Recomendation for New Monitor for DCS

[kmaultsby]

The wife gave me the ok to purchase a new monitor for flight sim.  My Graphics card is RTX4070, I am looking for monitor between 32 and 42 inches.  My budget is $500 or less. 

[skywalker22]

ASUS ROG Strix XG32AQ. I would strongly recommend flat monitor, at least up to this width. I had curved one before, and I will never ever buy another one again. Odd feeling when looking into a curved, all seems out of phase, if you know what I mean.

 

 

Btw, I bought ASUS ROG Swift PG329Q 2yrs ago, and I love it!

[LucShep]

 

On 7/27/2025 at 5:14 AM, kmaultsby said:

The wife gave me the ok to purchase a new monitor for flight sim.  My Graphics card is RTX4070, I am looking for monitor between 32 and 42 inches.  My budget is $500 or less. 

 
OK, so what things, what aspects, to look for in a monitor, for your case with a $500 budget and an RTX 4070 graphics-card?

First the monitor resolution and its size (the two can relate somehow)....
You have an RTX 4070 graphics-card. That one is not really recommended for 4K (3840x2160) resolution gaming.
While doable, you'll definitely be forced to cut down graphical settings in games (sometimes severely) and/or be completely dependent on DLSS upscaling (which may not be available to other games you may spend time on). And then there's the issue of the 12GB VRAM limit on the RTX 4070, which makes a it a no-no for 4K resolution in DCS.
So, unfortunately, that puts a 4K monitor out of the picture for you, in my opinion.

The next best thing then is a 1440P (2560x1440) resolution monitor, and what you should look for - your RTX 4070 will drive that very well, without issues.
And there are some very good examples out there now that are very reasonably priced, well below your budget (I'll leave this for last).

The thing is, 1440P monitors stop making sense at sizes beyond 32 inches, because the pixel density (and PPI) from there on is too low.
If you really want a screen that is bigger than 32'' size, then you'll have to look for a 4K monitor or TV, but the prices and the performance (+VRAM) hit will be higher. 
 

Next, the refresh-rate of the monitor.... 
You'll notice 144Hz, 165Hz, 180Hz and 240Hz will be the most common these days for gaming monitors, anything higher than 120Hz is great in this aspect.
But, regardless, noone sees benefits of maxxing such high refresh-rates with flight-sims, as 1) it's unnecessary for this genre of game and becomes increasingly harder to run.
And 2) because the framerate (the FPS) can flutuate immensily, as will the frametime, which can induce a feeling of "stuttering / micro-freezing" in the image.

In this case of modern high refresh-rate gaming monitors, for DCS, what you should do then is to enable VRR, aka Adaptive-Sync (G-Sync, on Nvidia) and lock the max framerate in game to something like 120FPS (or 100FPS, or 90FPS, or 80FPS, etc, whatever you end up prefering), then let the monitor panel do the rest.
This benefits a more stable framerate and especially frametime, which results in a higher visual stability at most times, motion wise.


And then the panel type on a monitor.....
The different types are TN, VA, IPS and OLED (also subdivided into WOLED and QDOLED).

• TN is more focused on fast image on very high refresh panels, fast response times and motion handling, not so much image quality, so it's not a good choice for flight-sims.
  (not recommended)
• VA is more focused on high contrast and vibrant colors, but at cost of motion handling (blur, ghosting) and poor view angles, which you may notice and dislike with flight-sims.
  (not recommended)
• IPS is more focused on color accuracy, motion handling, response times and better view angles, at a cost of lower contrast, but generally a great choice for flight-sims. 
  (recommended)
• OLED are the best for image quality (true blacks, no backlight bleeding, no glowing or blooming) and instantaneous response times, but very expensive and risk of burn-in. 
  (recommended, with that caveat)
   

Finally.... You mention budget is somewhat of a concern ($500 or less).
All things considered -previous points included- I think you'll be best served with a good monitor that is 32'' 1440P 144Hz+ fast IPS panel and G-Sync compatible.

There's so much stuff always coming out, at any time, that it's hard to trace what is "the best" or not.
But, having tried all of these myself, I'd definitely recommend them (all are good and they're not too expensive, well under your budget):
 

• Asus TUF Gaming VG32AQL1A --- 32'' 1440P (2560x1440) 165Hz / OC 170Hz - IPS
  https://www.asus.com/displays-desktops/monitors/tuf-gaming/tuf-gaming-vg32aql1a/
   
• Asus ROG Swift PG329Q --- 32'' 1440P (2560x1440) 165Hz / OC 175Hz - IPS
  https://rog.asus.com/monitors/32-to-34-inches/rog-swift-pg329q-model/
   
• LG 32GS75Q-B --- 32'' 1440P (2560x1440) 180Hz - IPS
  https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-32gs75q-b-gaming-monitor
   
• LG 32GP850-B --- 32'' 1440P (2560x1440) 165Hz / OC 180Hz - IPS
  https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-32gp850-b-gaming-monitor
   
• LG 32GP750-B --- 32'' 1440P (2560x1440) 165Hz - IPS
  https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-32gp750-b-gaming-monitor
   
• Gigabyte GS32Q --- 32'' 1440P (2560x1440) 165Hz / OC 170Hz - IPS
  https://www.gigabyte.com/Monitor/GS32Q#kf
   
• Gigabyte M32Q --- 32'' 1440P (2560x1440) 165Hz / OC 170Hz - IPS
  https://www.gigabyte.com/Monitor/M32Q#kf

I'd say, you can't really go wrong with any of these.
 

Edited 15 hours ago by LucShep

[BitMaster]

I can only second LucShep's perspective, I basically had to make the same decision couple months ago, 27" was my goal.

My only difference is that I already see 32" as 4k territory, ppi wise, but it is still acceptable, similar/better  to a FHD @ 24" .

I ended up with an Asus  XC27ACG 1440p and really like it. I have an older 27" 1440p Asus Gsync that my son uses now and HDR makes a big difference, as that is were mine differ.

I don't strive for max FPS, rather a solid base fps that rarely fluctuates, regardless what game I play.