I’ve long been a proponent of high refresh rate monitors. Sure, 4K sounds like a good time, but after spending big on a ROG Swift 165Hz monitor a few years ago, I’m not sure I could go back. Maybe I could go forward, though, as I’m definitely tempted by the ROG Swift PG259QN—the 360Hz younger cousin of my increasingly aging screen. Especially when a Black Friday deal on one of our best gaming monitors makes it available for its lowest ever price, on sale at Amazon for $490.
This is the first time the price has dropped below the $500 mark—at the start of the year it was going for $700, so this is really nice saving on a monitor full of bells and whistles.
It’s a 24.5″, 1080p IPS panel. Traditionally, IPS has meant better colours at the cost of lower response times, but Asus claims its “Fast IPS” tech means a 1ms response time. The real meat here is the G-Sync functionality, providing 360Hz refresh rates.
Do you need a display that fast? Certainly not if your graphics card isn’t up to the task—if you’re already struggling to hit a stable 60fps in modern games, then you’re not going to see the difference on screen. If you’ve managed to get hold of one of the newer RTX 30-series cards, though, you may well get the benefit. And if you haven’t upgraded your monitor for a while, you’ll be amazed at what a difference it can make.
For me, I’d still be more tempted by the 32″, 1440p variant—even though it’s ‘only’ 175Hz, that’s still more than fast enough for my mid-30s mental response time, and the extra resolution feels the ideal size for gaming at a desk. Alas, that one doesn’t seem to be going cheap in this year’s Black Friday deals.
This, then, is a great alternative if you’re more limited in space, or simply have the mental bandwidth to actually keep up with a 360Hz screen.
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