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How to Connect a Gaming PC to a Monitor

Alexis Labadie Avatar

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Updated Jun 27, 2022 11:11 PM

Despite the rise and popularity of PC gaming culture, setting up a popular monitor to a gaming PC might not be the easiest of tasks for a novice PC gamer. For starters, not every monitor and PC combination is ready to use out of the box, like the high-end Thunderbolt monitors that are primarily used for Apple devices. You’ll need to make some adjustments before you can use it every day.

Remember, while your monitor will do little to affect how smoothly your game runs, it will affect the overall experience and feel. Using a good quality monitor on your gaming PC is quite enjoyable. Your gaming experience will be more impressive, realistic, and on a cinematic scale, which you can also experience on the ViewSonic XG2700 4K gaming monitor.

Key Takeaways:

  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Time Required: 15 minutes
  • Total Steps: 4
  • Tools Needed: None

How to Connect a Gaming PC to a Monitor

There’s very little that could go wrong with getting a monitor to work on your gaming PC. It’s a pretty straightforward procedure. But first, you need to ensure you have the proper hardware to make a connection, just as you would when learning how to connect the Wii to a computer monitor.

Components You’ll Need

To successfully connect your monitor to a gaming PC, you will require the following components.

Monitor

The monitor is essentially the window to your gaming PC’s soul. Without the correct display unit, your gaming experience will be lackluster. Monitors have different resolutions such as the best 1080p monitors and the top 1440p monitors. Effectively, the monitor’s resolution will offer the screen’s length and width in pixels. The more pixels you have, the more realistic your gaming experience.

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Graphics Card

The gaming PC graphics card is essentially the computer hardware that produces the images displayed on the monitor. The graphics card is what renders the images to your monitor.

Gaming PC

Ideally, a gaming PC is just like any other computer. The only difference is it has high-end specifications and is designed explicitly for gaming. These computers are custom-made or built from scratch for serious gaming enthusiasts.

Connection Cables

There are several different types of computer cables, but the most common Gaming PC-to-monitor cables are VGA, DVI, and HDMI.

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Setting up a Gaming PC to a Monitor

Now that you have all your hardware handy, you’re now ready to learn the necessary steps into setting up your gaming PC with a monitor.

Understand Your Monitor

In case you plan on having multiple monitors, make sure they are of the same model. Doing so makes it easy to measure and plan for them without complications—the most crucial factor when it comes to monitors in the resolution and refresh rate. Then if you invest in a screen with decent features, such as one 1080p high refresh rate monitor and pair it with the same model, you’re on your way to having a smoother visual gaming experience.

Tip: In case you plan on having multiple monitors, make sure they are of the same model

The resolution is the number of pixels a monitor can display. Resolutions vary, but the most common are 720p (1280X720), 1080p (1920X1080), 4K (3840X2160).

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Check Your Graphics Card Setup

Depending on whether you want to connect a single or multiple monitors to your gaming PC, the GPU (Graphics processing unit) will matter. Setting up a single monitor is quite simple and straightforward.

When connecting two or three monitors, you’ll need to make sure your GPU has three identical ports for use. Mixing isn’t discouraged. You can alternate, say, two HDMI and one DisplayPort. However, it’s better to have similar connections. For instance, for 4K monitors, you will require three HDMI ports on your GPU.

Tip: Mixing isn’t discouraged. You can alternate, say, two HDMI and one DisplayPort.

Plugin the Cables and Adjust the Settings Appropriately

How do I plug in my monitor? This is the easy step. Plugin everything and make sure that you are using the correct ports. Then turn it on. When adjusting your monitor for a gaming PC, avoid configuring anything on the operating system. Instead, use the GPU control panel.

Warning: When adjusting your monitor for a gaming PC, avoid configuring anything on the operating system. Instead, use the GPU control panel.

Depending on which GPU you are using, either AMD or Nvidia, they will have their configurations. Congratulations! You have successfully connected your monitor to your gaming PC.

Get the best display for your monitor. While many gamers don’t bother to calibrate their monitor, don’t overlook this step. Even on high-end displays, a tweak or two will have benefits to your gaming experience.

Warning: While many gamers don’t bother to calibrate their monitor, don’t overlook this step.

STAT:

In the fourth quarter of 2020, Dell’s shipments of PC monitors amounted to about 7.69 million units, whilst those of HP Inc reached 4.98 million shipments. TVP ranked third among vendors with 4.61 million PC monitor shipments. (Source)

Sources:

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9srXZZzsnE

*https://www.mobilecomputerrepairservice.com/how-to-connect-a-gaming-pc-to-a-monitor/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution#Computer_monitors

https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00085842/

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J_h9Pj4TVg

How to Set up a Monitor for a Gaming PC FAQ

What effect does display resolution have on the gaming experience?

The display on your monitor is created from thousands to millions of pixels. Your monitor creates the image by changing the colors of the pixel elements. Essentially, the screen resolution is how many pixels your monitor can display vertically and horizontally.

Is it possible to plug in more than one monitor on a gaming PC?

Yes. However, you need to ensure that all your port have identical ports at the very bare minimum. Also, make sure all your monitors support the same features. Finally, check that your GPU has enough connections for multiple screens.

When setting up multiple screens, do they need to be of the same model?

No. You could use different model monitors, but you need to make sure they have similar connection ports or at least have the same features. To minimize complications, get monitors of the same model.

Should all display connections be equal?

Mixing isn’t recommended, but it isn’t discouraged either. If you plan to use three monitors, you could use one DisplayPort and two HDMI.

Does my gaming PC have resolution settings?

Yes. However, you should avoid making any configurations on your operating system. Depending on the GPU, Nvidia, or AMD, they will have separate resolution configuration settings.

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