Alienware’s 500 Hz IPS Gaming Monitor Breaks Cover

Alienware AW2524H 500Hz gaming monitor
(Image credit: Alienware Chi11eddog)

According to a new leak, Alienware is preparing its fastest desktop gaming monitor to date. Twitter’s Chi11eddog shared an image of a purported Alienware AW2524H today, an IPS monitor with a claimed 500 Hz refresh rate. The seasoned leaker added that this alluring and stylish gaming monitor will be officially unveiled at CES 2023, which kicks off next week.

We don’t have a lot of supplementary information about the Alienware AW2524H. The source shares the biggest news, namely that this is a ‘fast IPS’ panel packing monitor with a 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. About the headlining refresh rate, this monitor is claimed to achieve 480 Hz native with the DisplayPort connector, but it can also reach 500Hz on the same connector with a modest overclock.

Alienware’s monitor terminology indicates that the AW2524H uses a display panel with a 25-inch diagonal (probably 24.5-inches). Most of the firm’s currently available monitors include the next two digits of ‘23’, so it seems reasonable to believe that the new AW2524H will be on sale soon and continue to be current through 2024. Lastly, Alienware inserts a ‘D’ in the model name for curved monitors, so this is definitely a flat display. The ‘H’ suffix may signal the very High refresh rate.

(Image credit: Alienware Chi11eddog)

The design of the Alienware AW2524H, as pictured by Chi11eddog, is very much like the current AW2523HF, which we reviewed in October, except the logo text on the rear appears to be a different color / LED backlit. That model, available for about $400, also featured a fast FHS IPS panel and scored well in our tests. However, the new model boosts the top refresh rate from 360 Hz to that magic 500 Hz figure. Though mainstream gamers may shrug at the uplift from 360 to 500 Hz, Alienware’s upcoming gaming monitor may excite serious eSports gamers with powerful PCs.

Back in May, we reported on the Asus ROG Swift 500 Hz G-Sync monitor, which was showcased at the Nvidia Computex event. However, the Asus model is built around a new 24-inch 1080p 'E-TN' eSports TN panel, which might not offer as attractive color characteristics or viewing angles. Nevertheless, it is worth looking back at that news, as Asus and Nvidia put some effort into explaining the appeal of a 500 Hz monitor in eSports gaming and the competitive advantages it could provide. Nvidia summed up the appeal of super-fast refresh monitors like the ROG Swift 500 with the phrase “frames win games.”

CES 2023 officially opens its doors on Thursday, January 5. Expect plenty of PC technology treats this year, with most of the big names in PCs and components lined up to deliver presentations and new products.

Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

  • hasten
    At what hz do the diminishing returns kick in? Its gotta be fairly early. Im "old" and my eyes arent what they were 20 years ago but i have a 240hz and 165hz side by side and cannot tell the difference. Both are quality monitors and driven with a 4090... maybe its just me or my eyes are old? My CPL years are far behind me lol.
    Reply
  • sizzling
    hasten said:
    At what hz do the diminishing returns kick in? Its gotta be fairly early. Im "old" and my eyes arent what they were 20 years ago but i have a 240hz and 165hz side by side and cannot tell the difference. Both are quality monitors and driven with a 4090... maybe its just me or my eyes are old? My CPL years are far behind me lol.
    I’m 41 but my eyesight is still good. I can notice a difference between my 144Hz and 240Hz monitors. It’s not the type of difference that is staggering, more just a noticeable improvement. I do have my doubts about higher Hz returns. Also from what I have seen in reviews is OLED response times are so good that lower Hz OLED can allegedly outperform higher Hz IPS, but I have no first hand experience of these.
    Reply
  • JamesJones44
    hasten said:
    At what hz do the diminishing returns kick in? Its gotta be fairly early. Im "old" and my eyes arent what they were 20 years ago but i have a 240hz and 165hz side by side and cannot tell the difference. Both are quality monitors and driven with a 4090... maybe its just me or my eyes are old? My CPL years are far behind me lol.

    A typical humans visual can only interpret visual cues in about 13 ms, 8 ms for those in the faster end of the spectrum the diminishing returns happen very quickly. 60 Hz paints the screen in about 19 ms, 120 Hz 8.3 and 240 Hz 4.2. Given even the best humans can't interpret visual cues at 4.2 ms the diminishing returns for going above 120 Hz are significant.
    Reply
  • husker
    hasten said:
    At what hz do the diminishing returns kick in?

    I'd say when you have to downgrade a monitor to 1080p in order to accomplish it. Like this one.
    Reply
  • Bigshrimp
    So much more bandwidth available with the new connectors, HDMI 2.1 and DP 2.0. I think there was a 240 Hz 4K monitor that came out recently from Samsung.
    Reply
  • oofdragon
    60 to 120 > very noticeable, worth it
    120 to 240 > noticeable, maybe worth it
    240 to 480 > noticeable? Not worth it
    Reply