22/06/2026 7:55 am
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So my friends finally convinced me to start playing Valorant with them and I am hooked but I absolutely suck. They keep telling me it is because of my monitor because I am currently using this old 60hz office screen I found in my basement. Apparently I need something way faster for shooting games but honestly I have no idea what I am looking at. I started googling and got completely lost with all the terms like IPS vs TN and response times and 144hz vs 240hz. It is super overwhelming and I dont want to buy the wrong thing.
I have about 300 bucks saved up, maybe 350 max, and I want to buy something this week. I live in the US so I can order from Best Buy or Amazon pretty easily.
Can someone explain what actually matters for competitive shooters like Valorant or Apex? Like what specs should I look for, and do you have any specific recommendations for a total beginner on a budget? Sorry if this is a really basic question I just dont want to waste my money.
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22/06/2026 7:56 am
I almost ruined my eyes with a cheap TN panel when I first got into CS:GO. You have to be careful with ghosting. I would suggest the ASUS TUF Gaming VG259QM 24.5 inch 280Hz IPS since it fits your budget easily. Couple things to watch out for:
- Use DisplayPort, not HDMI
- Turn on the high refresh rate in Windows settings It honestly makes a massive difference.
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22/06/2026 8:30 am
@Reply #1 - good point! Using DisplayPort is absolutely critical for high refresh rates. Before choosing, what graphics card do you have? If your PC cannot hit 240 frames per second in Valorant, a 240Hz monitor will be bottlenecked. If your system is fast enough, you might want to consider these two options:
- ViewSonic OMNI XG2431 24 Inch 240Hz IPS Gaming Monitor
- Excellent motion clarity and great IPS colors. Be careful with the stand size though, as it takes up significant desk space.
- BenQ ZOWIE XL2540K 24.5 Inch 240Hz Gaming Monitor
- Great response times for competitive play. However, it is a TN panel, so the colors will look washed out for daily use. Make sure to check your GPU specs first so we can pinpoint the right refresh rate.
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22/06/2026 9:00 am
> @Reply #2
- Before choosing, what graphics card do you have? If your PC cannot hit 240 frames per second in Valorant, a 240Hz monitor will be bottlenecked. ^ This. Also, checking your PC specs first is so important. In my experience, over the years I've seen so many people make costly mistakes by not checking their build first. This actually reminds me of when my buddy Dave decided to get into competitive gaming a few years back. He went out and spent his entire savings on this absolute beast of a screen thinking it would make him a god. But he forgot he was running a total potato PC. He plugged it in, fired up the game, and it literally looked like a PowerPoint presentation. He got so mad trying to fix it that he tried overclocking his system, ended up frying his motherboard, and literally had smoke coming out of the case. It was a complete disaster and he had to play games on his phone for months lol.