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For gamers on a budget, the 120Hz-180Hz zone remains the best category at 1440p, which are medium refresh rate options these days. Typically, if you want to get into PC gaming for the first time, or you want to upgrade from an older 1080p display, this category provides the best bang for buck and offers the most choices at $250 to $350. There are still lots of monitors priced above $350 in this segment but then we begin to encroach on higher refresh rate options, so we strongly recommend not to overspend if you are not getting any more performance.
Some of the options that we’ve previously recommended are out of stock and hard to find, such as the Gigabyte M27Q Pro / M27Q-P. That’s still a great buy if you can find one for around $300, but because it’s hard to find here are other good options.
Surprisingly, the best choice for budget 1440p shoppers right now is an older model, the LG 27GL83A. We’ve recommended various products from this series over the years, such as the 27GL850, 27GP850 and 27GP83B – for just $250, the 27GL83A is a standout choice that offers excellent value for gamers.
The LG GL83A is very similar to the 27GL850 we reviewed back in 2019, but now in 2023 it’s half the price and lacks the wide color gamut support of that monitor. It’s also less of a standout than it was back then, we’ve seen many other monitors launch with similar hardware capabilities over the last few years, but at this new low price it’s a very competitive product that we can recommend.
The strength of the LG 27GL83A lies on its speed and response times. This is a 27-inch 2560 x 1440 IPS display at a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz with VRR support. It typically offers a 5-6ms response time experience with low overshoot, which leads to a clear and artifact-free experience while gaming. It’s right up there among the better choices in the sub $350 category as the LCD panel used has aged quite well. There’s also low input lag, decent color performance and wide viewing angles.
The main downside of this LG IPS series is the contrast ratio, which is low and doesn’t deliver impressive blacks. This specific variant also lacks a wide color gamut if that’s something that you’re interested in. But despite the contrast ratio we’d definitely prefer this monitor over a VA LCD at this price point, as they all typically feature ugly dark level smearing and curved panels, which we dislike compared to flat screens at this size.
Another Great Option
An upgrade pick is the MSI G274QPF-QD which is readily available for $330. This monitor is very similar to the Gigabyte M27Q Pro, except with a wide quantum-dot enhanced color gamut. This offers a point of difference to the 27GL83A; if you need a wider color gamut for creative tasks, or just like the extra saturation, this MSI display provides that along with decent color modes for sRGB, P3 and Adobe RGB. Its contrast ratio is also about 20% higher than the LG model, though response time performance isn’t as good, so it’s balanced more towards color than speed. At $330 it’s not as great value as the LG, but it does offer a few advantages.
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