ASUS MG279Q Behold, the messiah of gaming monitors

ASUS’s new MG279Q ticks a lot of boxes. It’s a 27-inch IPS model, with 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, 144Hz and adaptive syncing. It’s not a super-wide panel with 3,000-plus horizontal pixels. Nor is it a 4K box. But 2,560 x 1,440 pixels is arguably where the sweet spot is right now in terms of matching pixel grids with GPU power – 4K panels are marginal for smooth rendering on a single GPU. Intriguingly, you get all this for $100 less than ASUS’s familiar RoG Swift monitor. That’s similar in many regards. It’s 27 inches, 2,560 x 1,440 pixels at 144Hz and with adaptive sync. But it differs critically in two regards. The RoG Swift’s adaptive sync is Nvidia-fl avoured G-Sync tech and its LCD is a TN item. This screen sports AMD’s competing FreeSync tech and rocks an IPS panel. When it comes to image quality, this new IPS model whips the Swift raw with the spiky end of a DVI cable. The MG279Q is actually a good display to get to grips with the problem, thanks to a wide range of adjustment for the overdrive setting, which is accessed via ASUS’s excellent OSD. Set it to minimum and there’s little to no ghosting, but a fair bit of blur. Crank it up to max and the ghosting is utterly grim. Around the 40% setting cuts the blur nicely and doesn’t add any noticeable ghosting. Next up, the FreeSync in this implementation is also limited to a maximum refresh rate of 90Hz. That’s enough to get much of the smoothness benefi t of high refresh rates, but not all of it. Of course, you could argue that once you’re up over 100Hz, the benefi ts of adaptive sync are marginal. So if your graphics card is up to it, running with FreeSync disabled and the panel set to full 144Hz reheat could be the answer. Casting a shadow over all of this is the fact that you’ll need an AMD GPU to run FreeSync, while G-Sync It’s an absolutely gorgeous screen. The colours are as good as we’ve seen pretty much anywhere on any screen. It’s a delightful combination of accuracy and saturation, at the same time as seeming perfectly natural and not remotely forced, the latter being a routine issue with VA panels, which often look punchy but thoroughly OTT. Where things get complicated, both in terms of the comparison with the Swift and in terms of actual technical implementation, is when it comes to adaptive sync tech. Adaptive sync means aligning the refresh rate with the output of your graphics card for improved smoothness and an end to screen tearing. We know AMD’s FreeSync technology is a little rough around the edges, and unfortunately, that remains the case here. For starters, FreeSync doesn’t currently play nicely with response-enhancing overdrive tech,and you get some nasty inverse ghosting with FreeSync enabled. screens like the Swift need Nvidia graphics. Given that monitors are generally pretty long-term purchases, that makes for a potential GPU vendor lock-in that leaves us more than a little bit uncomfortable. Not that this is ASUS’s fault. However, it’s certainly worth bearing in mind. That said, you’re not really paying extra for the FreeSync capability. So view the ASUS MG279Q as mainly a 144Hz IPS panel and it’s still a very appealing proposition. The best gaming monitor yet? Very possibly