Gaming monitors are one of the most essential pieces of any setup. While you can have a decked-out PC, the display is what truly allows PC performance to be showcased. There are hundreds of brands and thousands of products to choose from, each offering unique features and capabilities. Some of the most important features of a gaming monitor to look for include screen size, refresh rate, response time, and resolution.
As you might expect, the market can range from under $100 to over $2,000. With such a vast landscape of options, it can be challenging to find the right time to buy a really high-quality gaming monitor. We've compiled the best times to purchase a gaming monitor below, so take a look and explore when you should aim to buy a new display!
Best Times to Buy A Gaming Monitor
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
While it might not be surprising, Black Friday is the best time of the year to buy a new gaming monitor. This is the lowest we'll see monitors across the board, with massive savings in store. These deals also extend over to Cyber Monday, which has an online focus on deals. You can expect to see both retailers and manufacturers offer some of the lowest prices all year for the big sales event.
Many of the gaming monitors on sale during Black Friday are perfect for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Be sure to pay close attention to whether or not the monitor has HDMI 2.1 support to see if its compatible or not. Last year, we saw dozens of monitors that were excellent choices for both PC and console gaming.
Beginning of the Year
Like most technology, gaming monitor manufacturers often discount dozens of models around New Year's. This is largely due to new inventory incoming in Q1, but this allows for you to score great deals on some of the best monitors out there! Often, these discounts can range from a few hundred dollars to even over $500 off, depending on the model.
The best place to find deals like these are often either on Amazon or directly from the manufacturer. Companies like ASUS and Acer often discount their monitors directly on their own storefronts around this time of year.
Holiday Weekends
Major holiday weekends like Labor Day and Memorial Day are excellent times to purchase a new gaming monitor. Alongside all the video game deals, you can save big on all kinds of monitors, even units with 4K displays. Retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy will each tend to offer select monitors on sale. As you might expect, these sell out very quickly, so it's best to be on the top of your game if you aim to grab a monitor around one of these holidays.
Amazon Prime Day
Even though Prime Day 2024 is over, Amazon still plans to hold Prime Day 2 later this year, which will likely occur in the second half of October. This will be another opportunity to save big on gaming monitors, as Amazon will offer prices close to the level of Black Friday. During Prime Day 2024, there were many great budget monitor options even under $100.
Spontaneous Sales
Throughout the year, retailers like Best Buy host spontaneous sales on select monitor models that only run for a weekend or so. This can be a great time to buy a gaming monitor, but you have to play close attention to the deals. For that, we recommend staying tuned to the IGN Deals account with notifications on so you never miss a deal, as they can come and go in the blink of an eye.
New Gaming Monitors Release Constantly
It's no secret that monitor manufacturers release new models constantly. Often, you can find multiple new releases each year, which can make scoring a deal on a new monitor challenging. We recommend that you wait until either Black Friday or New Year's before purchasing a new monitor, espeically if you're looking to buy an expensive ultrawide monitor. Then, you are getting a great deal no matter the model that you may choose to buy.
Selecting a monitor that works for you is also not easy, but you must assses your setup to determine your needs. If you have a budget gaming PC that is only managing to run games at 1080p, you likely should not aim to buy a 1440p or 4K monitor. However, if you have a powerful PC or PS5 that can output games at 4K resolution, it's best to hold off and wait for a deal on a high-end monitor.
Top Affordable Monitors to Choose From Right Now
If you don't want to wait for a major sale to pick up a new gaming monitor, we've curated some of the best budget options that don't require a gaming monitor deal to save money on.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
