A 1440p panel asks for 3.69 million pixels per frame, about 78 per cent more than 1080p and a little under half of what 4K demands. On a 27-inch monitor that lands near 109 pixels per inch, which is where text stops looking soft and games stop relying on anti-aliasing to look clean. It is the resolution most gaming monitors sold today settle on, and the one most mid-to-upper graphics cards are engineered around.

The number that decides the build is not the resolution but the refresh rate behind it. Holding 60 to 100 frames at this pixel count is a modest requirement; holding 240 in the same games is a different machine with a different processor. Establish what the monitor you own, or the one you plan to buy, can actually display before comparing a single specification.