Owning or building a budget gaming rig does not mean that you have to suffer with low refresh rates and poor performance. Sure, a lot of people would talk about those massive 34-inch ultrawide curved displays with great resolution or 240Hz refresh rates, which you would often find at the top of best gaming monitor lists, but it’s the affordable FHD workhorse that you’d actually find on most people’s desks. But not being able to splurge on a slick screen does not mean that you deserve a bad one — and that’s where the 27-inch ASRock Phantom Gaming PG27FFT1B gaming monitor comes in. This is a budget display with a $159.99 MSRP, but it’s currently on sale at Newegg, lowering the price to $94.77. This gives you a 40% discount, saving you $65.22
This is a relatively cheap display, and its maximum resolution is just 1080p, making it barely enough for the 27-inch screen size. However, you’re getting a surprising number of great features for the price you’re paying. First off is its 180Hz refresh rate, which should be good enough for most gamers. It also has a 1ms response time for sharper visuals and reduced blurring, especially during high-intensity matches. The screen also offers AMD FreeSync technology, and it’s VESA DisplayHDR 400-certified, making it a great screen for media consumption, too.
We haven‘t had the chance to review this particular unit yet, but we’ve previously covered the company’s curved 34-inch PG34WQ15R2B gaming monitor and the 1440p version of this display, both of which received four stars or more. This cheaper variant also seems to be well-received for its price, and even though it only covers 94% of DCI-P3, it should be good enough for most office work. For connectivity, you get a single DisplayPort 1.2 and two HDMI 2.0 ports, plus a headphone out jack. Unfortunately, it only comes with a basic rectangle stand with tilt adjustment, but if you spend an extra $13, you can get the V-shape gaming stand that also gives you swivel. I personally wouldn’t get it, especially as I have monitor arms for my displays, but the extra investment might give you a bit more desk space (plus a better-looking monitor).
This isn’t the latest and greatest monitor that you can buy today. But at less than $100, you’re getting a capable gaming monitor that will let you enjoy your games on a budget. After all, buying an expensive monitor isn’t worth it if you don’t have the best graphics card that will allow you to maximize its capabilities.
If you’re looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.
