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Patty asked: “My son is a big gamer and he’s interested in getting a 4K monitor. Wondering if you have any advice about the best one for the best price. Money is an object. Also, are there any concerns with the back end of the monitor, basically anything I need to be aware of about hooking into the CPU itself, any requirements, minimums, maximums?”
Patty, in terms of requirements, this may seem like an obvious one, but make sure his computer is capable of putting out 4K graphics.
The biggest hurdle there is usually the graphics card, not all have caught up to 4K, mainly because people don’t seem to care that much about 4K outside of gaming, so cards that are not specifically geared towards gaming have been slow to embrace 4K graphics.
If the card offers a resolution of something by 2160, that’s 4K and you should be good to go in that sense, you’ll probably see something like 3840 x 2160.
Your processor needs to be fairly recent too, or it’s going to be a little overworked by 4K graphics, but if your son is a big gamer, his computer is probably a gaming computer with a powerful CPU. It’s also more likely to have a graphics card capable of 4K graphics, so things are looking good in that regard.
As for the monitor itself, the good news is that they don’t cost nearly as much as 4K TVs do, but that doesn’t mean they’re at the same level as 1080p monitors.
For example, you can get a 27” LG 4K monitor for around $500, or a 27” Dell UltraSharp model which works as a USB 3.0 Hub as well for around $500, and you can get a 27” HP Z27s for, you guess it, $500, and Acer makes a 27” 4K monitor and you’d never guess, but they want a little under $500 for it.
Now, just so you know, there are gaming 4K monitors like the Acer Predator line. Those offer a better refresh rate, very quick response time, and other features that very serious gamers will appreciate. But if you want want to of those, you’ll likely have to pay above $1000.