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This 1440p 240Hz Acer monitor is down to $280 at Newegg

The Acer Nitro XZ3 XZ273U X takes no prisoners with a name like that.

Back in my day, we had to pay hundreds of dollars for a high-end gaming display - but nowadays, you youngsters get them for almost nothing! Look at this $280 Acer Nitro gaming monitor on Newegg. It came out at $600 - and not even that long ago! And now it's $320 off, for a 27-in 1440p 240Hz monitor. It's got a cool curved screen, a VA panel for great contrast, absolutely incredible. When I were a lad, we'd have killed for a display with more than sixteen colours!

OK, this schtick is getting old. Anyway, this is a rather good monitor for the price, if you're not allergic to curved screens anyway. The quoted 0.5ms GtG response time is bollocks, likely attainable only in a few transitions at the fastest and most unusable overdrive setting, but this is still an extremely fast VA panel that has attracted strong reviews for its motion handling, contrast and overall immersiveness.

This is a great choice for a mid-range PC or above, as you'll need a fair amount of CPU and GPU firepower to take advantage of 1440p north of 144Hz in recent games. However, you should be able to hit the full 240Hz refresh rate more easily in older or esports-oriented titles, like CS:GO, Valorant or League of Legends, where the higher refresh rate should prove to your advantage.

Note that the monitor is HDR rated, with a DisplayHDR 400 rating, but this isn't ideal for HDR content as it can't get that bright - normally we'd recommend DisplayHDR displays for actual HDR only at DisplayHDR 600 or above, as this is where highlights start to really pop and the annoyance of dealing with the Windows implementation of HDR becomes worthwhile. Note as well that the maximum refresh rate over HDMI is 144Hz, so you'll want to opt for DisplayPort where possible to take full advantage - so 240Hz console gaming is right out I'm afraid.

Despite these minor limitations though, this is a ton of monitor for the price - you're getting a spec that used to cost $500 at the minimum, for the price of a low-end 1440p 144Hz display. That's wild, and well worth considering if you're in the market for a new monitor!

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