Budget 2k resolution display. Should I really optimize for gaming?

[Outlier_81]

My secondary display just gave up on me. I'm deciding if I want to upgrade to a new main display, and use my current one as my secondary - or buy a cheap seconary display to use for a while.

Right now I'm using a 27'' 1080p 2ms (I think the refresh rate is between 75-85hz, it gave a vertical/horizontal refresh rate. I'm new to display specs, so I'm not sure).

I've heard great things about the ASUS PG278Q ROGm but at $750~ it's quite a bit outside of my range right now.

My main question:

How important is refresh rate and response time for gaming? I don't play too many games right now, and if I did, it wouldn't be too competitive. I mainly play CS:GO, Path of Exile, and League of Legends all casually. From a casual gaming standpoint, should I really shell out the extra money for gaming specs?

Additionally, with my workflow the extra real estate offered from a 2k resolution is a big deal.

Are there any cheaper 2k resolution (at least 27'' - from what I've read it's not very comfortable using that high of a resolution on anything smaller than 27'', opinions welcome here too) that I can get away with casual gaming without noticing too much of a performance drop from what I'm using currently?

 

[Phil923]

From a personal standpoint having used all sorts of monitors, there is a noticeable difference in the way it looks, but the difference in terms of gaming is almost nothing especially in casual gaming.

There are a lot of nice 2k monitors out there for less than half of the price of the ROG one and I can almost guarantee you won't see a performance difference in gaming.

Here is a pcpartpicker filter I made just show you some options. Hope I helped.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/monitor/#W=2700&r=256001440&sort=a8&page=1&p=1