Asus' new 5K gaming monitor is so high-end it doesn't even officially support RTX 40-series GPUs — the XG27JCG is a 5K 180Hz beast with 330Hz 1440p dual-mode support

Asus XG27JCG dual-mode 27-inch 5K 180 Hz / 1440p 330 Hz gaming monitor

(Image credit: Asus)

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.

Asus XG27JCG official compatibility guideline — (Image credit: Future)

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.

Asus XG27JCG 27-inch dual-mode 5K 180Hz / 1440p 330Hz gaming monitor — (Image credit: Asus)

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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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.

21 Comments Comment from the forums

edzieba

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.
Since the only thing 'HDR' about this monitor is the sticker on the outside of the packaging, you can disable 'HDR' and suddenly the DP2.1 'limitation' no longer exists, as you are no longer padding link bandwidth with data that will never make it to the pixels on the display.
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helper800

I do not see a reason for this monitor to exist if there are better OLEDs out there for less.
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spoidz

Typo?

Only DP 2.1 is suitable on the GFX Card but the Monitor only has DP 1.4 port?

Or is the 5K locked to only the 1x USB-C with DP Alt Mode?
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UnforcedERROR

This is a non-starter for multiple reasons. Putting aside that running 5K at 180hz is already an absurd benchmark, they almost certainly aren't using integer scaling so the 1440p mode will look worse than a native 1440p panel. 5k at 27 inches, for gaming, is overkill. But, also, there are now 4K minileds with actual HDR performance, and a plethora of OLED options as well.

This simply doesn't have a solid market segment, especially for what it is.
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helper800

UnforcedERROR said:
Putting aside that running 5K at 180hz is already an absurd benchmark, they almost certainly aren't using integer scaling so the 1440p mode will look worse than a native 1440p panel.
This is incorrect. 5k is 5120 x 2880 and QHD is 2560 x 1440p, exactly half of 5k, so it would scale perfectly. That monitor on 1440p would look exactly as good as a native 1440p monitor with regards to scaling.
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txfeinbergs

Why would anyone want a 27 inch monitor these days?
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voyteck

insane 218 PPI, which makes it implausible to discern individual pixels on this screen, unless you're really up close

Being unable to discern individual pixels from a given distance doesn't make everything 100% smooth. Power lines first come to mind. The same goes for font optimization: text is deformed in the same way regardless if it's Full HD on a 27" screen or on a 14" laptop. Even Ultra HD on a 14" laptop is far from perfect. It's very simple: either a particular logical pixel hits RGB subpixels perfectly or not. More often than not - it doesn't. As a result, you can admire, say, "l"s of three or more different widths, swollen either to the right or to the left.
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Notton

txfeinbergs said:
Why would anyone want a 27 inch monitor these days?
Not everyone has space for a huge monitor.
Some regions have disposal fees tied to the size of the monitor.
27" is considered the sweet spot for 1440p, and it's a popular size.

IDK how I'd feel about using 1440p mode on a 32". I already don't really like 1080p on a 27". A 16:9 panel larger than 32" is more like a mini TV that has its tradeoffs with brightness and color uniformity as you now have to sit further back to see the top of the display.
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UnforcedERROR

helper800 said:
This is incorrect. 5k is 5120 x 2880 and QHD is 2560 x 1440p, exactly half of 5k, so it would scale perfectly. That monitor on 1440p would look exactly as good as a native 1440p monitor with regards to scaling.
I'm aware it's divisible by 2, but without proper integer scaling, it's actually not as sharp as a native display at the lower resolution. This is because the shift to a lower pixel density adds horizontal blur in most cases, which wouldn't be present with proper integer implementation. Most people don't care, or will barely notice, but it's there regardless. Most manufacturers don't want to put the money into this because the general consensus will be that a person is going to be running a monitor at the lower resolution for performance rather than fidelity.

As an example, here's a review of the Alienware AW2725QF dual-mode monitor from last year. Note that Monitors Unboxed purposely pointed out the integer scaling implementation, this is because most dual-mode monitors don't actually implement this:
PxaQEQzxog4:285View: https://youtu.be/PxaQEQzxog4?t=285
Now here's a review of the recently released MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M. Again, note that this is 4K > 1080 and should scale perfectly, but doesn't, because there's no integer scaling:
iW-HfmrFGZk:462View: https://youtu.be/iW-HfmrFGZk?t=462
Reply
helper800

UnforcedERROR said:
I'm aware it's divisible by 2, but without proper integer scaling, it's actually not as sharp as a native display at the lower resolution. This is because the shift to a lower pixel density adds horizontal blur in most cases, which wouldn't be present with proper integer implementation. Most people don't care, or will barely notice, but it's there regardless. Most manufacturers don't want to put the money into this because the general consensus will be that a person is going to be running a monitor at the lower resolution for performance rather than fidelity.

As an example, here's a review of the Alienware AW2725QF dual-mode monitor from last year. Note that Monitors Unboxed purposely pointed out the integer scaling implementation, this is because most dual-mode monitors don't actually implement this:
PxaQEQzxog4:285View: https://youtu.be/PxaQEQzxog4?t=285
Now here's a review of the recently released MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M. Again, note that this is 4K > 1080 and should scale perfectly, but doesn't, because there's no integer scaling:
iW-HfmrFGZk:462View: https://youtu.be/iW-HfmrFGZk?t=462
To my understanding, isn't this just a setting in the Nvidia control panel or Adrenaline?
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