1440p is the absolute gaming sweet spot [fight me] and this $150 Prime Day gaming monitor deal is great value, but for just $6.77 more another cheap screen has my heart

Acer Nitro gaming monitor
(Image credit: Acer)
Acer Nitro ED270U | 1440p | VA | FreeSync Premium | 170 Hz | $249.99$149.99 at Newegg (save $100)

Acer Nitro ED270U | 1440p | VA | FreeSync Premium | 170 Hz | $249.99 $149.99 at Newegg (save $100)
This is one of the best deals on a 1440p gaming monitor we've seen so far. A respectable brand and a respectable spec, although it might be worth holding out for an IPS panel. Still, a good price on a great little screen.

Price check: Amazon $169.99

No Prime membership required. Nope. You don't have to feather Bezos' nest to get yourself a frankly bonkers deal on a 1440p screen. You don't even need to get cosy with Newegg+, just give 'em $150 and they'll give you a prime gaming monitor in exchange. 

This is the absolute cheapest 1440p gaming monitor I've seen, and it's not sporting some paltry 75 Hz refresh rate, either. You're getting a VA panel that's capable of hitting 170 Hz with a minimum 5 ms response time. That's where VA has the edge over IPS panels, quicker response times, that and better contrast and black levels.

There are some obvious budget elements to the display, however, which are worth considering before you spend the money. First, the stand is a tilt-only stand, so no other adjustment allowed, and second, it's only capable of a max 250 nits peak brightness. That's pretty dim in a well-lit room, and that's possibly why I'd personally spend the extra $6.77 on the ASRock below.

ASRock Phantom PG27Q15R2A | 27-inch | 165 Hz | 1440p | VA | FreeSync Premium |$239.99 $156.77 at Newegg (save $83.33)

ASRock Phantom PG27Q15R2A | 27-inch | 165 Hz | 1440p | VA | FreeSync Premium | $239.99 $156.77 at Newegg (save $83.33)
ASRock's gaming monitors are always so darned cheap—we love them for that. This 1440p panel offers resolution and a rapid refresh rate for a potent PC gaming combo, though the built-in Wi-Fi antenna helps it stand out from the crowd. That's hardly essential, but could come in use for some.

Price check: Amazon $229

The budget issues from the Acer immediately vanish as you're getting full height, tilt, and swivel adjustment and it's rated to a pretty bright 550 nits for peak luminance. That will deliver a really bright image and would make the Acer look very dim in comparison.

And hell, it is only another few bucks for something that will make a big difference in your everyday experience of the screen. But if the ASRock goes out of stock, just know there's another cheap 1440p option out there.

📺View the Acer Nitro ED270U - $150 @ Newegg

📺View the ASRock Phantom - $157 @ Newegg 

Dave James
Editor-in-Chief, Hardware

Dave has been gaming since the days of Zaxxon and Lady Bug on the Colecovision, and code books for the Commodore Vic 20 (Death Race 2000!). He built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 16, and finally finished bug-fixing the Cyrix-based system around a year later. When he dropped it out of the window. He first started writing for Official PlayStation Magazine and Xbox World many decades ago, then moved onto PC Format full-time, then PC Gamer, TechRadar, and T3 among others. Now he's back, writing about the nightmarish graphics card market, CPUs with more cores than sense, gaming laptops hotter than the sun, and SSDs more capacious than a Cybertruck.

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