PSA: It’s okay to pick up a 1080p gaming monitor on Prime Day

gamesradar.com:

I have a confession to make. I guess it’s less of a confession and more of a self-admission, but using a UHD gaming monitor stresses me out. That may sound weird considering I review the latest screens and graphics cards for a living. However, trying to run games at 4K even with a mid-range GPU in 2023 can be both difficult and distracting. So, I’m here to say out loud that it’s completely fine to pick up a 1080p gaming display during Amazon’s sale over a higher resolution one, and it might be a wiser decision anyway depending on your PC specs.

Just to clarify, I’m not saying you should ignore the very best gaming monitor options when browsing Prime Day monitor deals, nor am I throwing shade at 1440p and 4K setups. In fact, I use, and love, a UHD monitor now on a daily basis, and even the card I most recently tested for my RTX 4060 review can make use of higher res screens, albeit thanks to AI upscaling. What I am trying to stamp out is the notion that ‘bigger is better’ when it comes to resolution, as while we’re slowly sailing towards a 4K future, it’s far from being a mandatory standard.

That statement might raise an eyebrow or two given that new-gen consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X can make use of 4K 120Hz TVs, and the PC platform is supposed to be all about embracing higher specs. Well, actually, while many out there think that’s the case, the reality is that most players aren’t gaming using ultra-high spec rigs, and GPU price increases over the past few years mean that entry-level builds actually dominate the space. 

Don’t believe me? Just look at Valve’s latest survey results. Sure, figures do indicate that players are slowly ditching 1080p monitors, but a whopping 62% of users are still playing at that