Looking for the best gaming monitor to go with your shiny, new Nvidia graphics card? Nvidia's tech doesn't end with GPUs – it also makes some of the best display technologies to ensure every game you play on its graphics card is a visual treat.
I'm talking about G-Sync, Nvidia's in-house adaptive refresh rate technology and a popular VRR format that’s key to smooth gameplay when your gaming PC is packing an Nvidia GPU. It's the yin to AMD FreeSync's yang, and promises smooth, tear-free gameplay and multiple tiers of performance that make it an industry-leading technology.
TL;DR – These Are the Best G-Sync Gaming Monitors:
It comes in three forms: G-Sync Ultimate, G-Sync, and G-Sync Compatible. The first two options include dedicated hardware built into the monitor to guarantee that your frame rate stays locked with your graphics card no matter what fps you're gaming at. G-Sync Compatible monitors lack this hardware and only kick in after 40fps, but that's still easily achieved if you're matching your graphics settings to your resolution and the capabilities of your graphics card. G-Sync Ultimate guarantees HDR support, and every monitor that earns this endorsement has undergone more than 300 certification tests at Nvidia HQ to ensure it's the best of the best.
Admittedly, the market for true G-Sync Ultimate monitors is relatively slim. Still, we’ve included a few options, like our top display, the Alienware AW3423DW, an ultrawide beauty with a gorgeous OLED screen and a high refresh rate, or the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP, one of the most stunning, and stunningly fast, 1440p gaming monitors money can buy right now. You don't have to spend upwards of $500 to bring home an incredible G-Sync monitor, however, and I've found the best picks for each of the major shopping categories.
Looking for discounts? Check out the best gaming monitor deals.
Additional contributions by Danielle Abraham, Georgie Peru, and Matthew S. Smith.
1. Alienware AW3423DW
Best Overall G-Sync Gaming Montior
If you're looking for the best of the best when it comes to G-Sync gaming monitors, look no further than the Alienware AW3423DW. This ultrawide monitor is G-Sync Ultimate certified, which means it's been put through more than 300 certification tests by Nvidia itself to guarantee outstanding gaming experience. When I reviewed the Alienware AW3423DW, I was blown away by its picture quality, speed, and the smoothness delivered by its dedicated G-Sync module.
But that's not all it has to offer. This display is a spacious 34 inches with a 3440x1440 resolution. That's enough to guarantee a crisp picture no matter what you are playing. It also runs at an impressive 175Hz with a 0.03ms response time to guarantee the utmost in image clarity. You can take this monitor into your next competitive match in complete confidence that you will see every detail, no matter how fast you're swiping your mouse.
It also features next-level HDR thanks to its QD-OLED panel. Unlike a traditional OLED panel, this monitor uses a layer of quantum dots to enhance both the vividness of its colors and brightness. In SDR, you'll still find that it doesn't get quite as bright as similarly priced LCD panels. Don't let that put you off, however. Turning the monitor into HDR mode boosts peak brightness all the way up to 1,000 nits. And given its infinite contrast, it's able to display everything from near-pitch shadows to sparkling highlights.
The biggest drawback to this panel is that it doesn't support HDMI 2.1, so you'll be limited on the maximum refresh rate you can use with modern consoles. If you play at 1080p, it can easily max out its refresh rate, but 4K is limited to 60Hz. Because of this, I consider it to be best for PC gaming, which its form factor, picture presets, and incredible picture quality all combine to make something truly special.
2. Xiaomi G Pro 27i Mini-LED Gaming Monitor
Best Budget G-Sync Gaming Monitor
When it comes to value, the Xiaomi G Pro 27i is simply incredible. For less than $400, it's one of the best gaming monitors you can buy at that kind of price. Though it doesn't support G-Sync Ultimate, that doesn't take away from the exceptionally smooth gaming experience it delivers. And thanks to its mini-LED display, its picture quality is next level for amount of money you're spending.
With this monitor, Xiaomi was out to disrupt the market. When I reviewed the G Pro 27i at launch, I was blown away. It offers 1,152 local dimming zones, which is unheard of at this price. In competing gaming monitors, you can expect to pay double the price (or even more) to get a similar amount of local dimming zones. That's important because these dimming zones allow the monitor to deliver dramatically improved contrast that stops just short of the level of much more expensive OLED competitors.
Its mini-LED panel is also able to offer a number of benefits that competing OLEDs cannot. Since it uses LEDs for its backlight, its brightness in both SDR and HDR is able to be higher when viewing sustained content. There is also no risk of burn-in and no issues with text clarity, so you don't need to take any special precautions to protect your investment.
Xiaomi really threw everything at the wall with this one to deliver an exceptional picture. Its panel is very accurate out of the box, so you can easily use it for content creation and photo editing. In addition, it's been enhanced with quantum dots to deliver better colors and brightness overall. It's able to reach a peak brightness of a thousand nits. And even in SDR mode, its average brightness is sufficient to use in a well-lit room. It's also specced to hit 180Hz for superior motion clarity in addition to its G-Sync smoothness.
The biggest drawbacks here are that it really doesn't have any kind of gaming features to speak of and lacks USB ports. It's all about the experience with this display. And in my opinion, that's good enough. At $400, this is the budget gaming monitor to beat, even outside of the world of G-Sync.
3. Gigabyte FO32U2 Pro
Best 4K G-Sync Gaming Monitor
Gigabyte made a splash when it brought its Aorus to the world of gaming monitors, as I noted in my review, and it hasn't relented since. The Aorus FO32U2 Pro is an absolutely stellar pick for anyone with an Nvidia graphics card. Running at 4K, 240Hz on a stunning QD-OLED panel, it's a fantastic choice to take your gaming experience to the next level. It features a number of different gaming modes, including a shadow booster that lets you peek into the darkness for a bit of a competitive edge.
The FO32U2 Pro is a gloriously spacious 32-inch gaming monitor. It's fully compatible with Nvidia G-Sync, so you can count on smooth gameplay, but that's not all. Around the back, it supports HDMI 2.1, as well as DisplayPort 2.1, making it fully compatible with Nvidia's RTX 50-series GPUs. It also has a built-in KVM, so you can play your consoles at full 4K, 120Hz and bring your peripherals with you with a simple button press.
Its screen is stunning. Like the previous two picks here, it's enhanced with quantum dots, so you can count on exceptional color and brightness. It's VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 400 certified and has a peak brightness of right around 1,000 nits. Its HDR experience is exceptional. Because each pixel is independently controlled for brightness, it's able to offer a wide dynamic range, so even when it's not running at peak brightness, it still offers an incredible viewing experience.
On top of all that, it comes well-calibrated out of the box and has excellent color gamut coverage. You won't need to invest in a colorimeter to calibrate this display. It also has a number of dedicated gaming features. My favorite is a shadow booster that lets you peek into the darkness. And thanks to its Windows configuration software, you can even tie this to a hotkey for easy access mid-match.
This monitor was one of the very first I reviewed from the current generation of OLED gaming displays, and it remains equally impressive today, even as the competition has grown significantly more heated. The Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2 Pro is an outstanding choice for anyone looking for a 4K G-Sync gaming monitor.
4. Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDP
Best 1440p G-Sync Gaming Monitor
The Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDP is easily one of the best 1440p monitors you can buy today. And, as you can read in my review, it is one of my all-time favorite 2K gaming monitors. It's fully compatible with G-Sync and incredibly fast with a 480Hz refresh rate and 0.03ms response time. Best of all, you don't need to sacrifice image quality to achieve that high frame rate like some of the competition.
Like many of Asus's flagship gaming monitors this generation, it uses an OLED panel for infinite contrast in high peak brightness. Unlike some of the others, however, it uses a WOLED panel, which features a dedicated white LED instead of the usual RGB. This, in theory, should increase its longevity and better ward off burn-in since it doesn't need illuminate all of its LEDs to create the color white. Not that you have to worry about that very much with this monitor. It features a whole suite of OLED protections, as well as a three-year warranty that includes burn-in.
While it's true that it will be difficult for anything but esports to reach this frame rate, that's where it's most beneficial anyway. The high refresh rate has other benefits you won't want to miss, even while gaming normally. Setting the monitor to 480Hz allows you to use Asus's 240 Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) mode at a full 240Hz. This mode applies black frame insertion to enhance clarity even further, so there's less motion blur even when rapidly moving your mouse.
Even though this monitor doesn't use a quantum dot layer, like many of its compatriots, it also avoids the usual pitfalls of WOLED monitors by having excellent peak brightness and fantastic colors. The out-of-box calibration might not be quite as tight as its QD-OLED counterparts. However, it's still quite good and can get even better when calibrated with a colorimeter.
This monitor strikes a sweet spot between picture quality and how easy it is to run. Add in its flawless G-Sync compatability and you have an absolutely killer gaming monitor for anyone that isn't ready to jump straight to 4K.
5. Acer Predator X34 OLED
Best Ultrawide G-Sync Gaming Monitor
The Alienware X34 OLED is the current king of ultrawide gaming monitors with G-Sync support. It's bright, fast, and deliciously spacious, making it one of the absolute best picks for anyone that needs extra screen space – even outside of gaming.
With a 34-inch diagonal width, this display packs a stunning OLED panel with an immersive 800R curve. If that sounds like Greek to you, the important thing to know is that it has a much deeper curve than most other curved gaming monitors. It's designed to take up more of your field of view and extend further into your peripheral vision, drawing you into its center. For gaming, it's an experience that flat, or even less curved gaming monitors, can't compete with. Though, be warned, such an aggressive curve does come with a small amount of text warping at times, so it's not the best for productivity.
The Alienware X34 OLED keeps its G-Sync compatability close to its chest, but rest assured, it works flawlessly and I recommend keeping it enabled at all times when gaming. Its 3440x1440 resolution is easier to run than 4K, so hitting G-Sync's minimum frame rate (40Hz) is easy, and it's smooth sailing – er, gaming – from there.
This display really is something special. It's well-calibrated out of the box and its mix of infinite contrast and gorgeous color rendition make games a treat for the eyes. Highlights are no trouble for it whatsoever either since it features a high peak brightness of 1,300 nits. For HDR gaming, movies, or even YouTube videos, it's easy to slip away into the spectacle of the X34 OLED's viewing experience.
For content creation, you'll surely notice the lack of a dedicated sRGB mode – something that I find very strange – but it includes a P3 mode which is very color accurate. The extra horizontal space it offers makes working on timelines in Adobe Premiere Pro a more pleasant and efficient experience too.
This is a great all-around monitor for gaming and content creation, especially for fans of deep and immersive curves.
What to Look for in a G-Sync Gaming Monitor
Nvidia G-Sync comes in three flavors: G-Sync Ultimate, G-Sync, and G-Sync Compatible. It’s important to understand the difference between G-Sync standards before you buy.
The G-Sync Ultimate and G-Sync standards require a dedicated G-Sync hardware module inside the display. This module is a dedicated chip that synchronizes the monitor’s refresh rate with the Nvidia video card’s output.
The G-Sync module’s key benefit is the ability to display smooth motion across a monitor’s entire refresh rate range. You will see smooth, evenly paced gameplay even when a game’s frame rate takes a dip. The motion will not feel as smooth as at a higher frame rate, of course, but it will remain free of tearing and stuttering.
G-Sync Ultimate adds image quality standards including HDR and wide color gamut support. It also indicates that the monitor has undergone a wide range of quality tests to assure that it meets the highest performance standard.
G-Sync Compatible is where things get dicey. G-Sync Compatible monitors don’t have a G-Sync module at all and instead rely on the open VESA Adaptive Sync standard. This standard is now common to a wide variety of monitors and, because it doesn’t require a G-Sync module, can hit very low price points.
However, the VESA Adaptive Sync standard does not support refresh rates any lower than 40Hz, and some monitors that are G-Sync compatible have a minimum G-Sync refresh rate even higher than that. G-Sync may not work properly at a frame rate below the minimum refresh rate the G-Sync Compatible monitor is certified to support. You could see flickering or blanking (blank frames) while gaming. Nvidia maintains a database showing the certified specifications of all G-Sync and G-Sync compatible monitors.
Technically, G-Sync Compatible monitors may also have issues when a game’s frame rate exceeds a monitor’s refresh rate. This is less frequently an issue, though, and can be addressed with a frame rate cap.
The downsides of G-Sync Compatible monitors are rare in practice. We test dozens of monitors every year at IGN, and it’s unusual that we see flickering or blanking during our review process. Most G-Sync Compatible monitors are certified to work down to a refresh rate of at least 48Hz, which means gameplay should remain smooth and trouble-free at 48 frames per second or above. That’s not a difficult standard to achieve, especially on 1080p and 1440p monitors.
Still, you should keep the difference between G-Sync Compatible and G-Sync in mind. If you want smooth and trouble-free G-Sync in every game, at any frame rate, you’ll want to buy a monitor with G-Sync or G-Sync Ultimate.
G-Sync Monitor FAQs
Is it worth getting a G-Sync Ultimate monitor?
If you're gaming with an Nvidia graphics card, you'll definitely want to pick up a gaming monitor that supports G-Sync. G-Sync Ultimate guarantees that the monitor will offer great gaming performance, HDR, and ultra-smooth gameplay; however, it usually comes at a much higher cost when other monitors that lack the "Ultimate" branding could still perform amazingly well. In general, G-Sync Ultimate is a "nice to have" feature if you're already shopping in the top-end of the price range, but shouldn't be a deciding factor all on its own. Great specs and reviews can tell you much more about a gaming monitor than simply being certified by Nvidia.
Is G-Sync better than FreeSync?
When deciding between a FreeSync vs. G-Sync gaming monitor, you’ll discover the two VRR (variable refresh rate) technologies perform similarly. Both aim to synchronize the refresh rate of the display and the frame rate of the PC or console you’re gaming on. FreeSync and G-Sync compatible displays use the same VESA Adaptive-Sync technical standard, delivering similar results in games and often cross-compatibility. Many of the displays that support FreeSync work as G-Sync-compatible, or vice versa, even if manufacturers can’t make the claim outright.
The only exceptions are G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate monitors – as these require additional hardware – only work with Nvidia GPUs, and handle adaptive sync through a display’s entire refresh rate. (Other VRR usually taps out around 48Hz.) That means these monitors are often pricier. G-Sync and FreeSync monitors also attempt to differentiate themselves by adding HDR or color gamut support, but this is more fluff than anything else.
Do I need special hardware to run a G-Sync gaming monitor?
The only thing you'll need to run Nvidia G-Sync is an Nvidia graphics card. You don't need to concern yourself with more than that. It's also important to understand that "G-Sync Compatible" monitors usually also support AMD FreeSync and will work fine with both GPU brands. While you can't run G-Sync with an AMD GPU, the opposite isn't true: if you're using a FreeSync monitor that isn't G-Sync compatible, you can still use FreeSync. Thanks, AMD.
When are G-Sync monitors on sale?
There a couple major shopping events where you're likely to find a great deal on a G-Sync compatible gaming monitor. Prime Day and Black Friday are the best times to find sales on electronics, but other sales events also happen on the Fourth of July, Labor Day, and during the back to school season.
Christopher Coke has been a regular contributor to IGN since 2019 and has been covering games and technology since 2013. He has covered tech ranging from gaming controllers to graphics cards, gaming chairs and gaming monitors, headphones, IEMs, and more for sites such as MMORPG.com, Tom’s Hardware, Popular Science, USA Today’s Reviewed, and Popular Mechanics. Find Chris on Twitter @gamebynight.