Which gaming monitor fits your PC? Answer three questions first
Most monitor advice starts with the monitor. This one starts with you: what you play, what your graphics card can actually push, and how much desk you have. Answer those three in order and the right resolution, refresh rate and panel mostly pick themselves.
Question 1: What do you mostly play?
Two words first. Frames per second (fps) is how many pictures your PC draws each second. Refresh rate (Hz) is how many pictures the monitor can show each second. A 240 Hz monitor can show 240 new pictures a second — but only if your PC makes that many.
Competitive shooters
Valorant, Fortnite, Warzone, League. What you notice is smoothness and how quickly the screen reacts, so frames matter more than sharpness. Aim for a high refresh rate (165–240 Hz or more) at a size you can take in at a glance: 24 or 27 inches.
Story and single-player games
Cyberpunk and games like it. Detail, contrast and color matter more than the last few frames, and these games are too heavy to run at 240 fps anyway. 1440p or 4K at 120–165 Hz is plenty.
Console
PS5 and Xbox Series X stop at 120 fps, so a 240 Hz monitor buys nothing. 4K at 120 Hz needs an HDMI 2.1 input; 1440p and 1080p at 120 Hz work over HDMI 2.0. The PS5 supports 1440p (since 2022) but its variable refresh needs HDMI 2.1; the Xbox also works with FreeSync over HDMI 2.0. Series S games top out at 1440p.
Question 2: What graphics card do you have?
This is the question most people skip, and it decides more than any other. A monitor can only show the frames your graphics card makes. Buy a screen faster than your card and you pay for frames you never see.
Find your card in ten seconds
On Windows, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, click Performance, then GPU. The card's name is at the top right. Laptops often list two: the one that says NVIDIA GeForce, AMD Radeon RX or Intel Arc is the one that plays games; the other is the built-in chip.
Find its tier
We sorted the cards from NVIDIA's GTX 10 series to the RTX 50 series, AMD's RX 5000 to RX 9000 series, and Intel's Arc into seven tiers by how fast they are, using Tom's Hardware's benchmark ranking. Cards in the same row perform about the same, whatever the brand.
| Tier | NVIDIA | AMD | Intel / other |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | RTX 5090, 5080, 4090, 4080 Super, 4080 | RX 7900 XTX, 7900 XT | — |
| B | RTX 5070 Ti, 4070 Ti Super, 4070 Ti, 4070 Super, 3090 Ti | RX 9070 XT, 6950 XT | — |
| C | RTX 5070, 4070, 3090, 3080 Ti, 3080 | RX 9070, 7800 XT, 7700 XT, 6800 XT | — |
| D | RTX 5060 Ti, 4060 Ti, 3070 Ti, 3070, 3060 Ti, 2080 Ti, 2080 Super | RX 9060 XT, 6700 XT | — |
| E | RTX 5060, 4060, 3060, 2070 Super, GTX 1080 Ti | RX 7600, 6650 XT, 6600, 5700 XT | Arc B580, A770, A750 |
| F | RTX 3050, 2060, GTX 1660 Super, 1070 | RX 5600 XT | — |
| G | GTX 1060, 1650, 1050 Ti | — | built-in graphics (Intel, AMD Radeon 780M/890M) |
AMD and NVIDIA, side by side
| NVIDIA | About the same from AMD / Intel |
|---|---|
| RTX 5080 / 4080 Super | RX 7900 XTX |
| RTX 5070 Ti / 4070 Ti Super | RX 9070 XT |
| RTX 5070 / 4070 | RX 9070 (a little faster) / 7800 XT |
| RTX 5060 Ti / 4060 Ti | RX 9060 XT (a little slower) |
| RTX 5060 / 4060 | RX 7600 · Intel Arc B580 (a little slower) |
| RTX 3060 | RX 6650 XT · Arc A750 |
| GTX 1080 Ti | RX 5700 XT |
The RTX 5090 has no AMD equal. Built-in graphics (the Radeon chips in Ryzen laptops and mini PCs, Intel's in most laptops) sit at the bottom, in Tier G: fine for League and Valorant on low settings, not for Cyberpunk.
What each tier gets in five games
Ranges, not exact numbers, on purpose: a driver update or a game patch moves exact numbers within weeks. Each table says how sure it is. All numbers are without upscaling or frame generation (DLSS, FSR, XeSS). Upscaling draws the game at a lower resolution and sharpens it back up, which adds real frames. Frame generation adds in-between pictures that look smoother but do not make the game react faster. Tom's Hardware leaves both out of its ranking for the same reason.
Cyberpunk 2077 · story game, the heaviest of the five
High/Ultra settings, no ray tracing, no upscaling.
| Tier | 1080p (FHD) | 1440p (QHD) | 4K (UHD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | about 150–200 | about 120–160 | about 65–90 |
| B | about 130–165 | about 100–125 | about 55–65 |
| C | about 110–130 | about 85–105 | about 40–55 |
| D | about 70–100 | about 50–75 | about 30–40 |
| E | about 60–80 | about 35–50 | about 20–30 |
| F | about 40–55 | about 25–35 | not playable |
| G | about 25–40 | not playable | not playable |
How sure: Tiers A, C and E rest on TechSpot's measured results for the RTX 4090, 4070, 3080, 4060, 3060, GTX 1080 Ti, RX 7900 XTX, 7800 XT and 7600 (Ultra, native). Tiers B, D, F and G are placed by the Tom's Hardware ranking, so they are rougher. Turning on ray tracing costs a large share of these frames.
Call of Duty: Warzone · competitive shooter, medium-heavy
The Black Ops 7 engine that Warzone runs on, Balanced preset, no ray tracing.
| Tier | 1080p (FHD) | 1440p (QHD) | 4K (UHD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | about 170–250 | about 150–200 | about 100–130 |
| B | about 160–220 | about 120–160 | about 75–100 |
| C | about 150–200 | about 105–140 | about 60–85 |
| D | about 130–160 | about 90–115 | about 50–65 |
| E | about 110–135 | about 75–95 | about 40–55 |
| F | about 80–110 | about 55–75 | about 30–40 |
| G | about 50–75 | about 35–50 | not playable |
How sure: The 1080p row for Tier E (RTX 4060 about 133, RTX 3060 about 111) and Tier G (Radeon 890M built-in graphics about 67) are Notebookcheck's measurements; the rest is placed by the Tom's Hardware ranking. At the top the processor, not the card, sets the ceiling.
Fortnite · competitive shooter in Performance mode
Performance mode, the lightweight setting most competitive players use.
| Tier | 1080p (FHD) | 1440p (QHD) | 4K (UHD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | about 300–450 | about 250–350 | about 180–250 |
| B | about 280–350 | about 230–300 | about 150–200 |
| C | about 240–320 | about 200–260 | about 120–170 |
| D | about 200–260 | about 160–210 | about 100–140 |
| E | about 150–200 | about 120–160 | about 80–110 |
| F | about 130–170 | about 100–130 | about 60–85 |
| G | about 90–130 | about 60–90 | not playable |
How sure: Measured 1080p Performance-mode figures put an RTX 3060 at about 170–190 and an RTX 3070 at about 200–220; the other rows follow the Tom's Hardware ranking. Performance mode leans on the processor, so a slow CPU pulls every row down.
Valorant · tactical shooter, very light (on Unreal Engine 5 since 2025)
| Tier | 1080p (FHD) | 1440p (QHD) | 4K (UHD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 240+ | 240+ | 240+ |
| B–D | 240+ | 240+ | 144–240 |
| E | 240+ | 144–240 | 100–144 |
| F | 240+ | 144–240 | 60–144 |
| G | 144–240 (built-in graphics: 60–144 on low) | 100–144 | 60–100 |
How sure: At 1080p even a GTX 1650 averages around 400 fps with a fast processor, and an RTX 4090 around 730 (DropReference, Core i9-14900). Riot's own high-end spec asks only a GTX 1050 Ti for 144+ fps. The 1440p and 4K bands are our estimate.
League of Legends · top-down strategy, the lightest of the five
| Tier | 1080p (FHD) | 1440p (QHD) | 4K (UHD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A–D | 240+ | 240+ | 240+ |
| E | 240+ | 240+ | 144–240 |
| F | 240+ | 144–240 | 100–144 |
| G | 144+ (built-in graphics: 60–144) | 100–144 | 60–100 |
How sure: No benchmark site we trust still tests League; it is too light. Riot recommends a GeForce 560, a 2011 card, for 1080p on High. These bands are our estimate from that and from how the other light games behave.
Question 3: How deep is your desk?
Office-safety guidance (OSHA) puts the screen 20 to 40 inches (50–100 cm) from your eyes, and a bigger screen wants the far end of that. Your desk depth decides how far back the monitor can go, so it decides the size.
| Desk depth | Size | Resolution that looks sharp at that size |
|---|---|---|
| under 24 in (60 cm) | 24" | 1080p is fine (about 92 pixels per inch) |
| 24–30 in (60–75 cm) | 27" | 1440p (about 109 ppi). 1080p at 27" looks soft up close (about 82 ppi) |
| over 30 in (75 cm) | 32", or a 34" ultrawide | 4K at 32" (about 138 ppi); 3440×1440 on a 34" ultrawide (about 110 ppi) |
Pixels per inch are plain geometry; the depth ranges are our rule of thumb, not a standard.
Putting it together, in order
Step 1 → 2: Your tier sets the resolution
| Tier | Resolution and refresh that fit |
|---|---|
| A | 4K at 144–240 Hz, or 1440p at 360 Hz+ if you mostly play shooters |
| B | 1440p at 240 Hz; 4K if you mostly play lighter games or use upscaling |
| C | 1440p at 165–240 Hz |
| D | 1440p at 144–180 Hz; heavy games land around 50–75 fps at 1440p, so drop those to 1080p or use upscaling |
| E | 1080p at 144–240 Hz; 1440p only if you mostly play the light games |
| F | 1080p at 144–165 Hz |
| G | 1080p at 60–144 Hz, and high refresh only in the light games |
Step 3: Buy the refresh rate your games can reach
Look up your tier's number for the game you play most, then match it here. More hertz than frames buys nothing; variable refresh (G-Sync or FreeSync) keeps the picture from tearing when frames fall below the refresh rate, and almost every gaming monitor has it now.
Step 4: Response time and panel type, last
Response time is how fast a pixel changes color. Slow pixels leave a smear behind moving things. The "1 ms" on the box is a best-case number; reviews that measure it are the better guide.
| Panel | Good at | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| IPS ("Fast IPS") | The safe all-rounder: quick (about 1–3 ms), good color, looks the same from any angle | Blacks look gray in a dark room (about 1,000:1 contrast) |
| VA | Deep blacks (about 3,000–6,000:1) for story games and movies | Slower in dark scenes (about 3–8 ms); dark moving objects can smear |
| OLED | Near-instant pixels (under 0.1 ms) and perfect blacks | Costs more; lower brightness on full white screens; static HUDs left for hours can burn in |
| TN | Fast and cheap | Washed-out color and narrow viewing angles; rare now |
A separate guide on panel types goes deeper. IPS, VA, OLED or Mini LED? Pick the panel by what bugs you
Sources
We read these to check facts and numbers; every sentence above is our own. Ranges are rounded from the sources and, where a table says so, estimated from Tom's Hardware's ranking.
- Tom's Hardware — GPU Benchmarks Hierarchy 2026 (11-game raster suite, Ryzen 7 9800X3D, June 2026)
- Tom's Hardware — 2022–2024 GPU Hierarchy (GTX 10 through RTX 40, RX 5000 through 7000, Arc A-series on one scale)
- TechSpot — Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty GPU Benchmark (September 26, 2023)
- Notebookcheck — Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 review, GPU benchmarks (November 21, 2025)
- Pink Parsnip Computers — Fortnite 1080p Performance Mode GPU FPS rankings (a UK PC builder's test notes)
- DropReference — VALORANT FPS benchmarks (September 2026, 1080p, Core i9-14900)
- Fragster — Valorant Unreal Engine 5 update: minimum PC specs (August 2025)
- Riot Games Support — League of Legends minimum and recommended system requirements
- TFTCentral — PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S monitor guide
- OSHA — Computer Workstations eTool: Monitors (viewing distance)
- Newegg Insider — Gaming monitor panel types explained: IPS, VA, TN and OLED (2026)
- TechSpot — The Best OLED Gaming Monitors 2026 (June 23, 2026)