had exceptionally low input lag, a spectacular color range that made it great for creative work as well as gaming, and lots of I/O ports. While it’s not the newest monitor in their lineup, this is a great value nonetheless.
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Asus TUF Gaming 27″ 4K Gaming Monitor
With its impressive performance and high image quality, this smaller, 4K screen is great for tight spaces. The Asus TUF display supports AMD FreeSync Premium, NVIDIA G-Sync, and VESA AdaptiveSync technology to lock to your GPU’s output for the smoothest performance, and Variable Overdrive dynamically adjusts settings for even better results. A fast 160Hz refresh rate and 95% DCI-P3 professional color gamut with Shadow Boost contrast make it a fantastic option for content creators as well.
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Screen Size: 27″
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Resolution: 4K (3840 x 2160)
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Refresh Rate: 160Hz
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Screen Technology: Fast IPS
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Adaptive Sync: Nvidia G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium
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Acer Nitro XV275K 27″Gaming Monitor
Here’s another high-quality 4K monitor with a small footprint and a healthy discount. With great HDR performance and speedy refresh rates, it’ll handle all of today’s top games at maximum quality. Its input lag is just 0.1ms, and with both HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 inputs, this is a future-proof display that will work with tons of setups. It’s lightweight, has 1000 nits of brightness, and a wide viewing angle. A 20% price cut is great.
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Screen Size: 27″
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Resolution: 4K (3840 x 2160)
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Refresh Rate: 160Hz
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Screen Technology: Mini-LED
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Adaptive Sync: FreeSync Premium Pro
The Best Curved Gaming Monitor Deals
The transition to flat screens was a massive culture shift, but we’re on the verge of a second one right now. Since LED lights can be placed in any configuration, many monitor makers are taking advantage of that to create curved displays that mimic the natural curvature of your eye, reducing strain and creating a more immersive experience. If you haven’t tried one, they’re extremely cool.
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Alienware 34″ WQHD Curved Gaming Monitor
Taking $130 off this excellent Alienware display makes it a tremendous bargain, and although it’s not the biggest model on the market, it still delivers immersive gamer-centric visuals. The 180Hz refresh rate means you’ll never miss a frame, especially when you pair it with a compatible AMD Radeon GPU for FreeSync output matching. Color quality and contrast are also quite good, with DCI-P3 95% color coverage and VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification. Hardware-based blue light reduction means it won’t strain your eyes during marathon sessions.
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Screen Size: 34″
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Resolution: WQHD (3440×1440)
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Refresh Rate: 180Hz
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Screen Technology: VA
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Adaptive Sync: AMD FreeSync Premium, VESA AdaptiveSync
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Samsung 37″ Odyssey G7 4K Curved Gaming Monitor
Need something bigger and sharper still? Get incredible 4K performance from this gently curved Samsung, a potent performer with lots of cool features. Unlike most curved screens, which push the width to accentuate the horizontal curvature, the G7 maintains a 16:9 aspect ratio, making it more traditional. That said, the 1000R curvature is still very noticeable, making your games more immersive. A super-fast 165Hz refresh rate, 1ms gray-to-gray response time, and excellent color quality round out the package.
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Koorui 34″ WQHD Curved Gaming Monitor
There are bargain options available in the curved monitor space if you’re willing to look outside the beaten path. Chinese manufacturer Koorui just started operations in 2021, but it gets solid reviews for budget screens, and this is an excellent price for a display this size and resolution. With a 21:9 aspect ratio, this monitor is exceptional for widescreen content, and the 1000R curve is immersive without being distracting. DCI-P3 95% wide color gamut and 125% sRGB coverage mean great picture quality, but at just 400 nits of brightness, it’s not great for well-lit rooms. That said, keep your game cave dark, and you’ll be in business.
Gaming Monitor Buying Guide
When you’re in the market for a gaming monitor, there are a few essential features to keep in mind:
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Monitors come in a staggering array of sizes and form factors. In general, the best advice is to purchase a display that is as large as possible for your desk or wall mount. It’s better to have a screen that’s too big than one that’s too small. You’ll also want to ensure that it has a stand that can adjust to your preferred viewing angle.
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Resolution is important for high-definition gaming, but other factors are equally so. The screen’s refresh rate is one of the most important things to look at. That measures how often it can “draw” a new image. This should equal or slightly exceed what your graphics card can put out; otherwise, it’ll just be wasting its effort. Many monitors offer a variable refresh rate that can sync with your GPU.
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Other important metrics are contrast, which should not be lower than 1,000:1; color gamut, which should be rated 100% sRGB at a minimum; and pixel refresh rate. Anything under 5ms is fine for that, but you might want to opt for 1ms if you play fast-action games.
Frequently Asked Gaming Monitor Questions
How Much Does a Good Gaming Monitor Cost?
There’s a lot of variety in monitor offerings, as you can see from the deals above. Generally, a gaming monitor worth its salt will run around two hundred dollars at full retail price. Going lower than that typically involves sacrificing some functionality. However, keeping your eye out for deals can drop the cost of a budget monitor down below a hundred bucks. When your panel gets bigger and your resolution increases, the price can go up, and a solid midrange monitor will cost around $600. The sky’s the limit for the high-end 8K ones, which often come in at several thousand dollars.
Why Is a Curved Monitor Better Than a Flat-Screen Monitor?
There are many benefits to a curved monitor. For one, they allow you to have a more immersive experience by filling your field of vision more naturally than a rectangular monitor. The curvature mimics the shape of your eyeball, creating a natural interface between the display and your mind. With rectangular monitors, our eyes are naturally drawn to the edges, which can create eyestrain. Curved monitors allow your peripheral vision to contribute to your perception more consistently.
What Is a Variable Refresh Rate Gaming Monitor?
When the rate of output from your graphics card exceeds the rate at which the monitor can render frames, it can create glitches like screen tearing or stuttering. This is no fun, so display manufacturers have created software that matches the render rate from the GPU in the monitor. There are several different versions, including Adaptive-Sync, but they all work basically the same way and can make a huge difference.