For competitive FPS gaming on a budget, this is 100% where I’d be spending my money even at retail price, but especially so with this discount. I rated the monitor highly in my review, in part because you’re getting a nice refresh rate for the price, but also because it’s a pretty nice all-rounder too, with an IPS panel that has some decent HDR. Just note there is some perceptible motion blur, so it’s not perfect.
Key specs: 25-inch | 1920 x 1080 | 320 Hz | IPS | 0.5 ms (GtG)
Price check: Amazon $249.99 | Dell $249.99 | Walmart $249.99View Deal
This is the monitor that showed me you really don’t have to spend an extortionate amount to get a leg up for competitive FPS gaming these days. That’s no doubt thanks to the fact that monitors in general are being priced particularly generously lately, especially compared to the wider PC gaming hardware market. For $230 at Newegg, I’d definitely give it a look if you’re into competitive shooters.
$20 isn’t the biggest discount ever, but when you’re looking at a decent price even at retail, it’s good enough for me. As I argued in my review of the Alienware AW2525HM as well as elsewhere, this kind of refresh rate and low latency offering here is a sweet spot for competitive gaming.
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When you push up beyond 360 Hz, you do enter the territory of diminishing returns in my experience. So 320 Hz for just north of $200 sounds about right to me. So right, in fact, that I can say if I didn’t already have a fast refresh rate monitor in front of me, I’d be considering spending my own money on this Alienware.
Moving up from 240 Hz, and certainly from 144 Hz, the improvement is noticeable, with flicks, quick peeks, and so on feeling much snappier and easier to perform at the higher refresh rate. I even measured a noticeable improvement in end-to-end latency when stepping up from 144 Hz.
One benefit of this one compared to some others designed for esports—say, the Zowie XL2586X+—is that it’s an IPS panel, not TN. That’s mainly a benefit for uses outside of competitive shooters, such as for casual gaming and general day-to-day use.
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One thing the Alienware panel really impresses me with on this front is its HDR experience, which is lovely. Playing Doom Eternal with HDR on, I can easily notice the wider gamut and richer colour space, with dark contrast seeming genuinely and naturally contrasting.
That being said, a 1440p panel will still look nicer for casual gaming thanks to the increased pixel density. The main reason to get the AW2525HM is for playing competitive shooters like Counter-Strike, Valorant, Apex Legends, and so on. Assuming, of course, you have a computer that can pump out 300+ fps and make the most of that refresh rate.
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