What an FPS monitor has to match

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I earn a small commission from Amazon links, at no cost to you. See disclosure.

Shopping for a shooter monitor? A good FPS monitor comes down to four things: the Hertz your PC can fill, the size your desk fits, a pixel that can finish before the next picture, and variable refresh that can follow a late frame. The best gaming monitor does not change because the game is a shooter. My competitive default stays 27 inches at 1440p and 144 Hz when your FPS holds that number. A 24-inch or 25-inch panel at 1080p is the tighter desk and the lighter pixel load. About 32 inches is the 4K size, and those pixels cost frames. You see the pictures the PC finishes.

I play Overwatch as Zarya on a 1080p 240 Hz and a 1440p 155 Hz monitor. The desktop is an RTX 5080 and an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2. More monitor guides. For the hero side, see the Zarya guide. This one is all about the screen.

The size the desk fits

Pick your screen size

24 inches27 inchesAbout 32 inches

27 inches pairs with 1440p, about 109 PPI. You see that resolution only while the counter holds it.

FPS monitors worth a look

These three are built for competitive play.

• 24.1-inch 1080p 400 Hz, Fast TN, built for FPS: ZOWIE XL2566X+. Official US page: 24.1 inches, 1920×1080, 400 Hz on DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0 max 240 Hz, Fast TN, DyAc 2, VRR with DyAc 2 off, S-Switch, shielding hood. ZOWIE’s own line is “Designed for FPS players.” ZOWIE US page. Amazon search for XL2566X+
• 24.5-inch 1080p 500 Hz overclock, Fast IPS, G-SYNC: Alienware AW2524H. Official Dell US page: 24.5 inches, 1920×1080, DisplayPort 480 Hz native and 500 Hz overclocked, HDMI 240 Hz, Fast IPS, NVIDIA G-SYNC, 0.5 ms GtG min / 1 ms GtG extreme, DisplayHDR 400, 99% sRGB. Dell US page. Amazon search for AW2524H
• 27-inch 1440p 240 Hz, IPS, G-SYNC Compatible: LG UltraGear 27GR83Q-B. Official US page: 27 inches, 2560×1440 IPS, 1 ms GtG with 240 Hz, DCI-P3 95% (typ.), VESA DisplayHDR 400, NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible, AMD FreeSync Premium, HDMI 2.1 ×2, DisplayPort. LG’s footnote: DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.1 on the card to reach 240 Hz. LG US page. Amazon search for 27GR83Q-B

The short version: buy the Hertz the counter already holds, at a size that fits your desk, at a resolution that pair can carry.

Hertz the PC can fill

Refresh rate is how often a new picture is allowed to start. The gap between those pictures is 1,000 divided by the rate you are actually seeing. At 144 Hz that is about 6.9 milliseconds. At 240 Hz it is about 4.2. At 360 Hz it is about 2.8. Size does not change that arithmetic. How to set 144 Hz is the Windows page that makes the ceiling real. A 240 Hz sticker on a panel still sitting at 60 is a 60 Hz screen.

You see the rate only while the counter sits near it. A 360 Hz or 500 Hz label on a 24-inch panel is still a counter you have to hold. 360 Hz is the same rule with a smaller gap after 240. 240 Hz at 1440p is the same rule with more pixels. I would not pay for 360 on the 1440p desk unless a busy moment already sits near 360.

Microsoft’s Advanced display page says a higher refresh rate can reduce motion blur, tearing, and input lag. It still assumes the pictures exist. The same page says many titles already use variable refresh when the display supports it.

If VRR is on and you cap by hand, three under the rate you are using is the usual safety margin: 141 at 144, 152 at 155, 237 at 240. The goal is to stay inside the VRR range. NVIDIA’s latency guide says G-SYNC plus VSync plus Reflex can cap below refresh for you. How to cap FPS is that number. The cap does not create frames. It stops the card from leaving the range.

ASUS’s “best gaming monitor” page puts competitive FPS on refresh rate and prints 1440p at 240 Hz as the sweet spot for most players. Hertz your PC cannot fill is unused Hertz.

What 24 inches is doing

A 24-inch 1080p panel is about 92 pixels per inch. A 24.5-inch 1080p panel is the same grid divided by 24.5, about 90. The Alienware above prints 90 PPI on Dell’s spec list. Stretching 1080p to 27 inches drops it to about 82. The picture is larger and softer. Distant marks get easier to lose in the grid. The PPI calculator is that hypot for a size you type.

ASUS’s monitor guide says 24-inch FHD lets you sit close with good clarity, and that 27-inch FHD options exist too. The second half is the soft pairing. I would not buy 27-inch 1080p for a fight. The glass grew and the pixel grid did not.

The smaller sheet is easier to scan and has fewer pixels than 1440p. The size does not create frames. It only spends fewer of them. ZOWIE’s XL2566X+ page is that bet: native FHD, 400 Hz, Fast TN plus DyAc 2. DyAc is a backlight strobe. It is motion-blur reduction, not extra Hertz, and ZOWIE turns VRR off while DyAc 2 is on.

What 27 inches is doing

A 27-inch 1440p panel is about 109 pixels per inch. 1440p is 2,560 by 1,440, about 1.8 times the pixels of 1080p. The picture is cleaner than 24-inch 1080p, and the PC has to finish that extra work before the counter can sit near the refresh on the box. 144 Hz at that size is my competitive default when your FPS holds it. 240 Hz at 1440p is the same rule with a stricter PC. A counter at 140 on a 240 Hz panel is still about 140.

ASUS’s guide calls QHD at 27 inches the mainstream pairing that keeps PPI high. NVIDIA’s 2022 GeForce News post on 1440p G-SYNC esports displays named the same category: 27-inch 1440p, up to 360 Hz.

27-inch 1080p is the soft pairing, about 82 pixels per inch. It’s not the 27-inch screen I’d pick for fights.

What about 32 inches

About 32 inches is where 4K makes sense. A 32-inch 4K panel is about 138 pixels per inch. 4K is four times the pixels of 1080p. A fight that is already tight at 1440p gets later, not clearer. A 32-inch 1440p panel is about 92 PPI, the same density as 24-inch 1080p, on a much wider sheet. I would not put Zarya on 32 inches. I want the whole map in one glance.

A lab that changed size and resolution together

NVIDIA’s 2022 esports note says their research found 27-inch 1440p can improve aiming by up to 3% versus 24-inch 1080p on small targets. The matching paper, Toward Understanding Display Size for FPS Esports Aiming (arXiv 2305.16953), ran twelve NVIDIA employees through 150 FPSci trials on a 24.5-inch 1080p Alienware 25 and a 27-inch 1440p Asus ROG Swift PG27AQN, both 360 Hz. Mean time to clear four targets was 3.75 seconds on the smaller panel and 3.64 on the larger one: 111 milliseconds, about 3 percent. Accuracy did not move. The task was built to amplify a small difference, and the two screens were not the same resolution. Variation between people was larger than the gap between screens.

That is not a reason to buy past the desk or past the frames the 5080 finishes. I play Overwatch on my 1080p 240 Hz screen for the speed, and everything else on 1440p 155 Hz for the sharper picture.

Response time is not Hertz

Response time is how long a pixel takes to change shade, in milliseconds. The box prints one lab transition, usually gray to gray. It is not the refresh rate, and it is not the wait from a click until the picture changes. A 1 ms badge on the LG, and a 0.5 ms min on the Alienware, are those lab moves. A trail or a halo is what you can actually see.

A higher Hertz shortens the gap until the next picture. It does not make a slow crystal finish. A 240 Hz panel still smears if the dark transition is longer than 4.2 milliseconds. Overdrive can hurry the pixel, until a halo appears. Test that slider at the Hertz you play, not at 60 in the shop.

TN versus IPS is the other argument on the 24-inch listings. ZOWIE sells Fast TN plus DyAc 2. Dell sells Fast IPS plus G-SYNC. The millisecond is one transition. The Hertz is the schedule.

OLED turns a pixel’s own light on and off. Mini-LED dims a zone. Neither one finishes a frame the PC did not draw.

VRR follows the frames you have

VRR and G-Sync let the panel start the next picture when a frame is ready, inside a minimum and a maximum. G-Sync is NVIDIA’s name. FreeSync is AMD’s name for the standard signal. G-SYNC Compatible, the badge on the LG, means NVIDIA tested a monitor that uses that signal and does not have their processor inside the display. Read which words the listing used.

VRR does not add frames. A PC making 140 frames on a 240 Hz panel still makes about 140. The unused 100 Hertz stay unused. Inside the range, the panel waits instead of tearing. At the maximum, or below the minimum, the split can come back. A listing that only says G-Sync or FreeSync, with no range and no port, is incomplete.

ZOWIE’s table is the other trap: Variable Refresh Rate: Yes (DyAc 2 OFF). The strobe and the range are two features. You do not get both at once on that page. Most players are better served by the VRR range than by a strobe.

Microsoft’s Advanced display page also mentions Dynamic Refresh Rate on Windows 11. DRR needs VRR and at least 120 Hz. Microsoft says it should not affect games designed for VRR, and that it can limit the maximum refresh of other games. If a favorite title looks stuck under the Hertz you paid for, turn DRR off.

The asterisk is not a cable

An asterisk in Windows that drops the resolution means that Hertz is not supported at the current resolution. Microsoft’s Advanced display page says it in those words: the dropdown shows an asterisk next to refresh rates that do not support your current resolution, and selecting one will change the resolution so the rate can run.

That mark is not a cable diagnosis. The panel, the GPU, the port, a dock, HDR-plus-10-bit, or the cable can all be why the pair is missing. A 27-inch panel running 1080p is the softer picture, about 82 pixels per inch, whatever the box printed. The port and the cable still have to carry the resolution at the rate. Setting the rate does not create frames.

ZOWIE’s own 400 Hz FAQ is the practical version. Use DisplayPort 1.4 and the included DP cable. HDMI 2.0 on that monitor tops out at 240 Hz. LG’s 27GR83Q-B footnote is the 1440p version: DisplayPort 1.4 or HDMI 2.1 on the card to reach 240 Hz. Dell’s AW2524H splits the same way: 500 Hz overclocked on DisplayPort, 240 Hz on HDMI. Read the row for your resolution. Plug into the port that row names. Then pick the Hertz on the screen you are looking at, under Settings, System, Display, Advanced display.

If 240 is missing entirely, you have not proven the cable. You have proven the current mode cannot do that pair. Change one thing: the port, then the cable, then HDR and color depth, then the resolution back to native. Two changes at once will not tell you which one opened the rate.

What does not pick the size

A curve does not add pixels or Hertz. IPS and VA do not either. A 21:9 panel often stretches a competitive shooter instead of adding view. Both my monitors are standard 16:9.

A 1 millisecond badge is one lab transition. RGB on the stand does not finish a frame. A “1,000 Hz of motion clarity” strobe is a backlight trick, not 1,000 pictures a second.

A listing is a size, a resolution, and a rate the counter can hold. Read those three before the panel name.

How I sit

I play Zarya and everything else on a 1080p 240 Hz and a 1440p 155 Hz monitor, powered by an RTX 5080, so I get the cleaner grid and a short gap between pictures. If I were buying one screen, I would start at 27 inches, 1440p, and the Hertz a busy moment already holds.

Buy the Hertz the counter already holds, at a size that fits your desk. More monitor guides.

Common questions

What size monitor is best for FPS games?

27 inches at 1440p is the best all-round pick if your PC can hold a high frame rate. 24 or 25 inches at 1080p is great for smaller desks and easier on your GPU. 32-inch 4K looks great but costs a lot of frames.

Is 24 or 27 inch better for FPS?

Both work, so pick what fits your desk and PC. A 24-inch 1080p screen is easier to scan and easier to run at high FPS, while a 27-inch 1440p screen is sharper but has about 1.8 times the pixels to render.

Is a 27-inch 1080p monitor good for FPS?

Not really. At 27 inches, 1080p is only about 82 pixels per inch, so it looks noticeably soft. You'll get a sharper picture from 24-inch 1080p or 27-inch 1440p.

Does a bigger monitor help you aim better?

Only slightly. NVIDIA's research found 27-inch 1440p improved aiming by up to 3% over 24-inch 1080p on tiny targets. That's a small edge, so don't buy a screen that's too big for your desk or your PC.

What refresh rate do I need for competitive FPS?

144 Hz is the minimum most competitive players aim for, and 240 Hz is the sweet spot if your PC can hold that frame rate. A faster monitor only helps if your FPS actually reaches its refresh rate.

Do I need a 360 Hz monitor for FPS?

No. Going from 240 Hz to 360 Hz only cuts the time between frames from about 4.2 ms to 2.8 ms, a smaller jump than 144 to 240. It's only worth it if your PC already runs your game well above 240 FPS.

Do I need G-Sync for FPS games?

It's nice to have. G-Sync and FreeSync stop screen tearing by letting the monitor wait for each frame, which keeps things smooth when FPS dips. It doesn't add frames, so check the supported refresh range on the spec sheet.

What does the asterisk next to a refresh rate mean in Windows?

It means that refresh rate isn't supported at your current resolution. If you select it, Windows changes the resolution to make it work. It doesn't mean your cable is broken.

Is 1080p or 1440p better for FPS?

1440p if your PC can hold a high frame rate, since it's much sharper on a 27-inch screen. 1080p is easier to run and great on 24 or 25 inches. I play on a 1080p 240 Hz and a 1440p 155 Hz monitor with an RTX 5080.