I've never had any serious issues with screen tearing, and if ever it's only been slight and I don't mind it. V-Sync just slows a game down for me so it's not worth it to leave it on. Whenever I look through the graphics of a game to lower things to make it smoother, V-Sync is always the first to go and that's usually the only thing I have to turn off in the end.
This is the one I have now:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-G2222HD.../dp/B002UJ31A0 and I'm using a HDMI-DVI cable with it, not sure about refresh rates though.