Honestly, 300 bucks is a solid sweet spot for monitors these days, so dont sweat it too much. In my experience, people obsess way too much over spec sheets when the difference between panels is barely noticeable once you actually start playing games. I have tried many monitors over the years, and honestly, build quality and longevity matter way more than getting that extra five percent in color accuracy. If space is tight in your apartment, focus on the stand footprint first. Some of these gaming brands have massive, obnoxious stands that take up half your desk, which is a total nightmare. My advice is pretty straightforward:

• Stick to reputable brands like LG or Dell. You really cant go wrong there, they just work and the panels are usually reliable enough that you wont have to deal with dead pixels right out of the box.
• Ignore the built-in speakers entirely. They are usually garbage regardless of the brand. Grab some decent dedicated desktop speakers or just use your headset.
• Look for something with a decent refresh rate from a company that has a decent warranty policy. Honestly, just pick the one that looks the least intrusive on your desk. Youre gonna be staring at the screen, not the plastic casing, so prioritize desk real estate and just pull the trigger on a standard IPS panel from a brand you recognize. Itll be fine.