Need opinions choosing a good monitor for Gaming

CraftedElements

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Mar 30, 2014
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So I had a decently old PC, as in old I mean 2004, and around 2008 I got a new monitor which has the resolution of 1440x900. I just recently built my new monster gaming/Video editing PC that has the following specs:
MOBO: ASROCK Z97 Extreme 4
CPU: Intel i7 4790k
RAM: 2x4 1600MHz
GPU: MSI R9 290x

So I never really experienced a 1080p monitor until I was at my friends house the other day, and wow what a difference it makes. I'm working with around 180$ (Preferably less) for a good monitor, the only problem is, I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to the display world, contrast ratios and pixel density. I was set on a 27" Monitor from Samsung for awhile until my friend showed me the difference that the bigger the screen gets, the lower the quality looks if it's 1080P. So I'm now looking for basically any monitor that's 21" or above, has an HDMI port, and looks amazing. All help is appreciated