Asus has quietly listed a brand-new high-end gaming monitor on its site with 5K resolution and a solid 180 Hz refresh rate, along with a myriad of features that we'll get into. This new model, called the "XG27JCG," is also a dual-mode display, meaning it can step down its resolution to almost double its refresh rate, going from 5K 180 Hz to 330 Hz at QHD, or 1440p — but that's not even the most interesting bit.
If you want to use this monitor at its full potential, the footnotes list only Nvidia's RTX 50-series as officially compatible, along with AMD's RX 7600 or up. Despite seeming strange at first glance, this is due to the lack of DisplayPort 2.1 support on older Nvidia GPUs, and since AMD added DP 2.1 last gen, its RX 7000 GPUs are good to go.
This restriction only applies to the 5K 180 Hz mode with HDR and no chroma subsampling. That kind of output requires bandwidth that's beyond what RTX 40-series' DP 1.4a and HDMI 2.1a ports can handle, even with DSC enabled on the former. So, Asus likely took this decision as not a hard-and-fast rule, but rather a safeguard to maintain stability and let customers know upfront what to expect.
Specs-wise, we're looking at a 27-inch IPS panel with 5120 x 2880 resolution, resulting in an insane 218 PPI, which makes it implausible to discern individual pixels on this screen, unless you're really up close. When you don't need that high resolution (or your GPU can't handle it), the monitor can switch to 1440p and enable silky-smooth 330 Hz gaming.
The XG27JCG has no local dimming, but it still rocks an HDR600 certification, meaning it's one bright panel. However, the lack of zone control means this is still not true HDR. What it lacks in contrast, it makes up for in color accuracy with 97% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, and it has a 10-bit (8-bit + FRC) color depth.
Gaming is where this bad boy really shines, though, with G-Sync/FreeSync and VRR support, along with backlight strobing (ELMB 2) that works with VRR thanks to ELMB Sync. Asus is also quoting 0.3 ms response times across both resolution and refresh rate pairings. Lastly, there are a bunch of AI features that we all definitely care about and won't just keep disabled the whole time.
Connectivity is solid, with 1x USB-C with DP Alt Mode and 15W power delivery, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1, and a USB hub with 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, plus a headphone jack. Price and availability are up in the air since the XG27JCG hasn't officially launched yet, but it's already listed for HKD 6,500 (~$835 USD) in Hong Kong, ahead of a potential CES 2026 global unveiling.
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