A great gaming monitor is a portal into your favorite games, where fast, fluid motion and natural color help create a seamless window into virtual worlds, from the Mushroom Kingdom to the Lands Between. After considering more than 100 gaming monitors and testing 19 this year, we’ve found a select few monitors by MSI to be the best blend of performance and price.
We think the best gaming monitor for most people is the MSI MAG 274QRF QD E2. It’s a fast, sharp IPS display that has rich, vibrant colors, especially after a quick menu tweak. And although this wasn’t part of our criteria, it also has a USB-C port with 65 W of charging so you can connect both a work laptop and personal desktop gaming PC.
If you’re willing to spend about twice as much, the MSI MAG 271QPX QD-OLED E2 is an equally sizable upgrade. It has a QD-OLED display that has far more control over individual pixels than a traditional monitor with a backlight, meaning incredible contrast and color compared with our other picks.
And if you’re on a budget, or just looking for a no-frills 1080p gaming monitor, the MSI G255PF E2 has surprisingly few motion artifacts for a $125 display.
Top pick
This MSI monitor offers great gaming performance without the trade-offs of cheaper displays.
Resolution: 2560×1440 | Refresh rate: 180 Hz | Ports: two HDMI 2.0b, one DisplayPort 1.4a, one USB-C | USB-C charging: 65 W | USB hub: two USB-A 2.0 ports with KVM switch
If you’re looking for a good, basic gaming monitor for your PC, laptop, or game console we recommend the MSI MAG 274QRF QD E2. It has a sharp 1440p display and 180 Hz refresh rate, and unlike many other monitors of its price, it exceeded expectations in our tests for brightness and contrast. We think it’s a solid option for people who primarily game on their PC or laptop and want the option to use their monitor for school or work.
Upgrade pick
The MSI monitor’s OLED display has near-infinite contrast and incredibly sharp motion.
Resolution: 2560×1440 | Refresh rate: 240 Hz | Ports: two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4a, one USB-C 3.2 port | USB-C charging: 15 W
This is the first year OLED gaming monitors have been relatively affordable, and we think the best of the bunch is the MSI MAG 271QPX QD-OLED E2. Its OLED display can turn off individual pixels to create true black tones, a technology you might have seen in high-end TVs. However, the technology has been adapted for monitors to make text sharper and more legible, and to have higher refresh rates. OLEDs also have near-infinite contrast, a feature that makes every visual aspect of the monitor look better. Colors are vibrant, shadows are deep and rich, and bright spots on the screen look brighter.
Budget pick
This simpler monitor from MSI is sharp and has a 180 Hz refresh rate for an affordable price.
Resolution: 1920×1080 | Refresh rate: 180 Hz | Ports: two HDMI 2.0b, one DisplayPort 1.2a
If you want a simple 24-inch 1080p monitor for your PC or game system, we recommend the MSI G255PF E2. The screen is smaller than those of our other picks, but it has a similarly fast 180 Hz refresh rate, and motion looks sharp for the price. The monitor doesn’t have features like a USB-C port, but it’s also $125.
Best for
Asus’s 31.5-inch OLED monitor has incredible contrast and color, a 240 Hz refresh rate for gaming, and features like 90 W USB-C charging.
Resolution: 3840×2160 | Refresh rate: 240 Hz | Ports: two HDMI 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, one USB-C 3.2 port | USB-C charging: 90 W | USB hub: three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports with KVM switch
The Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM is one of the first 4K OLED computer monitors that’s widely available to buy, making it an expensive but stunning step into the future. Its 240 Hz refresh rate makes it great for gaming, and it has a revised pixel layout that makes text look sharp compared to older OLEDs. It also works well when using both a laptop and PC, which can be connected viaHDMI, DisplayPort, and a USB-C port with 90W of charging.
