Best affordable monitor

So I just moved to New York and am looking for a cheap monitor for gaming. Ideally less than $200 but I would be willing to go higher if needed. Size would be 24" or thereabouts but I'm happy to go higher if there's reason to do so.

Any suggestions? This is an area I know little about (my last monitor didn't even have HDMI ports... just VGA and DVI). LED is all the rage now, right?

I'm currently looking at this one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005BZNDS0/ezvid02-20

But, I'm not sure if I should go for a 144Hz model. I hate ghosting but, at the same time, I like to max out games so I'd never be running stuff over 60FPS at most. Would I lose the benefit of a high frequency if I didn't increase the FPS in tandem?

 

A 60Hz is pretty common these days, and I don't really think that you would lose a lot by getting one. I see that you have a GTX 680M at the moment, and you should be able to max games at around 50 fps, 1080p. Newer titles will probably run in the mid 40's if you max them, and these framerates would look exactly the same on a 144Hz screen and a 60Hz screen! If however, you run games to max your fps to 100+ and use lower settings, then you will see a slightly smoother image. Again the human eye will barely be able to notice the difference especially when you are playing a really intense round of battlefield 4, but it is more noticeable when you are playing a slower game like Skyrim (with 100's of mods!).

IMO, you should try to experience a 120Hz or a 144Hz display first, play some games on it and then decide if its really what you want. Some Alienware 17's and M17x's have 120Hz displays, and should be common in local computer stores. If you can, you should probably play around in one of these first, and then see if the difference is noticeable, and its something you want to shell money on (instead of investing that money in a larger screen or higher resolution). If a friend has one of these screens, then you might as well compare the two side by side, and see if the difference is what you want to invest on.

Personally, I have compared these two screens, and I'd say that 60Hz is pretty okay for me. But then again, I only play battlefield 3, 4 and CS:GO.

 

For anyone who's interested, I ended up going with this: Amazon.com: BenQ VA GW2750HM 27-Inch Screen LED-lit Monitor: Computers & Accessories

It's a Benq VA GW2750HM 27. 4ms lag which, not perfect but still better than most and the VA panel apparently is still leagues ahead of TN ones. Also, I hear that the contrast is fantastic considering the price and as I like to watch HD movies a lot, I couldn't imagine going for something which sacrificed all of that just for slightly less lag. Plus the viewing angles are meant to be very good, not quite IPS panel good but certainly a step up.