The Best Monitors for Nvidia GTX 1080

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If your PC is built around a GTX 1080 and you’re looking for a new monitor then you’ve come to the right place! In this guide you can find the best monitors that can work very well with a GTX 1080, and more importantly, I have included a buyers guide so you can find the right monitor for you based on the games you play and what you want from your monitor.

Best Monitors for a GTX 1080

Below you can find the best monitors for a GTX 1080. I have split the list into three parts: best 1080p monitors, best 1440p monitors, and best 4K monitors.

Best 1080p Monitors

If you play games that are quite demanding, then a 144hz (or higher) 1080p monitor is a good choice for a GTX 1080 if you want the smoothest experience possible. Some people might suggest a GTX 1080 is overkill for a 1080p monitor, but many graphically demanding games still won’t be able to hit 144 FPS even at this resolution. I wouldn’t recommend a monitor with a refresh rate lower than 100hz though, because then a GTX 1080 will be overkill for the monitor.

Best 1440p Monitors

If you want a monitor that has a good balance between a sharp image and smooth experience then choose a 1440p monitor. A GTX 1080 should still give you close to and sometimes more than 100 FPS at 1440p. You will see a lower framerate compared to a 1080p monitor, but it won’t be as bad as 4K and it will feel relatively smooth too.

Best 4K Monitors

Since the GTX 1080 is still a fairly powerful GPU, it’s capable of running games at 4K reasonably well. You should get around 60 FPS most of the time (although you should expect to see drops below this in more demanding games) which is OK but will feel quite different when compared to 100 FPS on a 144hz monitor. I would only recommend a 4K monitor with a GTX 1080 if you primarily play slow-paced games but not if you play fast-paced first-person-shooters.

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Monitor Buyer’s Guide

To help you decide on the best monitor for you, I have put together this guide for choosing a monitor for a GTX 1080.

Resolution & Refresh Rate

When you’re looking to buy a monitor, one of the biggest things to consider is the resolution and refresh rate. If you’re not sure on what these mean, the resolution is how many pixels are displayed on the screen (a higher resolution means a sharper image ), and the refresh rate (hz) is how many times per second the image on the screen is updated (a higher refresh rate means a smoother experience ).

The refresh rate ties in with the number of frames per second (FPS) your hardware is capable of. So if you’re PC is only capable of 60 FPS at a certain resolution, then it wouldn’t be worth buying a 144hz monitor because you wouldn’t be making use of the high refresh rate.

The resolution also ties in with the FPS because if your monitor has a higher resolution, it won’t be able to achieve as many FPS as a monitor with a lower resolution. This means when choosing a monitor you often have to decide between a high resolution and lower refresh rate, or high refresh rate with a lower resolution.

So, which resolution/refresh rate combos are best for a GTX 1080?

Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer because a big part will depend on which games you play (which we will look at next). However, the combos below are a good starting point.

• 1440p @ 144hz – This is what I would recommend for most people as it is a nice middle ground. You get a relatively high resolution and a high refresh rate. Depending on the games you play, you probably won’t be getting 144 FPS all of the time, but you should get more than 60 FPS most of the time with a GTX 1080 (especially if you turn down some settings) making the high refresh rate worth it.
• 1080p @ 144hz – If you want the smoothest experience and don’t care too much for a higher resolution display then you might want to consider 1080p @ 144hz. You still won’t get 144 FPS in the most graphically demanding games, but you should be getting more than 100 FPS a lot of the time (as long as the rest of your PC is capable too).
• 4K @ 60hz – This option is best suited for people who want a really sharp, high deffinition display and don’t care too much for a smooth experience. I wouldn’t recommend these monitors for fast-paced games like first-person shooters, but they are great for immersive, slow-paced RPG games like The Witcher 3.

Which Games Do You Play?

Another important factor to consider is the games you play. There are two reasons.

First, the type of games you play may factor in to whether you should choose a monitor with a higher resolution or higher refresh rate. If you play fast-paced competitive games (e.g. CS:GO) then I would recommend a higher refresh rate to give you a competitive edge. But if you play slower, more immersive games (e.g. The Witcher 3) then I would recommend a higher resolution.

The second reason is that some games are very demanding graphically, whilst others can easily be played on a potato PC. Check out the benchmarks for the games you play to get an idea of how well a GTX 1080 can run them. You should aim to buy a monitor where the refresh rate is fairly close to the FPS you can expect to achieve.

If you want to play highly demanding games on a 1440p monitor, you might find you will only get around 60 FPS so it wouldn’t be worth buying a 144hz monitor. On the other hand, less demanding games might easily get 100+ FPS, in which case it would definitely be worth getting a 144hz monitor. In my opinion, if you can get more than 80 FPS most of the time, then it’s worth getting a monitor with a refresh rate higher than 60hz.

Panel Type

There are three main types of panel:

• IPS panels have the best colors and viewing angles. However they are also the most expensive and have a slow response time (how long it takes for a pixel to change from black to white). This can be a problem for fast-paced gaming, but they are great for casual and immersive gaming, and things like content creation and graphic design.
• VA panels have reasonable colors (but not as good as IPS panels) and very good blacks. VA panels are usually cheaper than IPS panels but also have a slow response time. They are a good compromise between a reasonable picture quality and fairly low price.
• TN panels are the least expensive. The colors are not very good on TN panels but the response time is very fast making them great for fast-paced gaming. Monitors with TN panels are usually cheaper too.

Screen Size

When deciding on a screen size, the most important thing to consider is the resolution. A monitor with a large screen size but only 1080p resolution will look pixelated unless you sit far back. A monitor with a small screen but 4K resolution will look good and really sharp so it isn’t a terrible idea, but the great thing about 4K monitors is that you can get a large screen and still keep a high pixel density. There’s no absolute rule, but a good guide is:

• 24″ for a 1080p monitor
• 27″ for a 1440p monitor
• 32″ for a 4K monitor

G-Sync & FreeSync

G-Sync and FreeSync technology syncs your monitor to your graphics card. This prevents screen tearing and provides a much smoother experience. Many monitors now come with one of these technologies.

However, keep in mind that G-Sync is only compatible with NVIDIA graphics cards and FreeSync is only compatible with AMD graphics cards. (You will still be able to use the monitor with a non-compatible graphics card, just without the G-Sync/FreeSync technology.)

G-Sync monitors are usually more expensive than FreeSync monitors, so if you have an AMD card, I would definitely go for a FreeSync monitor if possible. Otherwise you will be spending money on a feature you can’t use.

Conclusion

The GTX 1080 is a poweful graphics card and as long as the rest of your PC is good enough, it can work well with a 1080p, 1440p or 4K monitor. To find the best monitor for you, you need to consider the games you play and whether you prefer a smoother experience with a low resolution/high refresh rate monitor or a sharper image with a high resolution/low refresh rate monitor. Or you can go down the middle with a 1440p monitor.

Last update on 2022-09-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API