This 24-inch Iiyama gaming monitor is just £68 at Ebay
1080p 75Hz with FreeSync and VESA mounting - not bad!
Is a 24-inch 1080p 75Hz monitor count as a gaming monitor? If so, this is the cheapest gaming monitor I've seen for some time, with a 15% discount on Ebay producing an extremely affordable monitor with a higher-than-average 75Hz refresh rate and FreeSync compatibility. The Iiyama G-Master G2450HS is available for just £68 with code TAKE15 until 6th September.
This is a great price for a new gaming monitor of any denomination, and Iiyama is a reliable option at this price point - I've used several of their models in the past and was always reasonably impressed. The 1080p VA screen provides good contrast (~3000:1) and good colour accuracy, although brightness (250 nits), pixel response times (1ms MPRT) and viewing angles aren't as good as IPS alternatives.
In terms of the 75Hz refresh rate, this is only 15Hz higher than your standard 60Hz screen - but surprisingly, it does make a difference to fluidity. For context, this is slightly more impactful than the shift from a 100Hz screen to a 144Hz screen - as the 3.3ms between 60Hz (16.6ms) and 75Hz (13.3ms) is slightly larger than the 3.1ms gap between 100Hz (10ms) and 144Hz (6.9ms). In short, the lower your starting refresh rate, the bigger an impact any increase in refresh rate will have. That's why we're starting to see games running at 40fps in the console space - as 40Hz (25ms) is actually mid-way between 30Hz (33.3ms) and 60Hz (16.6ms) in terms of fluidity!
Otherwise, this monitor ticks the boxes. The FreeSync support means variable refresh rate gaming on Nvidia, AMD and Intel graphics cards, an integrated speakers can be useful if you don't have headphones handy, and the basic stand can be replaced with a 100x100 VESA mount if you prefer.
All in all, a lot of monitor for the money, and well worth considering as a budget option or as a cheap second screen.