144Hz Gaming Monitor (March 2017)

We have done countless tests and have come up with the best monitors for every gamer and aspiring ELeague players, especially CS-GO players. A 144 Hz monitor is a must buy. Why? Well, these monitors were made for gaming. For most of my life I was using a 60 Hz monitor so I never knew until I tried a 144 Hz monitor.

I was breathless and wanted more. It took me to another world of joy. When I played skyrim it was marvelous. It was fun beyond life itself, I spent 7 hours every day playing it regardless of school or sleep. This game was made 6 years ago and it is still better than most games that come out today, mostly thanks to the massive amount of mods. With the correct set up of mods you can have the best possible graphics. That is what I thought at least. So I downloaded mods to improve my textures, lighting, etc. And at that moment I thought this could not get any more beautiful. But, recently I decided to buy a 144 Hz monitor. I started up skyrim, and to my surprise it was better than I ever thought. The crisp image quality and the smoothness of it all, lead me to a discovery. Nothing is absolute, everything can improve. In short I experienced another level in gaming with a 144 Hz monitor. This lead me to think, could there possible be even better monitors, so I spent days searching up 144 Hz monitors and day after day I would be surprised with the vast amount of monitors dedicated for gaming. With all of that research I have come up with the best possible monitors up for sale at this moment. I did this not for me, but for you! So you can enjoy your games, the way I do or even better.

So lets dive straight into the monitors (not literally)!

Table of Contents

BEST GAMING MONITOR OF 2017 – Asus PG348Q

The Asus PG348Q is the best monitor in my opinion even though technically it is not a 144 Hz monitor as it can only go up to 100 Hz. Why is it better than the BenQ XR3501, and how can a 100 Hz monitor be considered the best in this current article? Well in short this monitor is quite similar to the BenQ XR3501, as it is huge and boasts a 34 inch screen and is curved like the BenQ XR3501. Than why buy it if it is the same and costs more. Lets start of with the optimization. It is clearly better by miles, as it looks and feels great. As for the size it is the same as the BenQ XR3501 but it does not have edges, making it for me much more appealing to the eye. Then again the resolution is 3440×1440 making it miles better then any of the monitors we will cover today. Now something that is quite important is the additional settings which let you add an additional crosshair, timer and an fps counter, granted it is quite unnecessary in fps games as they all posses these settings in the software, but than again there are survival games in which you can make many weapons which are easier to use with a crosshair. In summary it has a lot of pros compared to its small cons. And yes this is not a 144 Hz monitor but I just had to add it because it just by my opinion the best monitor. Also a cool addition is that this monitor has 4 USB 3.0 sockets.

Let me tell you a small reason why this is the best gaming monitor out there, at least in my eyes. I used to play a lot of CS, and I got used to the crosshair, upon changing games which included guns in the gameplay, I would be left unable to play. I can not aim at this moment without a proper crosshair. And most of the time if a game has a crosshair it is dynamic, that irritates me a lot, why can’t they just make it static or at least add an option to change it to static. Well the crosshair from this monitor is customizable and guess what it is static. Developing a game is hard I do know that from a programmers aspect, thankfully most games do include a corsshair. Even minecraft has a small white crosshair. But in summary this monitor is the best you can get in the market at this moment.

In short the Asus PG348Q features are:

Size: 34 inches
Screen Type: Curved
Refresh rate: 100 Hz
Aspect ratio: 21:9
Resolution: 3440 x 1440
Contrast: 1000:1‎
Response time: 5ms
One HDMI port
One DisplayPort
Four USB 3.0 sockets
Asus GamePlus
Adjustable height and tilt
Power consumption: 100W

BEST SELLER – Asus VG248QE

The Asus VG248QE monitor is fairly cheap for a 144 Hz monitor, and it is probably the most popular one in the market. It is appealing to the eyes, with a 24 inch screen is more than enough for gaming. This monitor is designed for any gamer out there that is on a low budget, including me. Most of these monitors we will cover today are expensive, while on the other hand this monitor is quite cheap. And yes that is the best part of this monitor. It checks off all the requirements for a budget build.

In short the Asus VG248QE features are:

Size: 24 inches
Refresh rate: 144 Hz
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920×1080
Contrast: 1000:1
Response time: 1ms
One DVI-D port
One HDMI port
One DisplayPort
HeadPhone jack
Adjustable height and tilt
Power consumption: 45W

BEST BUY – Acer XG270HU

The Acer XG270HU monitor is our best buy. It meets everyone’s needs right in the middle. It is not extremely expensive and has a lot of features. It straight comes over and sucker punches you in the stomach because you still haven’t bought one. It is truly good, trust me. This monitor has a nice resolution of 2K making it suitable for making the best youtube videos out there, and it is pretty large at 27 inches. But the best part of this monitor is the fact that it is a 144 Hz monitor, it is rare to see 2K resolution 144 Hz monitors for this price, and this is probably one of the best ones. Heck you would be better of buying two of these monitors because of the price and the quality provided by it.

In short the Acer XG270HU features are:

Size: 27 inches
Refresh rate: 144 Hz
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 2560×1440
Contrast: 1000:1
Response time: 1ms
One DVI port
One HDMI port
One DisplayPort
Power consumption: 48W

BenQ ZOWIE XL2411

The BenQ ZOWIE XL2411 is a great monitor that can be considered for a person who just wants a better over all performance and not the full deal. If you are looking for a casual and cheap 144 Hz monitor than be sure to buy this one. The size of the monitor is a solid 24 inches, which is more then enough if you ask me. It is a full HD monitor that has 7 million colors and can support HDMI, DVI-DL and D-Sub ports. So in theory if you have been using a 60-75 Hz monitor all this time than this is the right monitor to buy as it is the perfect upgrade to 144 Hz. It is smooth and quite impressive.

In short the BenQ ZOWIE XL2411 features are:

Size: 24 inches
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920×1080
Contrast: 1000:1
Response time: 1ms
One DVI-D port
One HDMI port
One D-Sub port
Adjustable height and tilt
Power consumption: 45W

Acer Predator XB241H

The Acer Predator XB241H is a true beauty indeed. It might not be cheap but it sure is a beast. Many of these monitors can go up to 144 Hz max, while this monitor is special. It has a higher overclock ratio letting it go up to 180 Hz. The size is only 24 inches like many others and the screen resolution is full Hd again. It comes with one display and one HDMI port. Why is this a beast? Well our description is vague, yeah the overclock is pretty nice but why would this monitor be special why would it stand over the rest, why should we spend more for the same power. Well this monitor has something the rest do not have, they are plain and you look at them directly, while this monitor is curved providing a smoother feeling of the game you are playing. This monitor makes people look twice at the price tag and forces them to reconsider buying it. You might be asking yourself why would I ever need a curved monitor? I can probably buy a nice keyboard and the Asus VG248QE and still have a bit of money left over. Curved monitors improve your focus as they target light properly unlike flat monitors. Well curved or not it is still a great monitor never the less. And will surely satisfy you.

In short the Acer Predator XB241H features are:

Size: 24 inches
Screen type: Curved
Refresh rate: 144 Hz
Overclockable refresh rate up to 180 Hz
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920×1080
Contrast: 900:1
Response time: 1ms
One HDMI port
One DisplayPort
Adjustable height and tilt
Power consumption: 36W

Asus MG278Q

The Asus MG278Q is truly a great gaming monitor. It will satisfy anyone’s needs. It is similar in many ways to the Acer XG270HU, for example it has the same size which is 27 inches and the same 2K resolution. Yes I do know this is the general similarities we could go into details for days and describe these monitors for days but nobody wants that and nobody will read that, most of the time. Yes it is a great monitor and yes it will provide an excellent image, which is smooth and true eye candy as you will fall in love with it. Once you turn on a game and see the detail of the image and the smoothness you will be in love, with the addition of Asus GamePlus technology. And once you fall in love, you shall love it for a long time as it can and will surely last you a long time. Also not to forget it has multiple ports two HDMI ports one DVI-D port one DisplayPort 1.2 and a USB 3.0 port. It might not be the cheapest but its a bargain which even I am willing to take.

In short the Asus MG278Q features are:

Size: 27 inches
Refresh rate: 144 Hz
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 2560×1440
Contrast: 1000:1
Response time: 1ms
One DVI-D port
Two HDMI ports
One DisplayPort
One USB 3.0 socket
Asus GamePlus
Adjustable height and tilt
Power consumption: 39W

BenQ XR3501

The BenQ XR3501 truly made me struggle as it is such a great monitor it deserves to be number one on this list, but sadly only one could be chosen and I opted for the Asus PG348Q. You will see why. But now listen to this beasts roar. It is everything above and more. Okay now sit down and be amazed as this monitor is not just big but it is powerful aswell. The size is a whooping 35 inch, and it is not just a mere full HD resolution it is actually 2560×1080. “And is that all to it, I can buy two Asus VG248QE monitors and spend less for the exact same.” Sure but will they be curved like this monitor? I bet you did not see that coming. As this monitor is not just a plain 144 Hz monitor with an impressive size. It is curved and I have already explained why you should buy curved monitors as they provide a better experience over all. But, NO buts, buy it and enjoy it. This monitor can not disappoint you, no matter what you are going to use it for. It also has many ports which are two HDMI ports and two DisplayPorts 1.2.

In short the BenQ XR3501 features are:

Size: 35 inches
Screen Type: Curved
Refresh rate: 144 Hz
Aspect ratio: 21:9
Resolution: 2560×1080
Contrast: 2000:1‎
Response time: 4ms
Two HDMI ports
Two DisplayPorts
Power consumption: 70W

e-Sports

Electronic sports. Most popular being Cs-go. So I will start of telling you my personal experience in CS. I have over 1.5k hours spent into cs go, but I stopped playing a long time ago, if I had a 144 Hz monitor back when the game was fun for me. It was a dream of mine to become a professional, but the chances of that were really low, and still are really low. Many issues pooped up but forget that, this is not about me it is about you, and your chance to learn from my mistakes. So if you want to become a eSport professional it is important to have a 144 Hz monitor. Here is a little story. Imagine having the perfect spawn for long A on DD2. No matter if you bought a deagle an AWP or a rifle. The spawn matters a lot, but now experienced players know that you are going to hold that position or peek. So they are going to pre fire you making your life difficult.

I can not describe how it feels when you get pre fired every single game on Faceit or Esea. Okay what does this mean, either they have cheats, maybe they are lucky or the most logical conclusion that they have a 144 Hz monitor. So taking that into consideration, you are dead now. Okay one round is lost to them having that entry on long. They keep doing it until it fails. And they get 4 rounds, than you guys decide to stack long, unknowingly to them. They rush long, your team was able to out aim them, but you still lost 3 people making that economy situation quite hard. But now if you for example had the same setup would it truly be 4-1 to them? No it would not, you would probably know they are going to pre fire and put yourself in a weird angle to set them off. But still that 144 Hz monitor gives them a smooth peek making them see you faster. So my point is Skill is skill. But pure raw power can sometimes overpower skill. That is why you need a 144 Hz monitor. Now for another little story. I was playing a random pug in Faceit. It was just casual, I won it and yearned for more. After that win I became competitive so a loss is a no go. I win 3 matches in a row and get a level up on Faceit. Life is going dandy. And then I decide to go on a fourth match. I end up against 5 Swedes. Check their profiles they all have less then 700 hours. It was a piece of cake for me I thought. But sadly all of them owned 144 Hz monitors. I played each peek perfectly threw my grenades forced them out yet every time I would hit him in the body for 30 while he would get an instant head shot. I was getting furious. And with every round I was getting more and more angry. It got up to the point of me swearing and hitting the desk up to 5 times with my hand upon dying. I was on the point of punching my monitor. Have you ever had a feeling of injustice. I was literally better then them yet they had the upper hand every single round. Pre firing me and my teammates, round after round I was losing hope in this game. And at the end of the day I realized I do not want to play this game anymore. A game where I put a lot of effort and soul into, all for nothing. Just to get beaten by people who have the money to buy “Skill”. So this is why you need a 144 Hz monitor, you will get to a point where skill does not matter. You will get to a point where you will face only rich tryhards. You will come to a point where you forgot that Cs Go is just a game. I came to that point and it ruined the game for me. Granted I still have some nice memories about cs go when I was playing with my friends and having fun.

This story is here to teach you why you need a 144 Hz monitor not just for gaming but for the love of the game itself. If you dedicate your entire being into something and then get destroyed by people who just bought “Skill” than you lose the point to play the game. But this is one part of the story though, it is my part. By owning a 144 Hz monitor you are able to to mop the floor with them. But yours could be different and you just play the game for the game itself. I used to play cs go like that a long time ago but now, I will not even download it onto my PC.

But there are other e-Sports games that could be considered dependent on a high frame refresh rate. Any single shooter game is mainly dependent on it. But if you are a person who plays Dota then it will not matter much if you get a 144 Hz monitor as it will only make the game more enjoyable and will not prevent you from becoming an eSports professional.

So in short here I described why it is necessary to have a 100+ Hz monitor for first person shooter games. As it adds a new layer of skill which you can reach, and it will lets say boost your over all capability of becoming a professional.

Why didn’t you add the X34A?

The X34A for a long time was considered to be the best monitor out there. Even though it had multiple problems upon release, luckily it did improve on them though. Either ways it was considered to be the best monitor out there. Having features like a 35 inch curved screen, 21:9 aspect ratio, a refresh rate of 100 Hz, and the list goes on. If you read the article you would see why I did not add this monitor. As it is almost the same as the Asus PG348Q. But the Asus PG348Q is slightly better in my own opinion. Making it a clear pick instead of the X34A. But do not get me wrong the X34A is 10 times better then some of the monitors I covered. In some eyes it is the best still. One thing that it lacks is a 144 Hz refresh rate same as the PG348Q and I could only put one 100 Hz monitor. Even the PG348Q is an exception. If I put both who are literally the same monitor it would make no sense. As I am here trying to help you buy the best monitor. A thing that has been happening with the X34A is some manufacturer issues. In short Dead Pixels, Screen Flickering, Unsaved menu settings and Backlight Bleeding. Due to this I picked the obvious choice the PG348Q. As it had rare instances of manufacturer issues. Do not get the wrong idea they still happen. But in a less amount compared to the X34A.

Also you might have spotted the featured image being the X34A I had to honor this worthy candidate in some way possible, as it could like I said before beat any of these monitors except the Asus PG348Q. If you wish to buy this monitor go ahead, but the Asus PG348Q is better and cheaper by a small amount than the X34A, on amazon at least.

Curved vs Flat

What is the difference between a curved and flat monitor. Well it depends mostly on the size of the monitor. If you own a monitor that is for example bellow 27 inch than a flat monitor is ok as your eyes are able to see the full size with no issues. While on the other hand if you have monitor above 27 inches it should get curved. Or you will start to get annoyed from time to time. What about tvs they are flat and above 27 inches. And yes that is true but you are further away from a tv then a computer monitor. And upon gaming or spending time on your PC you will get a small headache due to you constantly moving your eyes from left to right. Just imagine having a 100 inch tv screen if you curve it it can go all around you and is like a virtual reality tv. But imagine if it was flat you would legit get lost you would see the whole world on one screen and lose your feeling for determining objects. Well this is strange example but in short. Imagine sitting casually, your monitor is max 100 cms away from you, that is if you do not have a wireless setup. And now you are sitting there about to run some cs go. But you have a flat 30 inch monitor whose refresh rate is only 60 Hz. You get on ts and into a lobby with your high ranking friends. They are all Supreme or Global and you are Legendary Eagle(Le). So you guys go on mirage and they start up a tactic where you are the main entry. You enter somehow but due to you having a 60 Hz monitor you get killed 8 out of 10 times. But on those 2 times when you get the entry kill. You still end up being refragged by a person to your left that you were unable to spot. Why is that? Well the light coming from your flat monitor was hitting your eyes but not responsively, so your brain just saw it as an object in the face of panic. So in order to fix that you would need to move your mouse left and right constantly.

But it is not all dim for flat monitors. While curved monitors exceed on games the flat monitors exceed on different things. So you are just getting into designing, video editing, etc. The first thing you do is get a nice PC so you can render fast, now you are asking yourself what monitor should I get. So you could just be a designer and you wont need to worry about the frame rate of your monitor so that is a plus, but to get a curved one would be just suicide as it will only lead to confusion and small errors that could cost you your paycheck. For you see when you have a nice flat monitor the image will not get stretched. While on the curved monitor it might confuse you as it can cause issues for you. If you are going to edit videos stretched monitor will not make a difference it will be mostly up to your own taste whether you like a nice huge monitor to work on or a dual monitor set up, it does not matter. But if you are an animator it sure as hell can matter. Imagine making a nice and small animation for your school on a curved monitor. Ok it looks great on your monitor heck it looks beyond great it looks fabulous as the textures combine perfectly. Then you bring it to your school it opens up but the animations are a bit off. And not perfect like you made them to be. So in theory it does matter if you are going to use a flat or curved monitor.

But curved monitors are a part of the future. Though they are only useful when it comes to gaming. So if you want to design, animate, etc. it would be best for you to get a nice flat monitor. This might not be really that important it might not cause a big difference in your work, but it might make you furious if you are a perfectionist.

Comparison

So we have a bunch of monitors up there with a vague description of why you would use or need them. Granted I could have given a detailed description on each of the given monitors but it is pointless because most people including myself do not read that, that is why i put the most important things. So in short all of these monitors are lets say made for gaming, but some are better in some genres of games. For example you have FPS games then again you have MMO games and the list is infinite. So I will name the some genres of games and suggest which monitor you should buy.

There are many FPS games and many of them have eSport events. So in theory if you like BF, CS, TF2 and so on I suggest the Asus VG248QE. As it is nice and fast and only costs around 300 Dollars. Meaning you will be able to enjoy the competitive scene of those games, and those scenes are awesome. But these are not the only FPS games, these are the most played eSport fps games. For example FPS solo games. The advantages are the exact same, but you are going up against bots so you are going to win against them even with a 60 Hz monitor. But with a 144 Hz you will enjoy the smoothness. But if you have more then enough money to spend then you should buy the Acer Predator XB241H as the frame rate can go up to 180 Hz, though that is not that important because if you have 144 Hz it will not make much of a difference as you will not be able to spot the difference as it is minor.

If you are on a low budget and want a really good monitor then the Acer Predator XB241H is the right way to go as it is ideal for every type of game. as it does not have any limitations unlike the Asus VG248QE, this monitor lets you decide what ever you want to do, also it is curved and provides a smoother gameplay. But it is also a lot more expensive but for a reason as it is much better.

If you want to enjoy every type of game to the max and have funds to spend then the Asus PG348Q. It is the ultimate monitor as it provides the best image quality for every game. But it does that for the right price, as it is quite expensive. It is huge letting you enjoy any type of explorer game, it is curved so when you play a raid on wow it will look more smooth (granted not the best example but still its true), and the best part is that there is no screen tearing making every single game look smooth and fast. But do keep in mind this monitor is basically when you have the money to buy yourself the ultimate tool for enjoyment. Just to clarify once again this monitor is not 144 Hz it is 100 Hz but it still does not cause screen tearing. But I will say this, if you want to become a professional cs go player(or an FPS eSports player) then get the bestseller as it will prove to be a better choice as it would provide a better frame refresh rate and provide you with all the tools you need. You will just need some dedication and hard work that is about it.

But monitors do not need to be all about games, you might need a monitor to work on and still want to play and enjoy your time, for that I suggest the Acer XG270HU. “But monitors do not matter when you are working, you are fine of with a 17 inch monitor most of the time. Also isn’t this a gaming monitor article?” It is but I am just saying overall the Acer XG270HU is an ideal monitor for anyone. It might not satisfy you fully but it will give you the ultimate over all experience(that sounds a tiny bit weird), I mean if you want to edit or do some cool things with animation or design it will not cause any issues, also it is not expensive like the other monitors so it truly is the best over all monitor. “Overall experience? You must be joking monitors do not matter”. Well I would like to disagree as you might not see it as I do. So you are in the right? Well no, neither of us are in the right to be honest it is more of a personal choice and for my opinion you can use the Acer XG270HU for video editing and designing animating etc. So in short this monitor like I said is just an over all good monitor, regarding features and price.

Conclusion

If you are looking to buy a nice gaming monitor, then be sure to buy one of these as you will make the right choice. It will make all your games feel realistic and natural. As for me I am enjoying my current monitor. It was hard to do many things on my old 60 Hz monitor. I would enjoy games but not to this measure. Over all the the must get monitor is obvious, and I do think you guys agree we talked a bit too much about the Asus PG348Q as it literally is the best gaming monitor of 2016 and 2017, at this current time that is. There might be a new release in 2017 which will be better so do not rage at me I am stating that this is the best monitor of early 2017. But either ways I hope this article helped you in any way possible to make your gaming setup. Also in case you bought yourself a 144 Hz monitor, may you enjoy your gaming to the max with no issues or problems, and may Talos be with you.