Listen, don't fight me on this one. There's a sweet spot for 4K gaming monitors. And it's not 27 inches. It's 32 inches. Enter the MSI MAG 322URDF, a 32-inch, 4K, IPS beauty that's one of the very cheapest gaming monitors of its type, and yours for $345 on Newegg.
Of late, 27-inch 4K gaming monitors have been making lots of headlines, primarily on account of price. We've got models starting at as little as $190 on our Prime Day deals page, albeit the cheapest offering that'll do triple-digit frame rates at 4k is around $250.
But here's the thing. 4K is overkill for gaming at 27 inches. 32 inches is a much better fit. You still get good pixel density and therefore razor sharp-in game visuals, but with that comes a larger, more immersive vista.
Go larger than 32 inches at 4K, on the other hand, and pixel density really does begin to suffer. Likewise, 32 inches is great for general computing, allowing more physical space to make the most of all those pixels, again while maintaining good image detail and crisp text rendering.
If that's my elevator pitch for 4K gaming at 32 inches, generally, what about the MSI MAG 322URDF in particular? First up, it's IPS not VA. Until very recently, everything 4K and 32 inches at anything even close to this price point had a VA panel.
The usually meant sluggish pixel response and smeary motion clarity in games. But not the MSI MAG 322URDF. It's rated at fully 0.5 ms GtG, which gives it about the best pixel response currently available from IPS technology.
What's more it'll run at both 160 Hz native 4K and 320 Hz at 1080p. So, you could actually use this thing for competitive esports on the side.
Personally, I'd be all about graphically-intensive adventure titles and maybe a dash of military strategising. This thing will be great at all of that.
Of course, at this price point something has to give and HDR support is very much entry level. There's no local dimming. But then if you want proper HDR, you want OLED and that means spending at least $600, even on Prime Day.
The other obvious omission is the lack of USB-C connectivity. That's something I personally value, it makes it so much easier to share a monitor like this between a gaming rig and a laptop.
But USB-C would undoubtedly make this a more expensive monitor. So, I'm on board with the bares bonesness in that regard in order to achieve that spectacular price.
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1. Best overall / 4K:
MSI MPG 321URX
2. Best budget 4K:
Asus ROG Strix XG27UCG
3. Best 1440p:
MSI MPG 271QRX
4. Best budget 1440p:
KTC H27T22C-3
5. Best 1080p:
AOC Gaming C27G4ZXE
6. Best Ultrawide:
Gigabyte MO34WQC2
7. Best budget ultrawide:
Xiaomi G34WQi
8. Best 32:9:
Samsung Odyssey OLED G9
9. Best dual-mode:
Alienware AW2725QF
