Here is our ultimate gaming monitor guide for sim racing in 2023. I'll show you different types of monitor setup from triple screen to ultrawide, highlighting the best buys in 2023.
The best gaming monitor for sim racing depends on your requirements. Triple screens are perfect for sim racing due to the wide field of view, but they take up a lot of room. Ultrawide monitors are a fantastic alternative as they require less room but still increase immersion to your sim racing.
When it comes to choosing a gaming monitor to round out your sim racing setup, the possibilities can be daunting at first. There are so many things to look out for, from screen size and setup to technical specs such as refresh rate and response time.
We’ve created this guide with the intention of taking away the stress and confusion from shopping for a gaming monitor for sim racing. In this guide I’ll run through all of the technical specs, highlighting options that you should look out for.
And I’ll bring you my top picks for the best gaming monitor in a variety of categories. For each category, I’ll show you a budget option and a more premium high-end pick. This will allow you to choose your ideal setup while keeping within your budget.
TL;DR – If you don’t have enough time to read our detailed guide below, here are the top picks for each category of the best gaming monitor for sim racing. You can find more information on each of these monitors and the reason why we chose each one below, along with a few other great gaming monitor recommendations.
Best ultrawide Samsung Odyssey G9 | Best Triple Screen LG Ultragear 27GL83A-B | Best Single Screen Samsung Odyssey G75T |
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So let’s jump straight in and look at the elements that you should be looking out for when shopping for a gaming monitor for sim racing. There are a few key technical specs that you should be keeping an eye on.
Making a compromise in the wrong technical category here could really impact your enjoyment moving forwards. For example, opting for a monitor with a low refresh rate will limit your FPS potential. And buying a monitor that is too small could cause issues when improving your sim racing rig down the line.
One of the first questions you’ll need to ask is, are you looking for a single screen, an ultrawide monitor or a triple-screen setup. This decision will impact almost all other decisions in your build moving forward.
A single screen is your usual 16:9 ratio monitor. This is the most common form factor when looking for a new screen. It has the benefits of requiring the least amount of space and can be expanded into a triple screen setup further down the line.
An ultrawide monitor expands your aspect ratio up to 21:9 or even 32:9. This essentially allows you to see more action that is going on around you. In sim racing, you’ll be able to have a wider view out of your cockpit and even see the mirrors. This can be invaluable when racing wheel to wheel.
A triple screen setup is very similar to a super ultrawide in that it allows you to see more of the action. Typically, a triple screen setup will wrap around your sim racing rig, giving you good views out of your cockpit and into your mirrors. The main negative with a triple screen setup however is the bevels in between each screen. However, this can be fixed with a bezel-free kit, which I’ll talk about later on in this guide.
Next up on technical specs to look out for is your overall screen size. As mentioned above this will be heavily dependent on your choice above.
If you are going for a single screen monitor, you can potentially increase the size of the monitor allowing you to run a correct FOV. Whereas if you are going for a triple screen setup you won’t want a monitor that is too big so you can allow for three monitors next to each other.
The perfect sweet spot of monitor sizes are;
Once you have chosen the style of monitor you are going for and the size next up is to look at the screen resolution. This will dictate how sharp your picture is, and also how much computing power is required to run your graphics settings at or close to maximum settings.
As you start to increase the screen resolution, your PC or console will require more GPU and CPU performance to run. This is because your PC or console will be having to render more pixels as you increase your resolution.
At a very minimum, you should be looking at a full HD (FHD) screen which outputs at 1080p (1920 x 1080px).
This will produce a full HD image that looks sharp on smaller screens. However, if you are running a larger monitor or getting closer to the screen, this will start to look out of focus and blurred.
Many gaming sim racing monitors will be able to output at 1440p, and this is currently the norm in sim racing. Most ultrawide monitors will run at 1440p or higher and it is the perfect sweet spot. Your image will be crispy as long as you aren’t running on too large of a screen, and your PC wont be as overworked as it would if running at 4k.
While 1440p is currently the go-to screen resolution for most sim racers, 4k will be the next step up, and it’s a step that many are starting to make. At 4k, your image will look super crisp, with both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 opting for this resolution for many games.
Beware that outputting at 4k resolution will make your PC work harder to run at high graphics settings, so ensure your GPU is up to the task. Running a triple screen setup at 4k is becoming increasingly doable with the latest graphics cards.
8k resolution is the pinnacle of gaming, and could well be the future. For now, not many PC setups will be capable of running at 8k resolution well, and not many 8k screens are available to buy. This may well be your next purchase after this one in a few years time. But for now, 8k is unfortunately out of reach for many gamers.
The refresh rate of your monitor is possibly one of the most important technical specs to look at. This will ultimately determine the maximum frame rate you can run your sim racing games at. If you are planning to keep your monitor for a while, opting for a higher refresh rate now is a wise choice.
To give refresh rate a bit of a description. Your game outputs at a certain frame rate (frames per second – FPS). The higher the FPS, the smoother your image will be, as more frames will be displayed per second.
30FPS is the absolute minimum you will want to be running at to maintain a smooth image. 60FPS is considered the true minimum if you regularly game, as you can easily see the difference between 30 and 60FPS. The image will appear much smoother at 60 vs 30FPS.
But stretching your performance up to 120FPS or even 240FPS will produce the absolute smoothest of image, and these figures are what you should be aiming for.
For your monitor to be able to display your desired FPS, it will need to have a refresh rate that matches or exceeds your FPS. A monitor’s refresh rate is measured in hertz (Hz). This is the number of times that your monitor will refresh and show a different picture per second.
For example, a 60Hz screen will refresh 60 times every second. And a PC outputting at 60FPS will generate 60 new images every second. So aligning both your refresh rate and FPS output helps to create the smoothest image possible.
Monitors are capable of running up to 240Hz with 144Hz being a sort of sweet spot.
The panel type dictates the type of technology that your gaming monitor is using. Most gaming monitors use an LCD panel, but these come in a variety of forms.
A TN panel is most commonly found in lower budget LCD gaming monitors. It is capable of delivering high refresh rates but does lack on its colour accuracy.
A VA panel offers a middle ground between TN and IPS. They can output very accurate colour ranges, although not quite as good as in an IPS gaming monitor. The refresh rate does vary in VA monitors but can be good in higher priced models.
An IPS gaming monitor is typically better than both TN and VA. It offers the best colour accuracy producing a stunning looking picture. They are also capable of having high refresh rates making them ideal for fast-paced gaming such as sim racing. But due to the quality of both colour accuracy and refresh rate, IPS panels can be expensive.
The response time dictates how much or ideally how little input lag there is. This is measured from the moment an input is registered by you, to how fast that is shown on your monitor.
As long as your monitor’s response time is under 5ms you shouldn’t notice any lag. But ideally, you will want to be looking for a 1ms response time for the best performance while sim racing.
HDR stands for high dynamic range and is a technology that improves the overall colour range. It will allow your monitor to better define light and dark areas, bring more vibrance and accuracy to the image.
While HDR isn’t essential for sim racing, it is a bonus that’ll allow your game and even movies to look just that bit better.
Both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync are the names given to software from the two big GPU producers that help eliminate any screen tearing. Screen tearing occurs when your monitor’s refresh rate and your PC’s FPS don’t match up.
When they are out of sync, you can sometimes notice frames where the image looks like it is being torn in half. This is called screen tearing and is when your monitor is display parts of two or more frames at once. This is definitely something you want to avoid for the smoothest gaming and sim racing experience.
That is wear FreeSync and G-Sync step in. They allow the monitor to vary its refresh rate to match the FPS output of your game. This will eliminate any screen tearing by matching both the FPS and refresh rate.
FreeSync is only available to use if you have an AMD GPU, G-Sync is only available if you have an Nvidia GPU. Luckily, many gaming monitors support both FreeSync and G-Sync meaning you won’t need to match your monitor to your graphics card. However, keep an eye out for this, just to ensure that the gaming monitor you are looking to buy does indeed include ideally both, but at least the one technology that matches your graphics card.
Let’s jump into the meat of this guide, and I’ll start our product recommendations with one of the best gaming monitors you can buy in 2023.
The Samsung Odyssey G9 is the king of ultrawide gaming monitors. It features one of the largest super ultrawide displays at 49″ across in a 32:9 aspect ratio. It has a VA panel, with full HDR support, as well as some of the key tech specs that we are looking for in a gaming monitor.
The response time is just 1ms which is ideal, and it has a 240Hz refresh rate as well as Nvidia G-Sync compatibility. This super ultrawide monitor will wrap around you with its large curved display allowing you to become truly immersed in sim racing. You will have a fantastic view out of your cockpit allowing you to see all of the action as it unfolds around you.
An alternate option to the mighty G9 is the ultrawide Odyssey G5. This is a much kinder gaming monitor for your wallet coming in at around half the price of the G9. The price reduction brings a size reduction also, with the G5 not coming in as wide as the G9. But the curved 21:9 aspect ratio still wraps around you allowing you to see more of the action.
Like the G9, this monitor also features a near-perfect 1ms response time. Its refresh rate is slightly lower at 165Hz, which is still more than good enough, and it includes FreeSync compatibility. While not as flashy as the G9, this curved G5 ultrawide monitor delivers great performance at a much-reduced price point.
When it comes to triple screen monitors, 27″ is right about in the sweet spot. You can go slightly larger to a 32″ monitor, but you will need a considerable amount of extra space. 27″ is just right, allowing the monitors to wrap around you giving you a fantastic view.
The LG Ultragear is a fantastic monitor with some impressive specs. It features a 1ms response time with a 144Hz refresh rate. This is combined with a QHD 1440p IPS display and G-Sync compatibility.
As far as gaming monitors go, this LG hits the right mark in all key categories. When you sit three of them side by side, you will have an impressive 7680 x 1440 display.
When buying three screens for a triple screen monitor setup, price has to be a factor, as the overall cost is tripled. This AOC 24″ gaming monitor ticks the budget box by coming in around half the price of the LG Ultragear mentioned above.
With the reduction in cost, you will get a lower spec screen, but one that is still mighty capable of running a very good triple screen setup.
This AOC features a 1080p IPS display, making up a full 5760 x 1080 display once three are aligned. It also boasts just 1ms response time and has a 75Hz refresh rate and is FreeSync compatible.
For a budget triple screen gaming monitor, this AOC ticks all the right boxes.
Much like the Odyssey G9 mentioned above in the ultrawide category, this Odyssey G75T is one of the best gaming monitors in the single screen category. It delivers exceptional performance via its curved VA panel. This includes a 1ms response time, 240Hz refresh rate and G-Sync compatibility.
The slight curve in the screen will give the effect of the screen wrapping around you despite it not being as wide as the ultrawide monitors above. One of the key areas that really impressed me by this G75T monitor is the picture quality. It has a QLED screen with HDR600 which creates such as a gorgeously diverse image. You will be hard-pressed to find another gaming monitor that matches this Odyssey on picture quality!
While this single screen monitor does bridge the gap into the ultrawide category, it is hard to not mention it. It comes in at such a reasonable price, that having this monitor in a single monitor setup is absolutely ideal.
It features FreeSync compatibility just like the other AOC gaming monitor on this list, along with a 144Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. This monitor has to reign supreme as one of the best budget single screen gaming monitors around.
When it comes to gaming monitors and sim racing, the big debate is over the type of setup you run. This will be one of the most important decisions you make when creating your sim rig. It will dictate how you set up your rig, how you mount your monitor and how much space your rig will take up.
The ultimate goal with sim racing is to be able to achieve a realistic field of view (FOV) which is made easier by running a larger monitor, or by sitting closer to the screen. And to be able to see as much of the track and action as possible. Wheel to wheel racing is much easier when you can see in your mirrors and out the side windows of your car!
Single screens have the benefit of taking up less space than either an ultrawide or triple screen monitor. And you can typically opt for a larger single screen. By increasing the size of your single screen monitor, you will be able to see more of the action around you, including more of your car’s interior when racing in cockpit view.
An ultrawide monitor will typically be shorter in height than a large single screen. But that height deficit is made up by the width of the monitor. An ultrawide will allow you to have a wider viewing angle than a single screen, allowing you to see more of the track and action around you.
This is beneficial as you will be able to see as cars pull alongside you, and you’ll be able to spot apexes of tight corners easier. Ultrawide monitors also almost always curve around you, which increases your immersion somewhat.
If you run a large ultrawide such as the mighty Samsung Odyssey G9, you will have an extremely good view around your car. And the curved monitor will allow you to truly immerse yourself in the action.
One of the main downsides of having an ultrawide monitor is that if you are gaming on a console such as the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, they won’t be able to use the full display. Instead, your console will only render at a 16:9 ratio, meaning you’ll have black bars on either side of your monitor.
A triple screen setup has been the go-to for many sim racers for years, and it’s with good reason. Ultimately a triple screen setup allows you to have the widest viewing angle around your car. When angled correctly, you can achieve a full 180-degree view around your cockpit and out both side windows.
While this provides the best overall view around your car and track, there is the issue of bezels. Each screen will have a bezel, and no matter how small, you will notice the black bars that separate each screen. This can break immersion somewhat, but a bezel-free kit can help overcome this.
Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time with a large 42″ single screen monitor mounted just behind my sim racing wheel base. And this worked rather well. However, I’ve been racing the past few years with a triple screen monitor setup and this has vastly improved my overall immersion.
For me, a triple screen allowed me to view much more of the action around my car. This allowed for closer wheel to wheel racing without such a heavy dependence on in-game radars to detect where cars are positioned.
All three options are fantastic when set up correctly, but ultimately the decision will come down to how much space you have available, your budget and your mounting options.
A single-screen monitor is by far the most budget-friendly option and takes up the least space. A triple screen setup can be costly and takes up the most space. While an ultrawide monitor occupies a sort of middle ground. They can be expensive but take up less overall space.
If you are running a triple screen monitor, you will know just how annoying and immersion-breaking large bezels have the potential to be. While you can learn to phase them out and ignore them while racing, they do somewhat ruin a perfect panoramic view out of your car’s cockpit.
A bezel-free kit sits over the bezels in between monitors and projects the missing image from this space. This allows for a continuous panoramic view similar to that which you can get from a super ultrawide monitor.
They aren’t a perfect solution though, as the image that is displayed over the bezel is normally a slightly different shade to the monitor, which is noticeable. And you will normally have large clips on the top and bottom of the bezel-free kit. While it does seamlessly join the three monitors, the seam is still noticeable, although not as much as having a large bezel.
As mentioned above in the single vs triple vs ultrawide section, choosing the right gaming monitor for you comes down to a few key aspects;
Undoubtedly a triple screen monitor will take up more room as the width footprint is larger than both a single monitor and an ultrawide. You will also need to consider how you are planning on mounting your screens. Many sim racing rigs come with additional mounting brackets allowing you to mount your chosen screen directly to your rig.
Below are a few recommendations on the style of monitor you should look to buy;
While these recommendations aren’t perfect, as they don’t take into account overall space, they do give an indication of three different monitor setups and the type of technology you should be looking for.
You can use the links below to shop for your favourite sim racing products, or for any products that we may have recommended. These links are affiliate links, and will earn us a small commission, with no additional cost for you.
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