Looking for a Black Friday gaming monitor deal could end up an online shopping fiasco this Black Friday deals season. Come November 27 we’re going to see hoards of punters flooding online in order to find the best deals on gaming monitors along with everything else. This will no doubt coincide with sellers’ sites fumbling, and probably falling hard, trying to keep up with the spike in demand.
Where to find Black Friday deals…
Amazon – the theory of everything
Walmart – Games, Movies, Budget Laptops
B&H – Monitors, Laptops, and PCs
Best Buy – PCs, Laptops, and Accessories
Target – Games, Accessories, and Laptops
Staples – Gaming Chairs
Lenovo – Discounts on Legion Laptops and PCs
Razer – Laptops and Gaming Accessories
Newegg – Components and Hardware
Microsoft – PCs, Laptops, and Games
Dell – Alienware PCs and Laptops
If Nvidia’s recent GPU launches are anything to go by, online shopping is going to get highly competitive during the last week of this month. However, there are ways to get around it, with a lot of shops starting the deals early to avoid cataclysmic stock issues.
With the Covid-19 situation keeping many shops shut, Christmas shopping is going to have to be an online crusade, and finding a gaming monitor deal is going to be a tough task. Or, it might have been, if we hadn’t put together this handy guide for you.
Not only are we keeping this article updated with the best G-Sync monitors (necessary for top-notch gaming performance if you’re planning to upgrade to an RTX 3080 or RTX 3090), there’ll also be a host of the best G-Sync Compatible FreeSync monitors. Basically Freesync monitors certified by Nvidia to work with G-Sync, and, although they’re not necessarily as good quality, they are usually lower in price. Plus, they support AMD’s FreeSync technology, if you’re planning to get on the AMD RX 6000-series GPU hypetrain.
So, whether you’re looking to game in 1080p, 1440p, 4K or (if you’re one of the lucky few) 8K, keep checking back for deals on some of the best gaming monitors around, throughout this 2020 deal season.
Early Black Friday gaming monitor deals
Acer Predator XB271HU | 27-inch | 1440p | 165Hz | $699.99 $467 at Amazon
The XB271 is one of my favourite displays of all time, it uses the exact same panel as the Asus ROG PG279Q, which currently sits atop our best gaming monitors list. And with a $300 discount it’s a great price for a high refresh 1440p panel. There’s no HDR involved, but that’s almost a moot point on PC these days.View Deal
Alienware AW3420DW | 34-inch | 3440×1440 | 120Hz | $1,199.99 $1,003.98 at Amazon
This Alienware panel is one of the best ultrawide screens around, though has always been at a rather unpalatable price. Still, at over a grand it’s a lot to spend on a screen, but with an IPS panel capable of running at 120Hz, a curve that will wrap your games around you, and a 1440p high res it’s got the goods for sure.View Deal
Early Black Friday TV deals
Vizio 55-inch OLED TV | 4K| 120Hz | $1,299.99 $899.99 at Best Buy
This impressive 4K OLED TV is perfect for the gamer upgrading to the next generation of gaming consoles or needs a big, bright TV to show off their new GPU on their gaming rig. You will have to sign into a Best Buy account to actually see the bargain price up top.View Deal
LG CX 55-Inch OLED TV | $1,799 $1,396.99 at Amazon
We found the 48-inch model to be the best TV for gaming, and this one is both bigger and cheaper right now. If you’ve been waiting to make the plunge into OLED territory, now is the time to jump.
View Deal
Vizio 65-inch OLED TV | 4K| 120Hz | $1,999.99 $1499.99 at Best Buy
The larger version of Vizio’s OLED TV line is at an incredible price that is practically a no brainer for anyone looking to take up an entire wall to play games in 4K. You’ll need to log in to a Best Buy account to actually see the full discount, however.
View Deal
Sony Bravia A9G | OLED| 55-inch | $2,499.99 $1,899.99 at Best Buy
Unless you have a vast lounge a 55-inch 4K TV is the sweet spot for big-screen televisions, and OLED is the perfect panel technology for such a beast. It’s also a great technology for gaming, delivering impeccable contrast and HDR. And with $600 off this Sony OLED it’s below $2,000 right now.View Deal
What to look out for in a Black Friday gaming monitor
When it comes to Black Friday gaming monitor deals the slack pace of progress in screen technology is a blessing. It means that a great five year-old display will still be a great gaming monitor today. So don’t be put off if the panel you’re looking at isn’t necessarily a 2020 model.
The main thing to look out for, apart from the relative historical pricing (camelcamelcamel is your friend here) of the screen in question, is its native resolution. You want it to match up to your current and prospective graphics card. If you’re going to be rocking a GPU that isn’t capable of running games at 4K then you’re wasting your money chasing that super-high UHD res.
Native resolution is also important when it comes to ultrawide screens too, and mostly because of that second number in the equation. A 3440 x 1440 display will be 1440 pixels high, and I’m going to say that’s a minimum for ultrawides; anything lower is going too far down the letterbox route.
The next number is refresh rate. Simple 60Hz screens are no good no more. Even down at the budget end of the market you can usually bank on at least a 75Hz refresh in a cheap IPS display. And, trust me, you can tell the difference even with that small a difference. Pump things up to 120Hz, 144Hz, or even 240Hz and you will definitely be able to tell.
It may sound like heresy, but it doesn’t matter if your GPU cannot deliver a solid 120fps on average, a 120Hz refresh will look great no matter what you’re doing with your new gaming monitor.
Then it’s all about panel technology. Personally I love an IPS screen, they deliver the best color accuracy but can suffer from slower response times and weak black levels, while a VA display isn’t quite as solid on color, but is quicker to respond. Only the esports pros who care nothing for visual fidelity should consider a TN panel with its weak image quality but penchant for lightning fast refresh rates and response.
If you’re planning to upgrade your machine to house one of Nvidia’s new Ampere graphics cards, such as the RTX 3080 or RTX 3090, having one of the best G-Sync monitors is necessary to make the best of these high-powered cards. G-Sync being Nvidia’s adaptive sync technology, a feature that reduces screen tearing, and display stutter, by syncing your refresh rate to that of your GPU.
Alternatively, the best G-Sync Compatible FreeSync monitors are out there, and they’re certified by Nvidia to work with G-Sync. Although they are not the best quality monitors out there, usually you can find them cheaper. They also support AMD’s FreeSync technology, if you’re looking to buy a new AMD 6000-series GPU when they become available.