5 ways a new gaming monitor is a better investment than a GPU

Gaming PC upgrades are never-ending. Sometimes, you might find yourself hunting for a new GPU or SSD, while years later, you might upgrade your CPU and motherboard as part of a platform upgrade. However, many gamers keep ignoring a pretty huge part of their setup for years — the gaming monitor.
Your display converts all the power of your gaming PC into the visual goodness that you want from your PC. If it is stuck in the past, then it makes much more sense to upgrade your monitor instead of buying a new graphics card. A monitor upgrade will have a much greater impact on your gaming experience if your GPU is already capable enough.
5 A larger monitor enhances immersion
Fill in your FOV
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Your monitor is in dire need of an upgrade if it is 22 inches or smaller in size. Back in the day, 22-inch LED monitors were game-changers for those moving from 15-inch CRT monitors, but they are woefully obsolete by today’s standards. Considering 24-inch or 27-inch gaming monitors aren’t expensive anymore, you owe yourself an upgrade before buying a new graphics card.
A large screen monitor not only allows you to experience your games the way they are meant to be played, but also brings quality-of-life improvements to your gaming. You can see UI elements better separated, and a greater field of view (FOV) helps you see more of the surrounding action, especially in fast-paced titles and sports games. The extra screen real estate enhances usability in other areas, such as productivity and day-to-day use.
Immersion is a huge deal for gaming, so anything that enables you to feel more connected to the game is an optimal upgrade. Whether you move to a 27-inch or 32-inch flat panel, or an ultrawide monitor, the impact it will have on your everyday gaming will be much greater than that of a new GPU, especially if you already have a decently powerful gaming PC.
4 Higher resolutions provide a crisper image
Make the graphics delectable
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An increase in screen size undoubtedly enhances gaming immersion, but you are also probably upgrading your screen resolution when buying a new monitor. Moving from Full HD to Quad HD or 4K is bound to feel like a day-and-night difference. The additional pixel density gives you a sharper image that’s pleasing to look at, which boosts the enjoyment you derive from your games.
AAA games that usually have a huge focus on visuals will benefit the most from a resolution increase. You’ll be able to better appreciate the textures, lighting, and reflections of the most demanding games in your library, especially those that leverage ray tracing effects. Yes, moving from 1080p to 1440p requires a more powerful graphics card to keep the same quality, but you’ll be surprised at how well your current GPU performs at 1440p.
I switched from a 22-inch Full HD monitor to a 27-inch 1440p model while retaining my GTX 1660 Ti, and the drop in frames per second (FPS) in most of the titles didn’t hamper my gaming experience. 4K gaming is definitely not child’s play, even with today’s most powerful graphics cards, but upgrading from 1080p to just 1440p will still give you 77% more pixels on the screen, without taxing your GPU 77% more in most cases.
Related 5 reasons 1440p is the new 1080p For the longest of time, 1080p was the sweet spot for PC gaming, but the goalposts have moved.
3 A fast panel provides fluid gameplay
Leave sub-60 FPS behind
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Chances are that your 22-inch monitor has a 60Hz or 75Hz panel, which, by today’s standards, can easily be considered ill-equipped for gaming. Even if you have a budget graphics card capable of providing a 100+ FPS experience in competitive and lightweight titles, your 60 or 75Hz monitor is holding you back. All those extra frames aren’t being displayed on your monitor, and you’re stuck with an outdated gaming experience.
A jump to a 144 or 165Hz panel isn’t expensive today by any means, thanks to intense competition and years of development in panel technology. Once you jump from 60Hz to 144Hz, it’s near-impossible to go back. The difference in fluidity between sub-60 and high refresh rate gaming is one of the most impactful changes you can bring to your gaming setup.
You might have a 144Hz monitor already, which, combined with your existing graphics card, would probably be enough for a satisfying gaming experience. Even then, instead of getting a new graphics card, you can consider a faster gaming monitor, maybe an affordable 1080p 240Hz or even 1440p 240Hz panel, which can help you utilize your existing GPU better in online FPS titles, where the jump from 144Hz to 240Hz makes a more tangible difference.
Related Lenovo Legion Y25-30 review: A solid 1080p monitor jampacked with gaming features The Lenovo Legion Y25-30 is a solid monitor for under $350. It’s packed with plenty of features that’ll make gaming in 1080p amazing.
2 OLED and Mini-LED can unlock HDR gaming
Transcend to new heights
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A bigger, sharper, and faster gaming monitor can bring immense benefits to your gaming experience if you are still rocking an outdated monitor. However, there’s another aspect of modern gaming monitors that can take this experience to a whole new level. OLED and Mini-LED monitors, thanks to their superior contrast, brightness, and response time, can unlock true HDR gaming for you.
These relatively newer panel technologies, especially OLED, can give your games a superior visual treatment that is impossible with IPS, VA, or TN monitors. Once you experience the true black and gorgeous HDR of OLED and even Mini-LED monitors, it’s hard to enjoy anything else as much. And OLEDs aren’t just for gaming — if you consume a lot of movies and YouTube on your PC, an OLED monitor can greatly benefit you in that area too.
Besides the visual benefits of these high-end gaming monitors, they are also faster than almost every other type of monitor. OLED monitors, due to their granular, per-pixel control, offer near-instantaneous response times, which leads to incredibly smooth gameplay. Other monitor types have also gotten incredibly fast over the years, but they aren’t at the level of OLED yet.
Related 4 reasons I would still buy an OLED monitor despite the tradeoffs OLED monitors aren’t perfect (yet) but I’m willing to live with the tradeoffs for the superior experience
1 You can rediscover your old favorites
Old is gold
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A GPU upgrade is almost necessary if you want to enjoy the latest and greatest AAA titles at maximum settings. However, if you are one of those who are increasingly being let down by today’s big-budget titles, you can return to your old favorites and experience them in a new light by upgrading your gaming monitor.
Playing older games will most likely not be stressful on your existing graphics card, but will benefit from a better gaming monitor. If it’s a simulation game, a large flat panel or an ultrawide monitor can make it feel like a completely new game. If it is a story-based adventure game that melted the GPUs of its time, you can now enjoy it at high frame rates with your modern GPU and an upgraded monitor.
You don’t even need to revert to your childhood favorites — playing games from just a couple of years ago on a new monitor can open up hours of endless fun, where you discover things you missed back then. For instance, I went back to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided after switching to my 1440p 144Hz monitor, and the superior performance, thanks to the higher refresh rate, made it feel like I had never got the chance to play the game properly.
Related 10 amazing games you can play with a modest GPU Some of the greatest PC games from the recent past can be played on a low-end graphics card
Don’t ignore your monitor because you feel like upgrading your GPU
Your graphics card plays the biggest role in determining the level of gaming experience you can expect, but if your gaming monitor is ancient, all that GPU horsepower is wasted. If you already have a mid-range GPU, upgrading your outdated monitor to something relatively newer will have a bigger impact on your gaming experience than getting a few more frames with a new graphics card.
The display of your gaming setup not only makes your games look glorious and smooth, but also more immersive if it’s a capable unit. A large gaming monitor with a bright and high-contrast panel can often make you feel like you’re playing an entirely different game. Today’s OLED and Mini-LED monitors might not have fallen to prices where everyone can afford them, but they’re well on their way.