I’ve been reviewing video tech long enough to remember the advent of 4K displays. In 2013, my first experience was with an Asus PQ321Q. It cost around $3,500, delivered 3840x2160 pixels at 60 Hz, and only worked with a handful of graphics cards that had a DisplayPort 1.2 output.

As prices dropped and choices multiplied, I saw that one of the most common searches on Tom’s Hardware was “budget 4K”. Even though you still need a powerful video card to game at 8.3 megapixels, most users want that high pixel density on their desktops.

The good news is that 4K monitors are no longer $3,500. The ViewSonic VX2730D-4K I’m reviewing here isn’t even $350. It’s $280 and works with many video cards. And it runs at 144 Hz with a dual-mode switch that lets you reach 288 Hz at 1080p resolution. And you get wide-gamut color and HDR on a 27-inch IPS panel with high contrast and high performance. Let’s take a look.

ViewSonic VX2730D-4K Specs

The VX2730D-4K has an impressive feature set wrapped up in an IPS panel that delivers an impressive 1,500:1 contrast ratio. That’s claimed by ViewSonic and verified by me. In fact, I measured over 1,600:1 after calibration, which isn’t necessary because it’s nearly pro-level accurate out of the box. There’s plenty of color coverage too, over 98% of DCI-P3. It also supports HDR10 signals, and there I found a couple of issues that I’ll get into later.

A 144 Hz refresh rate anchors gaming performance at the full 3840x2160 pixels. You can run that signal over DisplayPort or the two HDMI 2.1 inputs. A dual-mode switch changes the resolution to FHD 1920x1080 and 288 Hz. In both cases, you get G-Sync with Nvidia certification and FreeSync Premium. It’ll also do VRR with consoles. There’s a three-level overdrive to smooth out motion blur, and you get MPRT backlight strobing to use when speeds drop below 120fps.

A few unimportant things have been sacrificed on the altar of value. There’s no LED lighting, nor are there USB ports. But you do get internal speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack. A decent stand and cable bundle come in the box as well. The VX2730D-4K is more than prepared to take on your favorite games, be they twitchy shooters or lavish adventures.

Assembly and Accessories

The VX2730D-4K comes in the cardboard version of a plain brown wrapper with nothing but the words “ViewSonic Gaming” to signal the intent of what’s inside. Crumbly foam disgorges the three main bits, panel, upright, and base, which assemble without tools. Cables are DisplayPort and IEC for the internal power supply.

Product 360

The VX2730D-4K’s styling is minimalist industrial with nothing in front but the screen and its effective anti-glare coating, a ViewSonic logo, and a thin flush bezel. The IPS variant is proclaimed as “Super Clear,” which refers to its higher-than-average contrast. More on that later.

The stand is solid and stable and includes a 4.7-inch height range, 90-degree portrait mode and 5/20 degrees tilt. There is no mechanical swivel, but the metal plate base slides easily on the desktop if you want to turn the panel to either side. The package has decent heft and is very solid in operation. Build quality is well above the norm for a budget display.

In the back, there is purposeful grillwork that provides cooling airflow to the hardworking internals. A larger ViewSonic logo lets others know where your monitor comes from. And there’s a tiny OSD joystick reachable from the front bottom right that controls all functions. The side view shows a relatively slim panel with a component bulge. There’s a small cable hook on the back of the stand.

There are three video inputs in total, one DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.1. All support 4K at 144 Hz and FHD at 288 Hz with Adaptive-Sync and HDR. You also get a 3.5mm headphone jack should you wish to forgo the internal speakers, which play politely in the upper mid frequency band.

OSD Features

The VX2730D-4K’s OSD is operated by a joystick, which I found to be a bit different than others. You’d expect that pressing it would bring up the menu, but instead, it’s the dual-mode switch so the screen goes blank for a few seconds, then changes resolutions and refresh rates. There’s no provision to change this, but the dual-mode switch is super quick and convenient.

There are nine picture modes aimed at different game types and uses. Standard is the default and best choice. It’s within a whisker of perfect; the VX2730D-4K does not require calibration. But tweaks are available in the Color Adjust menu where you can change the color temp, adjust saturation and hue and panel luminance. HDR is simply Auto or Off, there are no adjustments there. The sRGB choice in the color temp menu does not change the gamut size, so there is in effect, no sRGB picture mode. You get full color all the time, covering just over 98% of DCI-P3.

You can switch resolution/refresh modes in the OSD using the Dual-Mode field if you’d rather. Like any dual-refresh monitor, you must set up the refresh rates in the Nvidia Control Panel once initially before you can toggle back and forth.

There are three overdrive levels, of which Ultra Fast is the smoothest. I saw no artifacts on any setting. It is reasonably effective, but 144 Hz still has some blur. In the Setup menu, you can turn off Adaptive-Sync in favor of MPRT, which is a backlight strobe. At 144 Hz, the phasing artifact is severe enough that I couldn’t use it. It’s better at 288 Hz where you can only see it slightly. Adaptive-Sync, along with a video card that can maintain max frame rates is the best option. The VX2730D-4K includes PIP and PBP, which is called Multi-Picture. It allows the viewing of two video sources at once.

ViewSonic VX2730D-4K Calibration Settings

The VX2730D-4K measured extremely well out of the box in its Standard picture mode. Grayscale, gamma and gamut tracking were without visual flaws. I found a tiny improvement with a couple of changes to the RGB sliders in the color temp menu. I noted that though there is a choice labeled sRGB, it is not a color space selector. You will see the full native gamut in all scenarios, covering just over 98% of DCI-P3. My recommended SDR settings are below. In HDR mode, there are no options and I noted some issues, which you can read about on page five.

Gaming and Hands-on

The VX2730D-4K’s gameplay experience was excellent in every important way. It is a seriously quick monitor with extremely low input lag on par with many premium screens. Movement and aiming are very precise. Motion blur is well below the level of distraction, even at a relatively pedestrian 144fps when playing in 4K mode. Detail is tack-sharp thanks to that 163ppi pixel density. The panel’s high contrast and saturated color made fine textures pop in both the foreground and the background.

The dual-mode switch worked perfectly once I had set up both resolutions in the Nvidia Control Panel. I found I could switch when paused in Doom Eternal without exiting to the desktop. Playing in FHD/288 Hz mode showed even less motion blur. There is measurably less input lag, but I could not perceive the difference of just 3.1ms. Ultimately, I preferred the sharper detail of 4K even though the frame rate was lower. The overdrive is good enough to keep moving objects sharp, so I could aim precisely at a distance. Lobbing grenades across the icy arena was child’s play as they almost always fell on target.

The only flaw I found was in the VX2730D-4K’s HDR presentation. There is a blue cast to the image, and it is less bright than SDR. You’ll see this confirmed in the tests on page five. The color saturation is there but I ultimately preferred playing in SDR mode because it had more impact.

I’ve noted in the past that dual-mode monitors create a compromise where you get high frame rates but with a sacrifice in resolution. FHD was once a gold standard, but when compared to 27-inch QHD or UHD, it looks soft. There’s no getting around acquired perceptions and after reviewing almost 500 monitors in the past 13 years, I have a few. That said, 27 inches is tolerable for FHD. I can see its appeal to competition gamers who prize response and frame rates above all. The VX2730D-4K is a worthy gaming display for players of all skill levels.

For everyday use, the VX2730D-4K’s high pixel density and accurate color is a real boon. It’s ready to rock out of the box, no calibration needed. I tweaked it to a little higher standard but that’s more to satisfy ego than anything else. It’s colorful and bright and extremely sharp. It has about 60% more contrast than the average IPS panel and that’s a clearly visible difference. The image is cleaner and more textural, almost on the level of a good VA screen. The only thing I missed was an sRGB mode. There’s an sRGB label in the color temp menu, but it doesn’t change the gamut size. You get full DCI-P3 color for all content.

Takeaway: The VX2730D-4K is an extremely capable monitor with just a couple of flaws. HDR doesn’t look any better than SDR thanks to lower brightness and incorrect grayscale tracking. But SDR content is rendered with nearly perfect color accuracy and excellent contrast thanks to low black levels. Gaming is addictive thanks to extremely low input lag and a smooth overdrive. Flaws aside, the VX2730D-4K is a 4K display for $280. That’s about all you actually need to know.

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To compare the VX2730D-4K’s performance, I’ve included Alienware’s AW2725QF, Acer’s XB273K, Titan Army’s P2712V, Gigabyte’s GS27U, and Asus’ XG27UCS. The Asus and Alienware monitors are dual-refresh, while the others make do with a single refresh rate.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

I’ve only collected data on six LCDs using the Nvidia LDAT test kit, so there are different displays shown in the panel response test chart. Of note is the KTC H27P3, which is a dual-mode, 5K@60 Hz/2K@120 Hz screen. There is almost no difference in response there, but the VX2730D-4K differs by 1.1ms between 288 and 144 Hz. 288 is also where you can actually use the backlight strobe if you want. I tried it at 144 Hz/4K, and it had too much phasing to be viable. The VX2730D-4K at 288 Hz also matched Acer’s excellent G-Sync Pulsar-equipped XB273U F5 at 2.4ms. At 144 Hz, the ViewSonic is good but not great. You can see some blur, even with the overdrive maxed out.

The VX2730D-4K’s dual-mode switch is the path to super quick input lag. It’s the quickest LCD I’ve tested in a while, with just 14.2ms of total delay when averaged over 25 mouse clicks. It’s also quick at 144 Hz, where it beats the 320 Hz Titan Army P2712V. This is excellent performance.

Test Takeaway: The VX2730D-4K shows some motion blur at 144 Hz, but no more than any competitor. It is much smoother at 288 Hz and FHD resolution. The overdrive works well on its quickest setting with no ghosting artifacts visible. The MPRT backlight strobe can only be used effectively in the 288 Hz/FHD mode. It has too much phasing at 144 Hz. Overall, the VX2730D-4K’s video processing is excellent, especially given its low selling price.

Viewing Angles

The VX2730D-4K has off-axis image quality that’s typical of the newest IPS panels. You can see a red tint in both the 45-degree horizontal and vertical planes. In the side view, light output and gamma remain constant. From overhead, brightness goes down by around 30% with a significant gamma reduction resulting in a washed-out image.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

The VX2730D-4K’s 6.29% score in my uniformity test is better than I’d expect for a budget display. Remember that we’re talking about 4K at 144 Hz for $280 here. There are no visible hotspots, nor is there bleed or glow.

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

The VX2730D-4K is firmly in the “not super bright but bright enough” category. For indoor use, 300 nits is plenty, and you’ll be more comfortable at 180-200 nits peak. What’s more important is the black level, which is almost 50% below the next screen from Titan Army. The resulting contrast of almost 1,600:1 is a standout among IPS panels. This feat is achieved without any clipping.

After Calibration to 200 nits

Contrast gets a tad higher after calibration, where it tops 1,600:1, well ahead of the P2712V. This is a difference you can see in a side-by-side comparison of actual content. Though a VA or OLED screen will look even better, the VX2730D-4K easily outpaces its direct competitors.

In the ANSI test, the VX2730D-4K stays consistent, even adding 3.7 points to the total. It’s rare for any monitor to be this consistent in my contrast tests. On planet IPS, it doesn’t get much better.

Test Takeaway: The VX2730D-4K has lower-than-average black levels for an IPS monitor, resulting in a contrast ratio of over 1,600:1. That delivers a greater perception of color saturation, depth, and sharpness. Coupled with its 163ppi pixel density, it delivers a supremely clear, detailed image. It isn’t super bright, but for any indoor environment, it has more than enough light output.

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The VX2730D-4K comes set to its Standard picture mode, which is accurate enough to be enjoyed without calibration. It’s close enough to spec that there are no visible errors for color, grayscale, or gamma.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

If you look very closely at a grayscale step pattern, you might see a hint of red tint at the 90% brightness step. But more than likely, you won’t see anything wrong. And you certainly won’t see any problems in actual content. Gamma is also nearly perfect with close tracking to the 2.2 spec over the entire luminance range.

By calibrating the RGB sliders, which only required one click changes to red and green, I got all grayscale errors below 1dE. That’s pro-level accuracy. Gamma was mostly unchanged but the 70-90% region got a tad darker. This was not a factor in actual content. I noted a slight increase in overall contrast, too so it’s worth making the adjustments.

Though the VX2730D-4K includes an sRGB option in the color temp menu, it does not change the gamut volume, so there is no actual sRGB mode.

Comparisons

The VX2730D-4K’s out-of-box grayscale error of 2.14dE is impressive but not unprecedented. The Asus and Titan Army screens measure a bit better. But the top three monitors are without visible errors, so it’s a wash. After calibration, all the screens look the same, with no visible grayscale issues.

In the gamma test, the VX2730D-4K’s slight rise at 70-90% makes its value range a tad less tight than the rest. The 1.82% deviation represents an actual value of 2.24. There are no visible gamma issues with any of the monitors. They all exhibit excellent performance.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

Though you won’t see any color errors in content, the VX2730D-4K has slight hue anomalies in the secondary colors, magenta, cyan, and yellow when put under the colorimeter. Red is also a tad oversaturated throughout. Calibration fixes those bits neatly and takes the average error to an impressive 0.99dE. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Comparisons

All the monitors have impressively accurate color gamuts, but the VX2730D-4K is the best at 0.99dE. It’s rare for any monitor, even a professional screen, to get under 1dE for a 31-point average test. This is exceptional performance. In the volume test, the ViewSonic nearly covers the full DCI-P3 gamut, coming up a tad short only in the green primary. My only complaint is that there is no sRGB mode. You’ll have to perform color-critical tasks in P3, which is more than accurate enough. sRGB is useful for photography and web graphics so it would make a good addition for a future firmware update.

Test Takeaway: The VX2730D-4K has better than average out-of-box color with no need for calibration in its Standard picture mode. It covers almost 100% of DCI-P3, 98.38%, coming up a tad short in the green primary. It calibrates to a very high standard that only some pro monitors can match. The only thing missing is an sRGB mode. There is no provision for gamut selection here.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.

The VX2730D-4K supports HDR10 signals with an automatic switch if HDR is set to Auto in the OSD. I noted some issues which I’ll detail below.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

The VX2730D-4K has an edge LED backlight with no dimming available for HDR so I expected that it would match output levels between SDR and HDR. I could only get to 207 nits with no provision for improvement. I checked full field and window patterns and got the same result. Black levels are about the same as they are in SDR with the backlight maxed, so contrast drops to 1,080.6:1. This gives HDR content the same appearance as SDR with no additional depth or impact.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

HDR grayscale tracking is decidedly blue, and I didn’t need the meter to tell me there was an error. I could see it in step patterns and full fields. This further flattens the image to where it has less impact than its SDR counterpart. The EOTF runs a bit dark, below the reference line, but stays consistent enough to keep all detail visible.

In the gamut test, you can see the effect of the skewed grayscale tracking. All colors are pulled off their hue and saturation targets. HDR is colorful thanks to the VX2730D-4K’s large gamut, but it is not impactful due to the errors I noted. In the BT.2020, color runs out at 90% red, 75% green and 95% blue.

Test Takeaway: The VX2730D-4K’s HDR presentation is lackluster at best. Brightness is reduced by around 30% from maximum and contrast goes down as well. Grayscale errors result in a flat image with no more impact than its SDR counterpart. While the HDR mode is usable, it doesn’t provide any advantages over SDR.

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4K monitors have long been in the realm of the exotic, but they’ve come very far from their $3,500 roots. That you can buy a 27-inch UHD screen with 144 Hz, Adaptive-Sync and extended color for $280 is a clear indication of progress to the positive.

The ViewSonic VX2730D-4K delivers tremendous performance and quality for the price. Not only is it 4K at 144 Hz, but it is also Full HD at 288 Hz. Gaming is super quick and smooth thanks to excellent video processing and a convenient resolution switch, and I was even able to toggle it without leaving the game, which is a first in my experience. The overdrive removes nearly all motion blur, and gameplay is precise and satisfying at either resolution. There’s MPRT backlight strobing for smoothness at lower frame rates, but I found it was only usable in the FHD/288 Hz mode.

My only complaint here is with the VX2730D-4K’s HDR presentation. It is less bright than SDR by around 30% and its bluish grayscale is visible in content. Though the monitor supports HDR10 signals, it doesn’t give them much love. I found that after some time, I preferred playing everything in SDR mode.

Minor issue aside, the ViewSonic VX2730D-4K is a 4K gaming monitor for $280. That forgives a lot and at this point in time, it has no serious competition. If you’re looking for a budget monitor that’s speedy, responsive and colorful, you should definitely check it out.

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Samsung Display is pushing the envelope in high-resolution, high-refresh rate displays with the announcement of its 360 Hz 4K QD-OLED panel. The company says that it will launch the new screen at Computex 2026, which is said to be the first one to go beyond 240 Hz while running at a native 4K resolution. We’ve already seen monitors that can go beyond 1,000 Hz, but these are often limited to 1080p or even lower resolutions. The new display achieved a higher refresh rate through optimized panel circuitry and driving systems, which must handle an increased amount of data compared to older, slower displays.

Aside from achieving 360 Hz at 4K, the Samsung panel also comes with other technical improvements. This includes Dual Mode, which allows competitive gamers to go up to 680 Hz at a reduced 1080p resolution. It also comes with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification, meaning the display can hit 600 nits of brightness while keeping black levels at 0.0005 nits or lower, giving users excellent contrast while ensuring that they can still see the QD-OLED screen even in bright situations. Samsung says its engineers also revamped the display’s pixel structure, using a V-stripe pattern for sharper text rendering.

All these features should make it an excellent all-around panel for both professionals and gamers, ensuring that users get a sharp, crisp image while giving them deep blacks and a bright screen. “Many customers have described the new 31.5-inch 4K 360Hz product as a near-perfect monitor that delivers everything consumers expect from a premium monitor, including ultra-high resolution, an ultra-high refresh rate, high brightness, and enhanced readability,” Samsung Display Vice President Brad Jung claimed. He also added, “Building on the fundamental image quality advantages of QD-OLED and our continuous research and development efforts, Samsung Display will continue to introduce innovative products that exceed market expectations.”

The company says that it’s already in talks with 10 manufacturers to supply this particular panel. If all goes well, we expect to see new monitors equipped with this panel appear in the market in the next 12 months, especially as Samsung plans to mass-produce the display in the latter half of 2026. We’re excited to test monitors with this technology once they hit the market, but until then, you can check out the best 4K gaming monitors if you need a new screen right now.

This article covers our picks for the best graphics cards for gaming in 2026. Amid the AI gold rush and consequent supply crunch for consumer silicon, no truly new gaming GPUs have been introduced in almost a year. If you haven't already upgraded your graphics card after the GeForce RTX 50-series and Radeon RX 9000-series launches in 2025, well, you're still looking at the exact same products now.

AMD did make its formerly China-only Radeon RX 9070 GRE available globally after Computex 2026, but in our review, we found that $549 product to be too expensive given the level of performance it delivers and the compromises made to hit its price point, so it isn't joining the list here. Check out that coverage for all the details.

Most of the products we recommend remain at elevated prices compared to their MSRPs, but this is just life in mid-2026.

It's admittedly cold comfort, but unless you're shopping for an RTX 5090, graphics card prices haven't risen much more than they already did earlier this year. Compared to the doubling or tripling of prices we've seen for RAM kits and SSDs in 2026 versus last year, a GPU upgrade remains a relatively affordable (and self-contained) option, either as a boost for an existing PC or part of an all-new parts list.

Even if you can’t build an all-new system, you can just put a new graphics card in an older PC and still enjoy boosts to gaming performance, image quality, or both—especially if you can upgrade your monitor at the same time.

As we discuss in further depth below, the arrival of DLSS 4.5 upscaling (for RTX 40-series and 50-series cards, at least) and expanded multipliers for Multi-Frame Generation, which now can boost frame rates by up to 5x or 6x, means that driving a high-resolution, high-refresh-rate monitor is now easier than ever if you're considering a GeForce RTX 50-series graphics card.

Read on to see our picks in today's gaming graphics card market.

Best graphics cards for gaming, at a glance

The above list shows all the latest-gen graphics cards we feel stand out in their segments. If you want to see how all of the current and prior generation GPUs stack up, check our GPU benchmarks hierarchy. We also have performance benchmarks further below.

When accounting for pricing, we perform our own research to find the midpoint of current prices for a given graphics card, rather than taking a vendor's MSRP at face value. We feel this method tends to be most representative of the price you're likely to see for products in stock.

If you can find a card for less than this midpoint, it's likely closer to (or even less than) a vendor's MSRP and a better value. Conversely, if you find one for more than this midpoint, it could be a worse value (or too close in price to a more powerful card that's a step up). Tread carefully.

The overall performance ranking incorporates 19 games from our 2026 test suite, which takes the geometric mean (i.e., equal weighting) for both rasterization and ray tracing games. Note that we are not including any upscaling or frame generation results in the table.

Raw performance may be the most important consideration for most gamers, but it's not the only metric that matters. Our subjective rankings below factor in price, power usage, and power efficiency, and features colored by our own years of experience. Others may offer a slightly different take, but all of the cards on this list are worthy of your consideration.

Upscaling and frame generation mean GPUs are more than just a chip

GPU performance goes beyond the hardware these days. Choosing a particular GPU vendor means you're buying into a complex software stack that includes upscaling, frame generation, and (more rarely) AI-powered RT denoising technologies.

In Nvidia's corner, the DLSS 4.5 upscaling model and its second-generation transformer architecture offer superior image quality to other upscaling tech (and with lower input resolutions, meaning higher potential performance), but it's more computationally expensive than past DLSS models and works best on RTX 50-series and 40-series cards.

The DLSS 4 model and its first-gen transformer architecture still work with cards going all the way back to the RTX 20-series family. Not all games implement DLSS 4 natively, but Nvidia allows you to force the usage of that model in many older titles through the Nvidia App utility, so you can practically always get the latest and greatest.

Between native support and driver overrides, DLSS is available in virtually any modern game you might want to play. Nvidia recently marked DLSS feature availability in over 1000 titles.

RTX 50-series GPUs are Nvidia's first with support for multi-frame generation (MFG), which allows Blackwell GPUs to insert anywhere from one to five AI-generated intermediate frames between each native one (for a 2x, 3x, 4x, or even 5x or 6x frame rate boost). RTX 40-series GPUs also support framegen, but only with a 2x boost.

Meanwhile, AMD's FSR 4 offers AI-enhanced upscaling with superior image quality to other FSR versions, but official support for it is limited to RX 9000-series Radeons for now. AMD will bring FSR 4 upscaling to RX 7000-series cards in July 2026 and RX 6000-series cards in early 2027.

In the meantime, AMD's FSR 3.1 and earlier upscalers still work on any GPU, but the image quality tends to be noticeably lower than both DLSS and FSR 4.

AI-enhanced FSR framegen (aka ML Frame Generation) arrived on AMD cards as part of the FSR Redstone update late last year. Like FSR 4 upscaling, ML Frame Generation is limited to Radeon RX 9000 cards, and it can be enabled in compatible games using a control panel override for titles that don't natively have it.

Legacy FSR frame gen remains available, too. Its framerate-doubling boost remains cross-compatible with GPUs from all vendors, but its image quality can't keep up with the AI-powered frame gen tech of the latest AMD and Nvidia models.

Intel XeSS upscaling can be superior to FSR 3.x, but it isn't available in as many games as FSR or DLSS. It works best on Arc GPUs, but like FSR, it's cross-compatible with a wide range of graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia if you need it.

XeSS 2 with AI-enhanced frame generation is now available in 95 games as of this writing and requires an Arc GPU. XeSS 3 brings multi frame generation to the party through both native support and a driver override in compatible titles.

All that said, we don't think you should go out of your way to buy an Intel Arc card for gaming in 2026 for reasons we'll get into later.

1. Best high-end graphics card: GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, $1099.99

If you want the best blend of high performance and cutting-edge graphics tech out there for 1440p or 4K gaming, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is it. This card comes with full support for Nvidia’s latest DLSS 4.5 upscaling and Multi Frame Generation tech, and its 16GB of VRAM gives you full freedom to enable every DLSS 4 feature.

AMD’s closest competitor, the Radeon RX 9070 XT, is way cheaper than the RTX 5070 Ti right now, but the AMD card obviously doesn’t support DLSS 4 or MFG. For the privilege of those capabilities, you'll generally need to spend a whopping 45% more cash right now for just 5% more baseline performance than AMD’s best before you start enabling all the DLSS 4 features Blackwell supports.

Is that worth it? Yes, if you can swing it. Here's why: getting the best gaming performance on modern graphics cards is as much a software problem as a hardware one. Tuning your gaming experience to taste requires access to high-quality upscaling, frame generation, and (more infrequently) an AI-powered RT denoiser like DLSS Ray Reconstruction.

Even amid its shift to AI and data center products, Nvidia ensures that its full suite of DLSS tech is adopted in virtually every new game, whereas AMD's support of FSR 4 adoption has become rather hit-or-miss.

The RTX 5070 Ti also offers superior RT performance versus the RX 9070 XT across our 2026 test suite. Beyond that baseline, Nvidia is working with developers to enable impressive path-traced effects in many of the latest AAA releases.

In our recent experience, path-traced games play best with DLSS 4.5 upscaling and MFG at your disposal, and being able to consistently rely on the availability of those features makes the extra cash for the 5070 Ti worth it.

Our recent GPU Hierarchy retesting has shown that high-end graphics cards are becoming five- to eight-year investments, and Nvidia's ongoing commitment to developer relations and new software features means that you'll enjoy a first-class gaming experience throughout the life of your 5070 Ti no matter what games you want to play on it.

Spread out over that time span, the extra cost of the RTX 5070 Ti versus the RX 9070 XT is worth it for the better experience.

What about the RTX 5080? Nvidia's second-fastest Blackwell card is anywhere from 8% to 16% faster than the 5070 Ti, with the biggest gap at 4K. Prices for the 5080 in June 2026 remain insane, however, and at the midpoint of current prices, the 5080 is 33% more expensive than the 5070 Ti.

There's no way the RTX 5080 offers anywhere close to enough value for the money to justify the step up right now unless you're looking for the fastest thing this side of a 5090 for 4K gaming.

Read: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti review

2. Best enthusiast value graphics card: Radeon RX 9070 XT, $759.99

The Radeon RX 9070 XT is AMD's most well-rounded graphics card in years. It delivers raw gaming performance within spitting distance of the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti for far less money, making it a strong value at first glance. But that appealing price tag comes with a number of asterisks in mid-2026 that mean it's no longer our first pick for high-end PC gaming.

AMD shored up two of its greatest weaknesses against Nvidia with the RX 9070 XT's RDNA 4 architecture: RT performance and AI acceleration, both of which are closer to Nvidia's latest and greatest. And AMD did all that while keeping power efficiency right there with Nvidia, too.

The FSR 4 upscaler is a big jump in image quality over FSR 3, and FSR ML Frame Generation now offers higher-quality framegen on the RX 9070 XT than FSR 3's approach, although it's still limited to a simple doubling of frame rates versus DLSS Multi Frame Generation's versatility.

The problem for the RX 9070 XT in mid-2026 is that FSR 4.x upscaling still trails Nvidia's flagship DLSS 4.5 in image quality, and AMD isn't driving the adoption of FSR 4 features nearly as aggressively as Nvidia is for DLSS. Driver-level overrides for those features can't entirely close the gap.

Worse, you might find the RX 9070 XT entirely shut out of features that you might want to enable in certain games. For just a couple of examples, Radeon gamers can't enable path-traced effects at all in recent titles like Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem, and 007 First Light sticks you with FSR 3 upscaling that can't be overriden through a driver toggle due to the way it's implemented.

And in our latest GPU Hierarchy retesting with the RX 9070 XT, we saw major performance issues in Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced and minor visual corruptions in Stalker 2 that weren't present on GeForces or on RX 7000- or RX 6000-series cards. We don't think these issues should have slipped past any QA program, especially for such popular and high-profile games, but they sting especially hard on a current-gen product.

All that means the overall ownership experience of an RTX 5070 Ti and an RX 9070 XT is significantly different in mid-2026. We think that gamers shopping in this price class should be able to expect a consistently high level of software feature support and quality across all the games they might want to play, and Nvidia provides that assurance better than AMD does right now.

If you're willing to gamble with the availability of FSR 4 features, for RT or path-traced effects, and don't care to tune the smoothness of your gaming experience with frame generation, the RX 9070 XT's shortcomings versus the RTX 5070 Ti may be easier to overlook given the large amount of cash that will remain in your pocket.

But we also think that you should look closely at what you're giving up before reflexively choosing an RX 9070 XT over an RTX 5070 Ti, despite its strong value at a glance.

Read: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT review

3. Best midrange graphics card: GeForce RTX 5070, $659.99

Until 2026 rolled around, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB had been our entry-to-midrange Blackwell gaming favorite. But the $579 midpoint of current pricing puts the 5060 Ti 16GB's on-shelf price above that of the RTX 5070's $549 MSRP, and the 5070 is one of the least marked-up graphics cards out there at the moment.

As a result, it's possible to find RTX 5070s for about $670, and that makes it an easy call to step up for less than $100 more than 5060 Ti 16GBs.

The RTX 5070 is about 30% faster than the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB across our 2026 test suite, and that's a huge leap that you'll easily see on the right monitor for just 15% more money.

The advent of DLSS 4.5 upscaling, which makes it possible to achieve superior delivered image quality at lower input resolutions than older DLSS versions, also takes some VRAM pressure off the RTX 5070's 12GB of GDDR7, making the deployment of RT and DLSS MFG more practical on this card than it has been in the past.

And as with the RTX 5070 Ti, the universal availability of DLSS 4.5 (both natively and through app overrides) plus MFG makes this card a fast and flexible performer across all of the games you might want to play in 2026.

Given the image quality of DLSS 4.5 and the smoothness boost of MFG, along with the higher baseline RT performance of this card versus the 9070 in our 2026 testing, we think the 5070 should be your first pick for a midrange gaming card right now.

In an ideal world, the RTX 5070 would have more VRAM to allow for unhindered exploration of everything DLSS 4 and MFG have to offer, especially at a native 4K resolution. If you're pushing those limits, we'd still recommend the Radeon RX 9070 thanks to its 16GB of VRAM.

But if you're on a 1440p monitor where VRAM is less of an issue and want DLSS 4.5 over FSR 4, as most gamers do, the RTX 5070 is still a strong performer, and you're less likely to run into its limits.

Read: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review

4. An AMD midrange alternative: Radeon RX 9070, $629.99

If you primarily play raster titles at native resolution and aren't on board with upscaling or framegen, the Radeon RX 9070 remains a strong midrange alternative to the RTX 5070. It's one of the least marked-up 16GB graphics cards available even with today's AI headwinds, and in a world where MSRPs have largely been forgotten, that makes the RX 9070 a strong value.

The GeForce RTX 5070 and RX 9070 go neck-and-neck in our test suite, but the RX 9070 has 16GB of VRAM and the RTX 5070 has just 12GB. Especially if you're trying to push 4K games at native resolution, that extra VRAM matters.

But the advent of DLSS 4.5 upscaling, which provides image quality that's practically indistinguishable from native rendering even at relatively low input resolutions, means that the RTX 5070 is a more potent midrange graphics card in 2026 than it was at launch.

On top of their inherent technical superiority, you can find DLSS 4 and MFG in most every game released today, which can't be said for FSR 4.x upscaling or ML framegen. AMD's driver overrides make up some of the gap, to be sure, but not all of it.

And as with the RX 9070 XT, AMD gamers may find themselves locked out of certain features like path tracing (in major releases like Pragmata and Resident Evil Requiem) or FSR overrides (in 007 First Light) entirely.

The RX 9070 is subject to the same minor image quality issues and performance hitches we saw with the RX 9070 XT, and those issues could certainly be overcome with future software updates. But we think that if you're looking for the best midrange graphics card, it should be free of those issues entirely, and so the RTX 5070 is our first pick for this price point right now.

Read: AMD Radeon RX 9070 review

5. Best enthusiast value graphics card: Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB, $469.99

AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB can handle basically anything the mainstream gamer can throw at it at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440, all at a price that comes in way under the sky-high markups on the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB as of this writing.

At a midpoint of $459.99 in mid-2026, prices for the RX 9060 XT 16GB are the highest we've ever seen, dulling the 9060 XT 16GB's reputation as the value-minded builder's GPU of choice. But with no cheaper Radeons worth recommending in the lineup, what can you do?

In any case, the RX 9060 XT enjoys the much-improved ray-tracing and AI performance of the RDNA 4 architecture, both of which bring Radeons a lot closer to the latest Nvidia competition. And its 16GB of VRAM gives mainstream gamers the assurance they'll basically never find VRAM a bottleneck in modern games at 1080p and 1440p resolutions.

Like the RX 9070 XT, the 9060 XT 16GB gives you access to AMD's much-improved FSR 4 upscaling tech, allowing you to boost performance with a small hit to image quality in the small but growing list of titles that support it.

Even with its new ML-powered model, FSR Frame Generation remains limited to a doubling of output frame rate at best, so it’s not a direct competitor to Nvidia’s DLSS 4 with MFG.

If you want more frames, AMD just launched the RX 9070 GRE globally for $549, and it provides a decent step up in performance for less than $100 more, especially if you're only gaming at 1080p or 1440p. But the more powerful RX 9070 can be found for just $50 more than the GRE, and then you're contemplating the even more powerful and versatile RTX 5070, too.

The RTX 5060 Ti 8GB is the RX 9060 XT 16GB's closest Nvidia competition, dollar for dollar, but we can’t recommend it at all. If you're spending over $350 on a GPU, we don't think you should have to fine-tune every setting to avoid running out of VRAM. The RX 9060 XT is easy to live with for a wide range of gamers in a wide range of titles, and that’s why it won our Editor’s Choice award.

Read: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB review

6. The best graphics card for 1080p gaming: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, $369.99

If you want to get your game on at 1080p, we think the RTX 5060 is still your best bet in mid-2026. The midpoint of RTX 5060 prices is around $370 right now thanks to the AI crunch, but you can still find them for as little as $350 if you're willing to shop around.

The RTX 5060 has impressive baseline performance for 1080p gaming in wildly popular titles like Fortnite, Counter-Strike 2, Marvel Rivals, and Apex Legends that aren't hungry for giant pools of VRAM. And if you are trying to push higher output resolutions in demanding AAA games, the universal availability of DLSS 4.5 upscaling means that it's easy to achieve near-native image quality at lower input resolutions than before, making the RTX 5060 a more flexible performer than ever.

If you can tune your settings right, enabling DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation could make for an even smoother ride on this card, but we find that 8GB of VRAM isn't enough to consistently enable framegen in the titles where you'd really want it. The feature often doesn't work if you're already at the limits of the RTX 5060's memory pool (or that of any 8GB Blackwell card), since the MFG AI model needs some VRAM of its own to run.

AMD's toughest competition for the RTX 5060 is the RX 9060 XT 8GB, which also lists for $299 but is now selling for about the same $350 as you'll see RTX 5060s going for. Supply of those cards has largely dried up in mid-2026, however, and you're likely to see only a couple options for them from any e-tailer.

Despite its much-maligned 8GB of VRAM, the 9060 XT 8GB put in a strong showing in our 2026 GPU Hierarchy testing, but not consistently enough to beat out the RTX 5060 and take home our general recommendation.

When the RX 9060 XT can bring its full compute horsepower to bear in certain games, it can handily outpace the RTX 5060, so it's worth checking out results like those from our RX 9070 GRE review and seeing whether a game you love benefits from the Radeon's raw muscle.

But if you want a more consistently solid gaming experience, we'd still recommend the RTX 5060.

Read: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti review

7. The best graphics card, period: GeForce RTX 5090, $4299

There's nothing else like the GeForce RTX 5090. If you want to turn on every bell and whistle in modern games at 4K (or beyond), the RTX 5090's sheer shader and Tensor Core horsepower, along with support for Nvidia's DLSS 4 upscaling and multi-frame generation, lets you tune your gaming experience to perfection even on high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

If you're a hardcore PC gamer who demands only the best, the hair will stand up on the back of your neck when you watch the RTX 5090 breeze through workloads that other graphics cards leak out all their thermal gel about.

Prices for the RTX 5090 have always been elevated, but they're stratospheric in early 2026. Major e-tailers only have a few different models listed, and prices start at $3500 or so and only go up from there. Nvidia's $1999 MSRP is pure imagination in current market conditions.

At those prices, an RTX 5090 is an indulgence of the highest order, but then again, it always has been. Without a compelling AMD alternative even on the horizon, considerations of value don't really apply here. If you truly need (or want) this class of gaming or AI performance, you're going to have to pay up.

This card needs a system with a massive power supply, one of our best gaming CPUs, and a top-shelf monitor to take full advantage of its astounding capabilities, and all those spendy components add up quick. But if you have a big enough bankroll to consider shopping for a graphics card of this caliber, you probably don't need us to tell you all that.

If Nvidia and its industry partners fixed the meltdown-prone ATX12V-2x6 connector, the RTX 5090 would be as close to gaming perfection as any graphics card that's ever been made. Guess that's something to improve on the RTX 6090, if it ever arrives.

Read: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition review

8. The cheapest graphics card worth buying: GeForce RTX 5050

If you have to save every penny on a new graphics card in 2026, you're hard up for good budget options. We previously recommended Intel's Arc B570 here, but after completing our 2026 GPU Hierarchy retesting, we're bumping it in favor of the RTX 5050, which is currently selling for about $300, or about $50 more than the B570.

Here's why: we think if you're spending any amount of money on a graphics card, it should just work. You should expect consistent feature support over time in games, universal support for upscaling and (optionally) frame generation when you need them, and consistently high performance in games.

The RTX 5050 unreservedly checks all those boxes, while we couldn't even complete our testing of the Arc B570 (or B580) for our 2026 GPU Hierarchy until the literal day before this guide update goes live, due to a months-long settings lockout with UE5's Nanite and Lumen in a little title you may have heard of called Fortnite.

We can't say when a similarly major issue might occur again with the Arc B570 in any game, and so we're no longer recommending it. Unless you're willing to gamble and need to save every possible dollar on a graphics card, we think you should just save up a bit more cash and buy an RTX 5050.

The RTX 5050 isn't the fastest GPU around, to be sure, and its 8GB of VRAM is a constraint for anything beyond 1080p gaming in mid-2026. But it delivers solid enough native raster performance at 1080p, and it beats out the Arc B570 even before you enable DLSS 4.5 upscaling. And if you do want the performance boost of DLSS, you're getting access to the best and most widely adopted upscaler on the market.

On top of that, the extra $50 over the Arc B570 means that you have the full strength of Nvidia's developer relations team and software support behind you when you go to play the latest games, and we think that reliable software support makes all the difference between a GPU that's fun and affordable and one that's merely cheap.

Read: GeForce RTX 5050 review

How we test the best graphics cards

Determining pure graphics card performance is best done by eliminating all other bottlenecks — as much as possible, at least. To that end, we've selected components for our test rig , most notably AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, one of the best CPUs for gaming.

We test across the three most common gaming resolutions, 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, using a mix of high and ultra settings, depending on the title. Where possible, we use 'reference' cards for all of these tests, like Nvidia's Founders Edition models and AMD's reference designs. Most midrange and lower GPUs don't get reference models, however, and in some cases we only have factory-overclocked cards for testing. We do our best to select cards that are close to the reference specs in such cases.

For each graphics card, we follow the same testing procedure. We run one pass of each benchmark to "warm up" the GPU after launching the game, then perform our actual test runs across each resolution.

We carefully review our test data and check for anomalies. For example, we always expect the RTX 5080 to be faster than the RTX 5070 Ti. If it's not, and we're not in a CPU limited situation, we'll recheck both cards to ensure that our standings our accurate. We also check and retest in cases of subtler issues, as when a transient hitch or frame-time spike causes a large dip in 1% low FPS.

Due to the length of time required for testing each GPU, updated drivers and game patches inevitably come out that can impact performance. We periodically retest a few sample cards to verify our results are still valid, and if not, we go through and retest the affected game(s) and GPU(s). We may also add games to our test suite over time, if one comes out that is popular and conducive to testing. See what makes a good game benchmark for our selection criteria.

Best graphics cards performance results

Our updated test suite of games consists of 19 games at present, eight of which have ray tracing enabled (or require RT to run at all).

We test without any upscaling or frame generation technologies enabled. We expect that most gamers will want to enable these features, but they complicate apples-to-apples comparisons between GPU vendors due to inherent differences in output image quality. To keep it simple, we present native resolution performance as a baseline.

The data in the following charts is from testing conducted during the past several months. We've tested all of the latest GPUs at every resolution and setting, even where it generally doesn't make sense (e.g. 4K with ray tracing at single digit framerates).

For each resolution and setting, the first chart shows the geometric mean (i.e. equal weighting) for all tested games. The second chart shows performance in the 11 pure raster games, and the third chart focuses in on ray tracing performance in eight games.

The charts below contain all the current Nvidia RTX 50-series and AMD RX 9000-series graphics cards. We're leaving Intel Arc cards out of the standings for now due to software compatibility issues with our test suite, and we'll include those results when those issues are corrected and we have the opportunity to retest them.

Our GPU benchmarks hierarchy contains additional data for every GPU spanning multiple generations of hardware. The charts are color coded with AMD in red, Nvidia in blue, and Intel in gray to make it easier to see what's going on.

The following charts are up to date as of June 2026.

Best Graphics Cards — 1080p

Best Graphics Cards — 1440p

Best Graphics Cards — 4K

Additional Shopping Tips

When buying a graphics card, consider the following:

• Monitor Resolution: The more pixels you're pushing, the more performance you need. You don't need a top-of-the-line GPU to game at 1080p, but you will certainly want more power at 1440p or 4K.
• PSU: Make sure that your power supply has enough juice and the right 6-, 8- and/or 16-pin connector(s). Nvidia, AMD, and Intel board partners will all make PSU recommendations alongside their products that you can use as a baseline, so if you're unsure whether your PC can provide enough power, be sure to check those spec sheets first. If you have an older PSU, be mindful that power supplies do lose capacity with time, so if you're contemplating a high-end GPU, it might be time to upgrade your GPU, too.
• Video Memory: In 2026, 8GB of VRAM is the bare minimum you'll want to play the latest games at 1080p, and it's the smallest amount of memory you'll find on a new card. Midrange cards tend to feature 12GB of VRAM, which is generally enough for raster gaming all the way out to 4K but may present limitations for RT even at 1440p. If you're planning to push a 4K display without upscaling or want to explore RT gaming without restriction, we recommend a 16GB card.
• FreeSync or G-Sync? Either variable refresh rate (VRR) technology will synchronize your GPU's frame delivery with your screen's refresh rate. Nvidia supports G-Sync and G-Sync Compatible displays (for recommendations, see our Best Gaming Monitors list). And most every G-Sync Compatible display also supports AMD FreeSync these days, so this vendor war is largely over.
• Upscaling and Frame Generation technologies: Nvidia's DLSS is in practically every game, and the latest DLSS 4.5 tech provides high-quality upscaling and frame generation (on RTX 40-series to boost performance to taste with practically no loss of image quality. AMD FSR 4 provides AI-enhanced upscaling on RX 9000-series cards, and a version compatible with RX 7000-series cards arrives in July 2026. Intel XeSS can deliver better image quality than older versions of FSR, but the core upscaler hasn't been updated in some time, and it's not as widely adopted as either DLSS or FSR, so it shouldn't influence your buying decision either way.

Finding Discounts on the Best Graphics Cards

While deep discounts are rare on graphics cards in 2026, you might find some particularly tasty deals on occasion. Check out the latest Newegg promo codes, Best Buy promo codes and Micro Center coupon codes for potential savings.

Want to comment on our best graphics picks for gaming? Let us know what you think in the Tom's Hardware Forums.

MORE: HDMI vs. DisplayPort: Which Is Better For Gaming?

MORE: GPU Benchmarks and Hierarchy

One of the most interesting companies you'll come across in modern computing is Cougar. Cougar is known for making some of the most niche cases, such as the Conquer 2 and the FV270 — which we took a look at, not too long ago. The aggressive, unique Cougar designs usually extend to their peripherals, too... but not today.

Cougar's newest gaming mouse, the Revenger Pro 4K, is oddly simple for a company that's known for going above and beyond with its designs. This basic 5-button mouse features a simple, plain, lightweight (55g) design that looks practically mundane next to Cougar's cases.

Design and Comfort

The Cougar Revenger Pro 4K is a new mouse from Cougar; a company not really known for its peripherals. The Revenger Pro is available in either white or black and features a matte finish that isn’t grippy, nor slick — it’s the right finish in my opinion. However, if you get the black model, keep in mind that it will attract palm sweat. I can’t fault Cougar too much for this; it’s practically inevitable.

According to Cougar, the mouse has been sculpted to make room for two fingers on each button, meaning you can rest your middle and ring finger on the RMB (right mouse button). I have very large hands and while this was somewhat doable, it was not comfortable at all and I was practically resting my middle finger on the scroll wheel. I should mention that just because this type of grip didn’t work for me, it’s not because this mouse is abnormally small. In fact, it’s a really nice size. It’s a bit smaller than the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro and weighs only 1.94 ounces (55g).

However, if you’d like to add some bulk to the Cougar Revenger 4K, the company was generous enough to include rubber grip tape in the box. Speaking of generosity, the mouse also comes with a little sack for traveling and extra skates so you can truly get the most out of this mouse. These skates aren’t cheap plastic either; they are 100% PTFE. It also comes with both 1,000 Hz and 4,000 Hz polling rate dongles, a USB dongle adapter, and a USB-C to USB-A paracord cable.

For reference, the measurements of the Cougar Revenger Pro 4K are 4.9 inches (124mm) long by 2.6 inches (65mm) wide by 1.5 inches (38mm) tall. In contrast, the DeathAdder V3 Pro is 5.01 inches long (127.3mm) by 2.65 inches wide (67.31mm) by 1.6 inches (40.6mm) tall. Yes, while the size difference is minuscule, it could be a dealbreaker for some.

The side buttons on the Revenger Pro 4K are crafted perfectly. They’re light enough to use on the fly, but not too light to the point where you’re making errors. This is huge for me because I’m the type of person who swears by side buttons for regular computing.

One of my favorite parts about the Revenger Pro 4K is the switches, which are optical and made by Omron and are rated for 70 million clicks. They felt more lively, clicky, and satisfying than the switches on my Death Adder V3 Pro.

What isn’t satisfying is the scroll wheel: it's notched and somewhat loud, and while it didn't give me any issues, it just wasn't very satisfying to use.

Specs

Performance

The Cougar Revenger 4K is very simple looking; arguably as simple as the Logitech G Pro. However, its performance is the opposite. It’s amazing.

After using the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro as my primary gaming mouse for over two years, I was genuinely concerned about switching to Cougar’s new mouse. However, I had nothing to worry about, as I absolutely adored this mouse's performance.

If you’re unaware, I’m a huge fan of the zombies mode in Call of Duty, and with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, there was no better time to test a mouse. Call it a coincidence, but before switching to the Cougar, I was stuck at a high round of 32 — which is decent, but not great. But after switching, I was able to hit round 53 after a few games — and then round 62 a few days later.

Everything on the Cougar Revenger Pro 4K feels crisp and smooth. The left and right mouse buttons have a nice, firm tactile bump and the side buttons never felt mushy or unresponsive (and I rely on those a lot for melee attacks). The PixArt 3395 sensor works flawlessly; I use a pretty high DPI for FPS games (1,900) and I never experienced any lag or issues with the lift off distance.

That said, when I set the report rate to 4,000 Hz, my 1,900 DPI felt more like 800 DPI. Could I bump up the DPI? Yes, but that defeats the purpose of the dongle.This was a bit of a bummer, because while there are some people who obsess over high polling rates, this demonstrates that it's not just the polling rate that can create lag or latency issues. Plus, there are plenty of mice on the market today that boast even higher polling rates (8,000 Hz), without this issue.

The battery life on the Cougar Revenger 4K is fantastic without the dongle — according to Cougar, it's rated for 150 hours, which is on par with or above that of most premium gaming mice. With the dongle and a 4,000 Hz polling rate, that drops to 45 hours, which isn't great but could certainly be worse.

Despite the fact that I couldn't get the 4,000 Hz dongle to work correctly, the Cougar Revenger Pro 4K’s performance still blew me away, especially at its price point of only $70.

Features and Software

The software supporting the Cougar Revenger 4K is simple, yet effective.

You can adjust the DPI and polling rate, and turn on ripple control, angle snapping, and motion sync. The polling rate will automatically bump up to 4,000 Hz when you're using the 4K dongle, but you can still adjust it down in the software if you want to.

The Bottom Line

While it was disappointing that the Cougar Revenger Pro 4K had issues with its 4,000 Hz polling rate dongle, I still loved this mouse — especially for $70. I'm not too concerned about the polling rate because I don't think it's necessary, but there are plenty of mice with 4K or 8K polling rates — such as the $130 Glorious Model D 2 Pro 4K/8K.

Belgian LED displays specialist Photonics showcased its Jumbo162 outside ISE 2025 in Barcelona earlier this month. Jumbo by name and jumbo by nature, the 162 refers to the 161.5 square meter 4K-ready display this mobile device brings to venues.

In more usual monitor parlance, the Jumbo162 has a diagonal of 767 inches. The image below, featuring a normal-sized human in the foreground, helps put the size of the “world’s largest mobile LED screen” into perspective.

On the official product page for the Jumbo162, Photonics says that this expansive display is the successor to its fleet of Jumbo100 displays. These smaller predecessors offer approximately 100 square meters (97.5 sq. m) of screen space. The Jumbo100, with its HD+ resolution, was the best mobile screen Photonics provided for the previous ten years.

Let's examine the specifications closer by shifting our attention to the Jumbo162. The device is made from 374 InfiLED arg.9 panels and leverages the same firm’s Infinite Colors Technology for a wider gamut. We’ve included more tech specs in the table below.

Photonics shares other interesting facts and features about the Jumbo162 in its product blurb. We were interested to read that the display uses the supremely dark Vanta Black surface technology. Combined with the gold-wire full-black LED lamps and precision shader design, this is touted to enable great contrast. We are, therefore, puzzled that Photonics doesn’t share any contrast ratio specifications.

Jumbo162 users should also benefit from the Megapixel VR processing, Helios LED processor, multiple screen modes, and 4K-ready visuals. Last but not least, the vehicle trailer is the black thing under the monitor that looks like a huge soundbar. This ‘monitor stand’ allows the display to rotate 360 degrees. Moreover, it is TUV approved and is rated to withstand winds up to eight Beaufort – which should reassure those using this display in the great outdoors.

It is now official that AMD's long-anticipated RDNA 4 series will hit shelves early next month, as confirmed by Dr. Lisa Su during AMD's recent Q4 24 earnings call. RDNA 4 will debut with the RX 9070 series, including the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 non-XT, which are expected to be followed by budget models later. This confirmation ties in with rumors of a looming RDNA 4 launch event by the end of this month, where we're likely to hear more about performance and pricing.

" Our focus with this generation is to address the highest volume portion of the enthusiast gaming market with our new RDNA 4 architecture. RDNA 4 delivers significantly better ray tracing performance and adds support for AI powered upscaling technology that will bring high quality 4K gaming to mainstream players when the first Radeon 9070-series GPUs go on sale in early March” - Dr. Lisa Su

Team Red's Q4 financials appear largely positive, with substantial gains in net revenue year-over-year in the datacenter and client markets. The gaming segment seems to have taken a large hit, primarily due to lackluster Radeon discrete GPU and console chip sales. Dr. Lisa Su addressed the disappointing performance of the gaming segment, asserting that next-gen Radeon RX 9000 GPUs will target the "highest volume portion" of the market; referring to the mid-range segment. AMD made it clear a couple of months back that it has no plans to compete with Nvidia in the high-end space with RDNA 4. Instead, the goal of this generation is to penetrate the budget market, mirroring a strategy similar to RDNA 1.

For starters, AMD has pinned a lot of emphasis on ML-driven upscaling to match or even beat Nvidia's DLSS with FSR 4. Not much has been shared about the frame generation counterpart of FSR 4, so it'll be interesting to see how it holds up versus Nvidia's MFG (Multi Frame Gen) technology. Nonetheless, AMD is marketing the RX 9070 series as 4K-capable, likely when combined with upscaling which should give the RTX 5070 series a run for its money.

Nvidia will charge $749 for 16GB of VRAM on the RTX 5070 Ti, provided you can get one at MSRP. Both the RX 9070 XT and its non-XT counterpart are rumored to offer 16GB of VRAM, with the latter reportedly within 5% of the RTX 4080 in raster performance. In its marketing material at CES, AMD confirmed the existence of an RX 9060 series. Dr. Lisa Su's statement exclusively mentions the RX 9070 series, hence it is reasonable to infer that budget models will arrive later, possibly in time for Computex in May.

Over the years, desktop monitor users have taken 4K resolution for granted, and it is the high watermark for gaming. Typically, we see 4K panels in monitors ranging from 27 to 32 inches. But who’s to say that consumers in the market for the best portable monitors can’t enjoy the same high-resolution goodness afforded to desktop users?

ViewSonic offers several 4K portable monitors, including the VX1655-4K-OLED. This monitor has a 4K resolution with a 16-inch panel, translating to an incredible 275 pixels per inch (PPI). As its name implies, it features a vibrant OLED panel with a glossy finish. It also includes one of our favorite features on a portable monitor: an integrated kickstand.

The VX1655-4K-OLED doesn’t come cheap with a price tag approaching $500, but let’s look at how that price tag is justified.

Design of the ViewSonic VX1655-4K-OLED

The design of the VX1655-4K-OLED is striking for one reason: its thinness. Due to the self-emissive nature of OLEDs, which don’t require a backlight, ViewSonic was able to dramatically reduce the panel’s thickness compared to other portable monitors with traditional IPS panels. On my ruler, it measured just 3/16 of an inch, an incredible feat in this segment. The thinness also extends to the display bezels, which measure just 1/8 of an inch along the sides and top. At an inch thick, the bottom bezel is much larger. It also houses the ViewSonic branding front and center.

However, ViewSonic makes a fair compromise to achieve this thinness — all the ports are built into the integrated kickstand. At Tom’s Hardware, we love kickstands, and the one on the VX1655-4K-OLED is fantastic. It lets you choose your viewing angle easily and incorporates dual USB-C ports (with 60-watt passthrough capabilities), a joystick for navigating the OSD, a mini-HDMI port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The VX1655-4K-OLED’s speakers are also integrated into this do-it-all kickstand.

Another benefit of having all the ports on the kickstand is that they are out of the way, and out of sight. Most portable monitors have their ports on the display panel’s side, meaning that USB-C or HDMI cables jutting out can be an eyesore.

ViewSonic includes many accessories in the box, including two USB-C cables, a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, a 60-watt USB-C power adapter, and a magnetic cover that protects the display's glossy finish while traveling.

ViewSonic VX1655-4K-OLED Specifications

On-Screen Display of the ViewSonic VX1655-4K-OLED

Unlike the ViewSonic VG1656N and TD1656-2K I recently reviewed, the VX1655-4K-OLED features a comprehensive on-screen display (OSD). Those former two monitors didn’t feature picture modes, color modes, or even the option to adjust the OSD timeout. However, the VX1655-4K-OLED offers five preset picture modes (Office, Movie, MAC, Mono, and Game), along with contrast/brightness, HDR, color space, and color temperature.

You can even tweak the aspect ratio or enable the blue light filter, if you desire. Finally, there are various OSD-specific tweaks (timeout, size, position, background), ECO mode adjustments, and the ability to set an auto-sleep mode due to inactivity.

You control the OSD using a five-way joystick. Pressing in on the joystick brings up the OSD (and selects an option). You navigate the OSD menu by moving up, down, left, and right with the joystick. A handy directional arrow appears on the screen when in the OSD to tell you which operation the joystick will control depending on the current menu selection.

Image Quality and Audio on the ViewSonic VX1655-4K-OLED

The VX1655-4K-OLED features a 15.6-inch OLED display with a 4K resolution. OLED displays aren’t nearly as prevalent in the portable monitor arena as they are for desktops, let alone those that sport an expansive 4K resolution (3840 x 2160). However, you must temper any high-fps gaming aspirations that you may have given the maximum 60 Hz refresh rate.

Our instrumented tests largely showed that the VX1655-4K-OLED trailed its OLED-equipped peers in nearly every category. Its 89.3 percent coverage of DCI-P3 and 126 percent coverage of sRGB put it well behind the others. With a maximum brightness of 347.2 nits, the VX1655-4K-OLED came in fourth place out of five.

ViewSonic’s ColorPro VP16-OLED scores better all-around, but its native resolution is just 1080p. The other 4K OLED monitor in this test, the Espresso 17 Pro, also outperformed the VX1655-4K-OLED in every metric, but it has an $800 price tag.

Looking past the numbers, the VX1655-4K-OLED impressed in everyday tasks. Colors looked amazing, and the brightness was more than enough in my brightly-lit home office. I had none of the color irregularities I saw in the VG1656N, with media content looking vibrant and true to life. Everything I played on it, from games to movies, looked great, with colors that popped in the former, and realistic skin tones in the latter. My only issue with the screen was reflections with the glossy display, but some careful angling of the screen using the kickstand was enough to vanquish most of them.

However, the speakers were a different story, as they sounded dreadful. Most portable monitors have speakers that are mediocre at best, but the speakers in the VX1655-4K-OLED are next-level bad. Music is muddled, with non-existent bass and distortion when the volume is increased. Speech is even affected; as I watched a segment of Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update,” the hosts sounded like they were broadcasting inside a plastic tub. Including the speakers was a checkbox addition for ViewSonic with the VX1655-4K-OLED, and it’s a horrid one. ViewSonic would have been better off omitting the speakers, as they are not on the level of the rest of the package that the VX1655-4K-OLED represents.

Bottom Line

The ViewSonic VX1655-4K-OLED excels at its primary mission: providing a great monitor. Its razor-thin body, slim bezels, and versatile kickstand make a great first impression. Its real-world visuals also impress, with a sharp 4K resolution OLED panel, nicely saturated colors, deep blacks, and excellent viewing angles.

The VX1655-4K-OLED's one big misstep is the integrated speaker system, which sounds horrible. We expect much better from ViewSonic for a portable monitor that costs $460 on sale. While the price tag is rather steep, a comparable 17-inch Espresso 17 Pro will set you back $800 (although you get touch support with that monitor).

If you can swing nearly $500 for a portable monitor, the VX1655-4K-OLED has excellent fundamentals if you need the extra resolution for your daily workflow. However, just don’t use speakers – you’ll thank me later.

The Samsung Odyssey Ark is a rather large and impressive gaming monitor. Not only is this thing the size of your average television, but it also features a large 1000R curved OLED screen to wrap around your peripheral vision and a novel mechanism that allows you to tilt the monitor into a 'cockpit' mode for a different way to view your games and media.

Available at Amazon, Samsung's 55-inch Odyssey Arc (2nd Gen) is on sale for $1,79 a much-improved price from its original $3000 MSRP. it's not the lowest-ever price this monitor has been on Amazon but it's very close. Being the second generation iteration of the Odyssey Ark, this monitor has improved on the original with improved features.

The Odyssey Ark sports a 1000R curve, a large 55-inch Quantom Mini-LED panel, and a 4K resolution, with the ability to rotate the screen vertically into a unique cockpit mode. To enhance your experience further this screen comes with an impressive sound setup, with speakers set in the corners of the monitor and built-in sub-woofers to create a spacial surround sound experience.

The second-generation Arc includes a clever remote control for navigating the On-Screen-Display (OSD) and Samsung gaming hub. You can plug multiple device displays into a single hub so that you can simultaneously display and control multiple input sources all at once on the Odyssey's screen.

Don't forget to look at our Amazon coupon codes for January 2025 and see if you can save on today's deal or other products at Amazon.

Byran Huang, a senior high school student from the Phillips Exeter Academy, built a fully open-source laptop as his fall term senior project, and it took him just six months to finish it. He called it anyon_e and it features a 4K AMOLED display, a Cherry MX mechanical keyboard, and around seven hours of battery life. According to Huang, he wanted to build a laptop “that hits as many qualities of a modern commercial thin & light laptop—while trying to do as much from scratch as possible.”

He used a Raspberry Pi alternative, the Rockchip RK3588 SoC, which he says is the “fastest consumer-procurable chip on the market”, built into the FriendlyElec CM3588 system-on-a-module with 16GB of LPDDR4X memory. The specifications for the SoC included a quad-core Cortex-A76 and a quad-core Cortex-A55 CPU, a Mali-G10 GPU, and an NPU that outputs 6TOPS. It could also push out 8K video at 60FPS, plus its I/O ports include an 8K display, dual USB3.1, PCIe 3.0 x4, and HDMI 2.1/eDP 1.4. We wonder if the upcoming Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 16GB will find itself in a similar build?

For the display, Byran used a 13.3-inch 4K Samsung AMOLED ATNA33TP11 display that’s also found on several Asus laptops. Although it may seem like this screen is plug-and-play, Huang soon found out that it was difficult to drive a 4K display over eDP 1.4 because of signal integrity issues. After a few tests and calculations, he discovered that shortening the length between the CPU and display solved it, which finally allowed his screen to work.

The laptop’s keyboard was built using Cherry MX ULP mechanical switches on a separate removable case that can be used as a separate wireless keyboard. But despite this functionality (which meant the keyboard required its own 200mAh battery and SoC), he was able to maintain a height of under 7mm to keep it nice and compact. As for the mouse, anyon_e is equipped with the Azoteq PXM0057-401 glass surface and multi-touch trackpad that worked over USB; and it only cost Huang $35.

Aside from these things, he also acquired several parts like the batteries from AA Portable Power Corp. in California, and screen hinges from the Framework Laptop 13. He also used Joshua Riek’s ubuntu-rockchip kernel/distro, which made it a lot easier to have a working operating system on the anyon_e because of its great out-of-the-box experience and optimizations. However, Byran still had to build some things from scratch himself. This included the laptop’s mainboard and its CNC aluminum chassis, plus a few small 3D printed plastic structural parts to give the laptop stability.

In the end, Byran was able to create a sleek and polished laptop that could compare against other flagship devices created by Asus and Apple that cost several thousand dollars. The anyon_e laptop could even boot three seconds faster than Huang’s own MacBook Pro, which is already a tightly integrated device. And since this is an open-source project, the laptop is not hiding any secrets underneath—anyone with the knowhow, equipment, and grit to follow his process could recreate the anyon_e.

If you're looking for a new monitor or an upgrade to your existing setup, then today's deal is a beautiful monitor from Dell that offers plenty of screen real estate along with high refresh rates, high color gamut, and high resolution. Just in time to pair with one of Nvidia's new graphics cards when they release at the end of the month.

Available on Dell's website you can find the Dell Alienware AW3225QF curved 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor for $999, saving $200 off the original $1,199 MSRP price. This gaming monitor is the complete package if you're looking for a high-resolution screen with an OLED panel and a high framerate for super-smooth gameplay.

The Alienware AW3225QF has a 4K resolution and ample pixel density on a 32-inch QD-OLED panel. The screen also features a 1700R curve for more immersive gaming, a blisteringly fast 240Hz refresh rate, adaptive sync, HDR10, and Dolby Vision. For connectivity, the input panel of the AW3225QF includes one DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 (one upstream and three down), and a USB-C port.

We've had the chance to review the Alienware AW3225QF and were impressed with its performance in our benchmark testing. We awarded the monitor 5 stars along with an Editor's Choice award, noting how the monitor produced a stunning image, broad contrast, and rich color, with excellent OLED color volume compared to most other OLEDs we'd tested, and 110% DCI-P3 color gamut.

Don't forget to look at our Dell coupon codes for January 2025 and see if you can save on today's deal or other products at Dell.

OLEDs have become the “new hotness” in the gaming monitor space, and we’re seeing a lot of activity with monitors big and small. Dell is debuting a new OLED gaming monitor at CES that is definitely on the smaller side of the scale, measuring 27 inches across (actually, 26.7 inches).

The Alienware AW2725Q uses a QD-OLED panel with a 4K resolution, which is uncommon, although not unheard of for such a small monitor. As a result, you’ll find that the AW2725Q offers 166 pixels per inch (ppi), which is the highest density currently available for a QD-OLED gaming monitor.

Since this is a gaming monitor, performance is a key focal point for potential buyers. Thankfully, the AW2725Q doesn’t disappoint with a maximum panel refresh rate of 240 Hz, which is supported using the HDMI 2.1 port. The response time is 0.03ms, which is typical for OLED gaming monitors. As you’d expect from a high-end gaming panel, the AW2725Q supports both AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync technologies to help prevent screen tearing.

Alienware AW2725Q Specifications

As if that wasn't enough, the AW2725Q has a claimed 99 percent DCI-P3 color coverage, along with Display Vision HDR and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certifications.

The AW2725Q also ushers in a new design language for Alienware gaming monitors, which is dubbed "AW30" to commemorate the brand's upcoming 30th anniversary. You can also find AW30 iconography on the back of the monitor. The monitor is finished in what the company calls “Interstellar Indigo” and includes 360-degree ventilation, improved cable management that routes through the monitor stand, and a smaller footprint for the monitor base to free up more space on your desk.

The on-screen display (OSD) has also been redesigned (this new OSD will be featured on all subsequent Alienware gaming monitors), and there's full support for Alienware Command Center 6.6, which allows you to control the AlienFX lighting.

Dell says that the Alienware AW2725Q will debut in March 2025, priced at $899.99. The monitor has a three-year advanced replacement warranty and OLED burn-in coverage. We’ll be eager to see in a future review if the AW2725Q has the chops to be included among the best OLED gaming monitors. 

The next generation of premium gaming monitors is here, spearheaded by Samsung's latest QD-OLED panel technology. Building on past innovations like 27-inch 1440p panels at 360Hz and 32-inch 4K panels at 240Hz, this latest panel blends the best of both worlds: a compact 27-inch form factor with stunning 4K resolution and refresh rates of up to 240Hz. It’s an interesting combination that many gamers, including me, have been craving.

MSI and Asus are leading the charge in adopting this new technology by announcing new models ahead of CES 2025.

Starting with Asus, the company has announced the ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM (yes, that is the full name), marking its foray into 27-inch 4K OLED gaming monitors. This model features a 26.5-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) OLED panel with a 240Hz refresh rate and a 0.03ms (GtG) response time.

It is also equipped with a custom heatsink and intelligent voltage optimization to manage heat effectively, reducing the risk of burn-in and prolonging OLED lifespan. It is claimed to achieve a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, supports Dolby Vision, covers 99% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, and maintains a Delta E < 2 color difference, ensuring accurate and vibrant color reproduction. The monitor also includes ergonomic adjustments and a distinctive aesthetic, aligning with Asus’ ROG brand identity.

MSI announced two new models: the MPG 272URX QD-OLED and the MPG 272QR QD-OLED X50. The MPG 272URX QD-OLED features a 27-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) display with a 240Hz refresh rate and a 0.03ms (GtG) response time, ensuring crisp and fluid visuals. It covers 99% of the DCI-P3 and 133% of the sRGB color gamut and supports VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400, achieving a peak brightness of 1000 nits. Connectivity options include two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 2.1, and a USB-C port with 90W power delivery, accommodating a variety of devices. Additionally, MSI's OLED Care 2.0 technology is integrated to mitigate burn-in risks, and the monitor comes with a three-year warranty covering OLED-specific concerns.

For eSports enthusiasts, the MPG 272QR QD-OLED X50 offers a 27-inch WQHD (2560 x 1440) display with a 500Hz refresh rate and the same rapid 0.03 ms (GtG) response time. This combination offers exceptional speed and responsiveness, which is crucial for competitive gaming. The QD-OLED panel provides 99% DCI-P3 and 139% sRGB color coverage. It also comes with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification for deep blacks and high contrast, along with the latest ClearMR 21000 certification to address motion blur. Like its counterpart, it includes MSI’s OLED Care 2.0 and supports 80Gbps DisplayPort 2.1 for uncompressed high-frame-rate gaming.

The introduction of these monitors signifies a significant advancement in display technology, offering gamers options that cater to both high-speed performance and visual excellence. There is no word on official pricing and availability of these monitors, but we expect MSI and Asus to confirm these details at CES 2025.

A portable monitor can provide an extra screen for your laptop when you travel, serve as a compact display for a Raspberry Pi project, help you test a desktop that's still on your workbench, or even connect to a game console when you take it on vacation. When it comes to the best portable monitors, we prioritize good image quality, a lightweight chassis, strong usability, and versatile connectivity options.

There is a lot of variety in this space, with prices ranging from around $50 to well over $700 and screen sizes measuring from 10.5 inches to 18.5+ inches and beyond. You can find portable monitors with a 4K resolution, 240Hz+ refresh rates, touch input, and even wireless connectivity.

No matter what kind of user you are, I'm sure you can find a portable monitor that suits your needs at a price you're comfortable with. With this in mind, I've tested a range of brands and models to help you find the best portable monitor for your needs.

Below are our top choices, followed by some portable monitor shopping tips and details on how we benchmark. If you're looking for a screen that stays on your desk, check out our list of the best gaming monitors.

The Best Portable Monitors You Can Buy Today

Best Overall Portable Monitor

The ViewSonic TD1656-2K is the sweet spot when it comes to portable monitors. Not only does it have a large 16-inch IPS panel, but it also boasts a generous 2K (2560 x 1600) display. At this price point, you’re usually stuck with 1080p or 1200p panels, so the TD1656-2K is a cut above the rest.

The TD1656-2K also has multi-touch, which is natively supported in Windows 11. However, that support also extends to macOS thanks to ViewSonic’s vTouch software package. An active stylus pen is also included in the box to assist in taking notes or drawing images in macOS or Windows.

Beyond the excellent hardware features (including a premium-feeling aluminum chassis), the TD1656-2K was near the top of the class in DCI-P3 and sRGB coverage and topped all competitors in brightness (363 nits).

More: ViewSonic TD1656-2K Review

Best Budget Portable Monitor

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a race to the bottom with respect to portable monitor pricing. However, the steep decline in street prices doesn’t mean that you have to contend with extremely poor quality (as was once the case in this segment).

Enter the Arzopa A1, which is a value-priced, no-frills 15.6-inch portable monitor. It has a 1080p resolution, which is standard for this class, and an integrated kickstand (which we absolutely love for portable monitors).

The A1 features two USB-C ports and even includes a mini-HDMI port (which is sometimes left out to reach a lower price point). I was even surprised at the dual 1-watt speakers, which offer good clarity and output. This is almost unheard of in a portable monitor that costs well under $100.

You can’t have it all regarding a budget monitor, and the A1 does fall behind the competition in color performance. In addition, its maximum brightness (which we measured at 228 nits) was vastly outperformed by its competitors. However, the current street price for the A1 is $70, making it an easy pick for value-conscious consumers.

More: Arzopa A1 review

Best Portable Monitor for Productivity

We’ve previously been impressed with the Espresso Displays 17 Pro, a 17-inch portable monitor that offers a remarkable picture, a high-quality chassis, and a trick magnetic stand. Now, the company has delivered a slightly smaller counterpart that still has all of those perks with a lower price tag.

The new 15 Pro features a 15.6-inch IPS panel (down from 17.3 inches), but still retains a 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution. Espresso Displays also managed to improve upon the 17 Pro by boosting the maximum brightness by over 50 percent in our testing.

The monitor ships with the Stand+, which is a versatile articulating stand that magnetically attaches to the back. Because of the magnets, you can easily transition the 15 Pro from landscape to portrait mode. Likewise, you can adjust the height and tilt to suit your viewing preferences. There’s also an extra hinged “leg” at the bottom of the stand that allows you to position the 15 Pro above your laptop’s integrated display.

But the perks don’t end there. The 15 Pro also has multi-touch support, which works natively in Windows 11. However, that support extends to macOS when you install the free EspressFlow software. EspressoFlow also lets you configure virtual desktops for the 15 Pro.

With a price tag of $699, the 15 Pro isn’t cheap, but it offers a complete package for productivity warriors who crave some extra display resolution, flexibility with viewing modes, and a well-integrated software experience.

More: Espresso Displays 15 Pro Review

Best Portable Gaming Monitor

The Nexigo NG17FGQ achieves a feat that we don't often see in the portable monitor realm: it offers a tantalizing 300Hz refresh rate in a 17.3-inch form factor and connects to a laptop or desktop via HDMI or USB-C (DisplayPort Alt-Mode).

However, you'll need to connect the monitor to a PC with a USB-C cable to reach that 300Hz threshold. Connecting via an HDMI cable limits you to 240Hz, which is still not bad for a portable monitor.

Thanks to its good build quality, excellent color representation, and great performance while gaming, the NG17FGQ is hard to beat for mobile gamers looking for a step up in performance. If that wasn't enough, a remote is included in the box to make it easier to navigate the OSD (instead of fumbling with sometimes poorly-placed physical buttons on the actual monitor) along with built-in speakers.

More: Nexigo NG17FGQ Review

Best Portable Wireless Monitor

ViewSonic has a vast portfolio of portable monitors, many of which I’ve reviewed for Tom’s Hardware. However, one of the company’s most impressive entries is the VG1656N, a feature-packed entry retailing for less than $300.

The monitor measures a relatively large 16 inches across with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 (16:10). If you’re looking for HDMI connectivity, you won’t find it here. However, the VG1656N does include two USB-C ports with DisplayPort Alt Mode support. More importantly, the VG1656N also supports wireless connectivity via the ViewSonic VG19948 USB-C dongle.

You can use the dongle with smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other computing devices. For example, the VG1656N shows up as an AirPlay display on Apple devices, allowing me to enjoy iOS games on the 16-inch display instead of my iPhone 16 Pro’s built-in 6.3-inch display. Bolstering this wireless support is a built-in battery for true “wireless” connectivity.

From a performance perspective, the VG1656N is among the top performers in terms of color but is mid-pack in brightness.

With a price tag of $299, the VG1656N isn’t an impulse buy for a portable monitor. However, it offers plenty of enticing features that make it a perfect fit for mobile warriors.

More: ViewSonic VG1656N review

FAQs for Best Portable Monitors

Shopping Tips for Best Portable Monitors

Discounts on the Best Portable Monitors

Whether you're shopping for one of the screens that made our list of best portable monitors above or something else, you may find savings by checking out our best monitor deals page, along with our lists of Dell coupon codes, Lenovo coupon codes, LG coupon codes, HP coupon codes, Monoprice coupon codes and Newegg promo codes.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test Monitors

MORE: All Monitor Content

MORE: HDMI vs. DisplayPort: Which Is Better For Gaming?

Laptop manufacturer Clevo is reportedly preparing to debut an all-new high-performance 18-inch laptop at CES 2025 sporting extremely high-end internals and next-gen CPUs. IT Home reports that a whistleblower has dished out the specs of the new laptop, which reportedly features Arrow Lake-HX series 55W CPU options, a massive 18-inch screen, and support for up to 192GB of memory.

Specific Arrow Lake HX CPU variants were not listed, but leaked specs reveal that the laptop will be operating on the "Arrow Lake HX 55W platform," so we can expect the laptop to be compatible with any Arrow Lake HX series mobile CPU from Intel that has a 55W TDP or lower. Clevo also went all out on the memory config, offering four DDR5 SODIMM memory slots supporting memory speeds of up to DDR5-5600.

The GPU platform will purportedly consist of an Nvidia "GN22" board powering one GPU. Unsurprisingly, GN22 is rumored to be the mobile board platform powering Nvidia's mobile versions of its RTX 50 series GPUs.

Storage consists of a whopping four PCIe M.2 slots, one operating at PCIe 5.0 speeds and the rest operating at PCIe 4.0 speeds. This Clevo 18-inch laptop is possibly one of the first laptops to support PCIe 5.0 SSDs courtesy of Intel's updated Arrow Lake I/O. All four M.2 slots support the widely adopted M.2 2280 form factor.

As mentioned, the display specs include an 18-inch panel with a "Narrow Bezel Design." There will be two resolution options, 4K and 1440p. There's no telling which display option is the "higher tier option," so to speak. Usually, the higher resolution display is the flagship variant, but there's a chance the 1440p option could be better for gamers if it offers a higher refresh rate and better response times; only time will tell if this will be the case. The screen will also natively support G-Sync, giving gamers adaptive refresh rate support.

I/O consists of dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (one being powered), one mini-DisplayPort, one HDMI port, a 2-in-1 audio jack, dual (yes, that's two) RJ-45 Ethernet ports, and a single DC-in for charging. The show's star is the laptop's dual Thunderbolt 5 type-C ports. Interestingly, these two ports purportedly come straight from the Nvidia discrete GPUs only, not from the Arrow Lake CPU or the motherboard itself. This suggests that Nvidia is integrating Thunderbolt support directly into the RTX 50 series GPUs, which would represent one of the most significant I/O upgrades for GPUs in years. The HDMI and DisplayPort connectors are also powered by the discrete GPU alone.

This new monster Clevo 18-inch powerhouse is expected to debut at CES 2025 when Nvidia's RTX 50 series GPUs will seemingly be announced.

Chinese modders have made Sony's PlayStation 5 portable (Credit: VideoCardz) in a laptop-esque battery-less form factor at Weibo. BBook AI has a massive 17.3-inch display and a rather chunky build reminiscent of old bulky gaming laptops. It weighs over 9 pounds, but it is visually a real head-turner.

The BBook AI Original Edition's 3D-printed chassis houses the PS5's internal components. Realistically, the only edge you'd have with this custom laptop is the included screen - featuring a large 17.3-inch 4K IPS panel with full 100% DCI-P3 coverage. However, it is limited to a disappointing 60 Hz refresh rate.

The added HDMI 2.1 port at the side allows you to connect an external monitor but diminishes the essence of this machine. There is no built-in battery, so you'd rely on AC power to run the laptop. Blame the design, not the modders, since the PS5 consumes roughly 200W while gaming, landing a not-so-great 30-minute runtime if equipped with a 100Wh battery.

There is a USB Type-A 10 Gbps port for connectivity to the laptop's right. The report mentions that BBook AI is extremely loud, reaching 71.3 dB - said to be comparable to the sound of a sports car. And to reiterate, the laptop features a fully functional PlayStation 5 inside - running PlayStation OS - so this is technically the first PC to run Astro Bot; can your gaming laptop play the GOTY?

The BBook AI offers the same specs as the PS5, running an eight-core CPU based on Zen 2 and a 36 Compute Unit (RDNA 2) GPU, with 16GB of non-upgradeable unified memory and 825GB of PCIe 4.0 storage (M.2 2242). For the listed price of $2,750, you'd be spending 5.5X more than a standard PS5. The laptop even includes a keyboard - at least if we go by the pictures, though we aren't sure if it's membrane or mechanical.

While the BBook AI's idea is portability, the laptop with the adapter is two times heavier than an RTX 4090-powered Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8, which includes a 99Wh battery. To save money, get a portable monitor between $700 and $1,000 and a PS5 instead—which should cost $700-$1,000, depending on your monitor choice. Still, the BBook AI is just a fun DIY project—even if it is impractical.

For those who are hunting for a great monitor deal, it is hard to ignore the discount on the Cooler Master Tempest GP27U monitor, which now you can buy for US$199. This exact model originally cost $799.99. Given the functions and features this monitor has, many who are on the lookout for a 4K monitor - either for single or multi-display setups - will love this deal. And if you want an expert, unbiased, third-party opinion on this monitor - we reviewed it last year.

The Cooler Master Tempest GP27U is a mini LED monitor providing a 4K resolution monitor with a 160 Hz refresh rate, plus Adaptive Sync (48 to 144 Hz). At the time of review, this monitor was selling for $800 and we thought that whatever few flaws it had could be excused. At a sub-$200 price, it is going to be difficult to ignore.

The GP27U has a Quantum Dot film for high color gamut and 1,200 nits brightness when we tested it. It supports both AMD Freesync and Nvidia G-Sync. The monitor has a KVM switch function and a USB-C which allows video input and a 3.5mm audio jack. Aesthetically, the monitor has a thin flush bezel with an 8mm frame at the top on the side.

You get two HDM 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort, and multiple USB ports - one USB Type-C, one USB Type-B for the KVM function, and two USB 3.2 Type-A. Should you wish to have it mounted on a stand, it supports VESA 100 X 100mm brackets. But its stand allows a wide range of movements between tilt, swivel, height, and pivot on a solid stand with excellent build quality.

Woot! is offering the GP27U at a jaw-dropping price of a cent under $200, when retailers like Amazon are currently selling it for $100 more than this deal. It is likely these will sell quickly with this attractive pricing on both sites - but a further $100 savings over the Amazon listing is incredible for something that would otherwise get you a 27-inch 1440p monitor of lesser caliber.

We are working hard to find the best deals for you this Cyber Monday. If you're looking for other products, check out our Cyber Monday Computer Hardware Deals Live blog for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals Live blog, Monitor Deals Live, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

Many gamers focus on frame rates when choosing a monitor. However, some users will sacrifice a little speed for higher resolution. 4K resolution, especially in smaller screen sizes, delivers the highest pixel density and, therefore, the sharpest picture.

If you plan to take this route, precise video processing is necessary. Regardless of resolution, frame rates below 150 fps will come with motion blur unless the panel’s overdrive is up to par. Asus is among the best at managing this issue, and the new ROG Strix XG27UCS is a perfect example. It’s a 27-inch 4K 3840x2160 IPS panel with 160 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, ELMB Sync, variable overdrive, HDR10, and wide gamut color. Let’s take a look.

Asus ROG Strix XG27UCS Specs

If you want the ultimate in smooth motion, an OLED is the way to go, but that choice comes with a high cost. A 27-inch OLED will require at least $800 from your budget. The XG27UCS sells for $460 at this writing making it an excellent value among the best 4K gaming monitors.

It has a few rare features in its class, starting with the 160 Hz refresh rate. It isn’t hard to find 4K monitors at 144 Hz, but higher speeds are less common. It is also one of the few gaming monitors that can run ELMB backlight strobing in concert with Adaptive-Sync. And it sets itself further apart by accomplishing that feat without artifacts. You also get a precise overdrive with 20 levels so you can accurately match with the framerate you’re able to run. If your system can only manage 120fps, the XG27UCS can hang.

Though it doesn’t have the high contrast and brightness of a Mini LED monitor, the XG27UCS delivers an extremely wide color gamut. I measured just a hair less than 100% of DCI-P3 with pro-level accuracy right out of the box. Though it includes a full set of calibration controls, you won’t need them. And there’s an equally precise sRGB mode available. HDR10 is supported with three additional picture modes, and you can opt for adjustable brightness if you find the near-500-nit peak too high.

The XG27UCS’s only fundamental flaw is low contrast. It’s an IPS panel so it’s rated for 1,000:1 natively, but I found it was just under 900:1 in tests and there’s no dimming available to give HDR content extra impact.

Gaming features abound with Asus’ full set of GamePlus enhancements. You get aiming points, including a dynamic crosshair, frame counters, timers, and a stopwatch. Alignment marks help with multi-screen setups. There are plenty of game-specific picture modes and you can save settings to multiple memories for easy recall. The XG27UCS also features Asus’ usual high standard of build quality and styling. The only things missing here are USB ports, internal speakers and LED lighting. But there is always the Swift lineup if you want every bell and whistle. The XG27UCS has everything you need and nothing you don’t for a reasonable price.

Assembly and Accessories

The XG27UCS enters the room in a plain brown carton, devoid of the flashy graphics found on Swift products. Crumbly foam protects the three main component,s which don’t require tools for assembly. Cables come in a nice, zippered pouch and include IEC power for the internal supply plus DisplayPort.

Product 360

The screen is surrounded by a thin flush bezel with a trim strip at the bottom that features the ROG logo set off in black chrome. The base has a bit of red trim, a slot for your phone, and another ROG graphic on a little metal plate. In the back is a larger ROG logo molded into the smooth plastic cover and a few subtle lines to accent the screen size and Republic of Gamers moniker. It also says ROG with a logo on the upright, which has a small hole for cable management. On its top is a threaded fitting for things like webcams and microphones.

Ergonomics cover all adjustments, including 5/20 degrees tilt, 45 degrees swivel, and a 90-degree portrait mode. The stand’s height range is 4.7 inches (120mm), moving smoothly while staying in place once adjusted. The XG27UCS looks ready to stand up to years of use thanks to Asus' usual high standard of build quality.

Under the center of the panel is the small input panel with just one each of DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1 and USB-C. There are no additional USB ports, so you can’t use the XG27UCS as a peripheral hub. The USB-C has the same capabilities as the DisplayPort. All three interfaces support the full 160 Hz refresh rate at 3840x2160 pixels.

OSD Features

Reach around the XG27UCS’s back right side, and you’ll find a power toggle, three control keys and a tiny OSD joystick. They all operate with a rugged feel and positive feedback.

The XG27UCS puts gaming front and center, with all video processing options grouped in the first sub-menu. The overdrive has 20 settings and can be dialed into whatever framerate you’re able to run. I found setting 10 to work best at 160fps. You can toggle Adaptive-Sync on and off here as well. The ELMB backlight strobe has two modes of operation: traditional, where AS is off, and ELMB Sync, where the two features work together. ELMB Sync is very effective at removing motion blur, but it has a narrow pulse width which means the picture becomes much darker, around 80% in my experience. Luckily, you can opt for regular ELMB which preserves brightness and is nearly as smooth. It works without the phasing artifact often seen with backlight strobes, and is a viable alternative to FreeSync and G-Sync. The XG27UCS is fully compatible with both Nvidia and AMD technologies.

The Gaming menu also has nine picture modes. Racing is the default and best choice there. It is spot-on out of the box with nearly 100% coverage of DCI-P3 color and no visible errors. Calibration is possible but not required. Also here is the full set of GamePlus options which include aiming points, frame counters, timers and a stopwatch. The aiming points come in different shapes and colors, or you can opt for a dynamic one that changes to maintain contrast with the background. Finally, the dark boost option has three fixed levels and a dynamic setting to keep shadow detail clear.

For HDR signals, there are three additional picture modes, Gaming, Cinema and Console. They are subtly different but, in my tests, Gaming measured best with near-perfect color accuracy. The only bummer is that there’s no dimming option, so HDR contrast is the same as SDR. Peak brightness is solid though at just under 500 nits. The XG27UCS is one of the rare HDR monitors to offer adjustable brightness. Turning it on lets you take the edge off if you find the picture too bright.

The Color menu has all the image options you could want including gamma presets, color temps, a user mode with RGB sliders, and selectable gamuts. You can enjoy a perfect sRGB setting here, or just pick the sRGB picture mode from the GameVisual list. Either way, accuracy is very high.

Two of the control keys are programmable to a large list of functions. By default, they’re set to GamePlus and GameVisua,l so you can quickly make changes without opening the full OSD. Also in this menu are two settings memories, which can be quickly recalled for later use.

Asus ROG Strix XG27UCS Calibration Settings

The XG27UCS is firmly in the category of tuned at the factory because straight away, it needs no adjustments. You can just leave it in Racing mode, set brightness to taste and be off. I calibrated anyway for a tiny improvement in the numbers but no visual difference. The sRGB mode is equally precise and can be called up for color grading or for SDR gaming. I’ve included my instrument-derived settings below. For HDR signals, there are three picture modes which are similar in appearance. Gaming is the default and best choice there. If you find the HDR image too bright, say in a darkened room, you can turn on Adjustable Brightness and take the edge off.

Gaming and Hands-on

The XG27UCS is a gorgeous monitor. Despite my complaints about contrast, which you’ll read soon enough, it has a super sharp image. And you can thank its 163ppi pixel density for that. Most 4K monitors are 32 inches or larger. At 27 inches, it packs the dots in tight enough that you’ll never see the pixel structure, even when you sit super close. And honestly, that helped me forget about the lack of dynamic range.

Gaming is an addictive pleasure at 160fps. I was able to try out all combinations of the XG27UCS’s video processing options. Adaptive-Sync isn’t strictly necessary at 160 Hz, but I discovered that if you want to use ELMB, traditional or Sync, you have to turn off HDR. Since HDR contrast isn’t any higher than SDR, this is not a sacrifice. I could leave color set to wide gamut and enjoy the same vivid hues either way.

Asus’ implementation of ELMB is superb. If you opt for Sync, it removes all motion blur but also reduces light output by 80%. This is fine in a dark room but in my sunlit office, I found the picture too dark. Luckily, the traditional ELMB is much brighter and has five pulse width levels. Three was the best for me. You can also focus the processing on the top, middle or bottom of the screen. This choice will depend on game content. For shooters, middle works the best. At these settings, there is no loss of brightness and there is no motion blur. I saw a frame tear here and there but nothing that approached distraction. If you run below 150fps, this is a better option.

Since I can run at 160fps in 4K, I stuck with Adaptive-Sync and no ELMB to enjoy perfect motion resolution and quick response with the overdrive set to 10 out of 20. Having so many choices makes the XG27UCS very flexible and well-suited for various gaming systems.

After a few hours of Doom Eternal, I spent some time in Photoshop and Word while I got some work done. The XG27UCS is great for productivity with its super sharp image. Though I couldn’t help but notice its low contrast (because I’m spoiled by OLEDs), the rich color asserted itself in every good way. With such a high level of accuracy and full coverage of DCI-P3, I can’t imagine anyone looking at this monitor and not enjoying it.

I have noted the XG27UCS’s lack of speakers and USB ports. This isn’t unusual for a value-priced gaming monitor. For most users, it won’t be a problem. The three video inputs all support full 4K resolution at 160 Hz so that’s a plus. And there’s a headphone jack with volume control in the OSD. Or you can plug in powered speakers.

Takeaway: The XG27UCS is a superb display with premium video processing that makes blur-free gaming easy to achieve with a wide variety of systems. Though you’ll need stout graphics hardware to run 4K at 160 Hz, there is a precise overdrive and two ELMB options to help take care of artifacts at lower frame rates. And input lag is as low as the best gaming monitors I’ve tested. Though I noted low contrast in testing, the picture is incredibly sharp and colorful in all types of content.

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To compare the XG27UCS’s performance, I’ve rounded up a group of 4K screens in both 27 and 32-inch sizes. We have Cooler Master’s GP27U, BenQ’s EX321UX, AOC’s PD32M, Acer’s X32 and HP’s Omen 27k. They run at either 144 or 160 Hz.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

One doesn’t typically buy a 4K gaming monitor for all-out speed, but the XG27UCS delivers on that count. Its 160 Hz refresh rate, if you can achieve it with your hardware, draws a full white field on the screen in 6ms. This alone would deliver reasonably smooth motion but not completely eliminate motion blur. The XG27UCS sets itself apart with a superb overdrive. There is almost no blur or artifacts when the overdrive is set to level 10. The traditional ELMB option is even smoother, erasing all signs of blur. Note that ELMB Sync also does this but with a significant reduction in brightness.

The XG27UCS does very well in the lag test with a 23ms score. This puts it on par with some QHD 240 Hz monitors. If quick control response is a priority for you, this monitor delivers.

Test Takeaway: For all-out competition, the XG27UCS might be a tad slower than the fastest 360 and 500 Hz monitors but its input lag isn’t far behind the best. 4K is not always the best way to achieve high frame rates, but the video processing here enables smoother operation than most UHD screens are capable of. ELMB Sync is a great way to have backlight strobing and Adaptive-Sync at the same time, something only a few other Asus monitors can do. But it sacrifices a lot of brightness in the process. My recommendation is to use traditional ELMB. That presents a super-smooth moving image, and the lack of AS isn’t a big deal if you can run 160fps. Bottom line: the XG27UCS has the best video processing and game performance in the LCD 4K category. Only a 240 Hz OLED will be smoother than this and you won’t be touching one of those for $460.

Viewing Angles

The XG27UCS’s off-axis image quality is solid when compared to other IPS monitors. The 45-degree side view shows a shift to red but no significant light output reduction. Gamma stays consistent so there is no loss of picture detail. The top view is better than most IPS panels can boast but still shows a 50% drop in brightness and a slight red/blue shift.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

These are all high-end monitors so there is no shame in the XG27UCS’s last place finish. 8.45% is still comfortably below the visible threshold. My sample had no bleed or glow and color remained even-toned from edge to edge in test patterns and in all types of content.

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

Spoiler alert: this is the part of the review where I have to point out the XG27UCS’s one flaw – low contrast. As you'll see on subsequent pages, it is stellar in every other metric. But its IPS panel doesn’t have the black levels of the competition and therefore only managed 865.6:1 in my out-of-box test. This isn’t bad but it isn’t as good as most of the competition either. There is a dynamic option for SDR content that helps some, but as you’ll see later, it does not help HDR. Light output is strong at 428 nits, but again, there are Mini LED screens like the BenQ, Cooler Master, Acer and AOC that are even brighter.

After Calibration to 200 nits

Calibration to 200 nits doesn’t change anything on the contrast front, which is at least a positive indication of the XG27UCS’s consistent performance. All the screens are measured with dimming turned off, so what you see is their native contrast ratios.

That same consistency carries over to the intra-image ANSI test. The XG27UCS is well-built with quality components. It just doesn’t have a ton of dynamic range.

Test Takeaway: The XG27UCS’s low contrast is a bummer, but it is bright and colorful, nonetheless. It delivers decent performance for the money when you consider that a Mini LED or an OLED will cost more. You can get a little more punch in SDR mode with the ASCR option in the OSD. But this won’t help you with HDR content, more on that later. Now that we have that out of the way, it’s on to what the XG27UCS does well, which is everything else.

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Like all Asus gaming monitors, the XG27UCS comes set to its Racing mode and unless you want to tweak it away from industry standards, there’s no need for any changes. Just set brightness to taste and go.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

You can see that there are no visible flaws in the XG27UCS’s grayscale chart, the first graphic above. All errors are well below 2dE with most below 1dE. This is pro-level performance. Gamma rides just a shade above the line, but that is not an error that can be seen in real-world content.

With a few changes to the RGB sliders, I’ve reduced the error numbers and tightened the gamma a bit. This is only visible to the color meter. You won’t see a difference in the image. Grayscale and gamma accuracy don’t really get better than this.

For the sRGB test, I used the sRGB mode from the GameVisual menu. You can achieve the same thing by changing the gamut option. Grayscale tracking is visually perfect, but there are a few gamma flaws. 10% is a shade light and highlights at 80 and 90% brightness are a tad dark. These errors take a lot of work to spot in content. This mode is perfectly viable for color grading or those who prefer sRGB color in SDR games.

Comparisons

It doesn’t get much better out-of-the-box than the XG27UCS’s 0.58dE score, but the HP excels with 0.32dE. It’s rare to ever see a default grayscale score below 1dE so this is a definite win for Asus. After calibration, it slips to third place with 0.47dE. We’re talking about tiny differences in light wavelength that only a color meter can detect. Visually, there is no difference.

The XG27UCS’s gamma isn’t perfect, but it’s closer to the spec than its competition. A 0.09 range of values is about as tight as it gets, and the deviation from 2.2 is just 0.91%, actual value 2.24. This is excellent performance.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

I’m tempted to use more colorful language, positive of course, to describe the XG27UCS’s color accuracy, but I want to keep this review rated G. Gamut charts don’t get much better than what you see above. Not only is every point on target but gamut coverage is complete. Calibration barely causes a nudge, but if you look closely, there’s a tiny improvement in yellow and magenta hue tracking. This is just awesome.

The sRGB chart is even better with an average error of just 0.79dE. That is better than a lot of pro monitors can boast, and they all cost more than $460.

Comparisons

Again, the HP over-achieves here with a winning color error score of 0.56dE, one of the best I’ve ever recorded. The XG27UCS is only a hair back in second place with 1.06dE. Yep, still awesome.

In the volume test, the XG27UCS isn’t at the top but note that both DCI-P3 and sRGB gamut coverage are less than 1% away from 100%. From an accuracy standpoint, this is ideal. While no one will complain about more color, the most precise result is what the XG27UCS produces, 100%, no more, no less. It’s a value-priced gaming display, but it is completely qualified for video post-production, creation, photo editing, or any other application that requires accurate color rendering.

Test Takeaway: The XG27UCS is one of the most accurate displays I’ve ever tested. And that’s before calibration. Only a few other screens come close, and they don’t have the XG27UCS’s value. While it doesn’t have high contrast, it is among the very best in every other image parameter. For the money, you’ll be hard-pressed to find better picture fidelity.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.

The XG27UCS supports HDR10 signals by switching modes automatically and enabling three new image presets, Gaming, Cinema and Console. They look similar to one another, but Gaming is the most accurate. By activating an OSD toggle, you can enable the brightness control if you find the picture too bright for your taste. This is something very few HDR monitors allow.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

It’s easy to see which screens are Mini LEDs. Hint: it’s the ones with peak outputs over 1,100 nits. Second hint: they cost more than the XG27UCS. It offers decent light output for HDR with just under 500 nits, but no more contrast. That is still below 900:1. If only there were a field dimming option. HDR is not the strength here, but you will get good color thanks to the large gamut.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

The XG27UCS is every bit as color-accurate in HDR mode as SDR. Grayscale tracking is without visual flaws from the darkest to the lightest step. This is true in all three picture modes. EOTF tracking is nearly perfect, but there is a rise in the zero and 5% steps, which makes shadow detail lighter than it should be. It is clearly rendered but blacks are more gray in tone.

HDR gamut tracking shows the same slight over-saturation I see in most HDR monitors and that is a good thing. At the XG27UCS’s level of contrast, vivid color helps mitigate a lack of dynamics. The points track linearly so detail remains sharp and clear in all parts of the image. DCI-P3 gamut coverage is complete except for 100% red which is a tad under the mark. If you view content mastered to BT.2020, the XG27UCS manages coverage of 85% red, 75% green and 95% blue.

Test Takeaway: The XG27UCS’s HDR contrast isn’t great, but it is extremely color-accurate and very well saturated. HDR content has a little more impact, but black levels aren’t low enough to really make the picture pop. I am happy to see the ability to adjust brightness. That is something most HDR monitors lack.

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I see a lot of fast gaming monitors in my travels but most of them are QHD and FHD resolution. While it is possible to have an addictive experience without super high pixel density, there is something about 4K that makes you want it. The picture has a textural quality that is less often seen outside the category.

That said, gaming is all about frame rates and control response and to excel at these things in 4K, you need a powerful graphics card, and you’ll often be running below 200fps. The Asus ROG Strix XG27UCS represents something rare in this genre in that it is super smooth on a wide variety of systems.

4K at 160 Hz isn’t common but it isn’t rare either. What sets the XG27UCS apart is its premium video processing. The ability to run ELMB backlight strobing and Adaptive-Sync together is definitely unusual. Asus is one of the only companies to offer this capability. And the traditional ELMB is one of the very best with high brightness and no artifacts. It’s rarely this easy to see an 4K monitor without motion blur unless it’s an OLED.

The picture is incredibly sharp thanks to a pixel density of 163ppi. That’s the advantage of a 27-inch screen in this class. Most UHD displays are 32 inches or larger. Low contrast is the XG27UCS’s only real flaw. And there is no dimming to help things along in HDR. But color is pro-level accurate out of the box and DCI-P3 gamut coverage is a whisker shy of 100%.

I’ll close with another mention of the Asus ROG Strix XG27UCS’s tremendous value. It’s $460 at this writing which puts it around $200 below Mini LED monitors that have less effective video processing. For gamers who want the sharpest possible picture, it’s a no brainer. Definitely check it out.

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Teamgroup recently revealed its T-CREATE EXPERT P32 external SSD offerings - boasting capacities of up to 16TB to meet all your storage needs. Designed primarily for content creators and power users, the EXPERT P32 tops out at read and write speeds of 1.8 GB/s - and is compatible with USB Type-C and Thunderbolt devices.

The EXPERT P32 comes in two flavors: 8TB and 16TB - which should make it the largest external SSD - at least in the mainstream segment - tied with offerings from Sabrent. The enclosure spans 110 x 65 x 26mm (LxWxH) - roughly equal to a standard deck of cards. On the connectivity side, it features a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C interface, theoretically capable of delivering 20 Gbps (2.5 GB/s) speeds - but the SSD itself is limited to 1.8 GB/s for the 16TB version.

The housing employs a 4-axis CNC-designed Aluminum Alloy frame that looks elegant and sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of daily use. Interestingly, the SSD uses "exclusive patented" Graphene heat pads to keep temperatures down and extend its lifespan.

The specifications do not mention the NAND flash type, the TBW (Terabytes written) endurance rating, or the controller. What we do know is that this SSD does not feature a DRAM cache. This might not be ideal for enthusiasts seeking the best. Apart from that, the P32 is backed by a three-year warranty, which isn't a lot for an SSD that is densely oriented at professionals, content creators, graphics, media designers, and even data scientists. Data integrity and reliability are essential since these users deal with large and potentially valuable files.

The package includes the SSD itself, a Type-C to Type-C cable, a 1.2-meter power cable, and a plug adapter. Teamgroup hasn't listed an MSRP or retail price for this SSD—at least not yet—but expect it to cost somewhere between $2,000 and $4,000 for the 16TB version. The EXPERT P32 is slated to launch in Q4 2024, but since we're only one month away from 2025, it will likely hit shelves in December.

A leading Raspberry Pi torchbearer has demonstrated relatively modern AAA games like Doom Eternal, Crysis Remastered, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Forza Horizon 4, running at 4K on the humble $50 SBC.

Pi wizard Jeff Geerling shared a video of his latest attempts to boost the credit card-sized computer’s GPU muscle. Things have progressed since the Doom 3 4K demo he shared a few weeks ago. The most important developments since October are getting newer generation AMD Radeon GPUs to work with the Pi, potentially delivering massive performance uplifts.

To swiftly recap Geerling’s recent progress, he demoed 4K gaming on his Raspberry Pi 5 in October with the help of an eGPU setup featuring a modest Radeon RX 460. With this setup, some less demanding 3D titles like SuperTuxKart and Doom 3 (2004) could achieve 4K60 nirvana.

Now, thanks to Pi fanatics working on RX 6000 and RX 7000 series drivers, Geerling has been able to run some far newer AAA PC titles at 4K. However, we must warn that newer PC games aren’t hitting 4K60 even with the best RX 7000 card Geerling could get – primarily due to his latest test setup’s underpowered CPU, restricted bandwidth, and max 8GB RAM. He tested with a Radeon RX 6700 XT.

In addition to these gaming advances, the newest Radeon drivers and patches enable hardware video transcoding. LLM acceleration is still unavailable, and Geerling confirmed that AMD ROCm support isn’t coming to Arm soon.

How Doom Eternal (2000) fares on the Pi with a powerful eGPU setup using the Radeon RX 6700XT. Geerling admits this title is a little frustrating at 4K on his new setup, with an average of 20 FPS just too low for the fun factor. Typically, reducing the resolution can do wonders for frame rates.

Still, the Pi enthusiast commented that the CPU is such a bottleneck that it is only inches above 30 FPS when reducing screen res to 720p. At 4K with RTX On, the frame rate plummeted to around 12 FPS. A system utility revealed that the GPU utilization was below 50%, as the rest of the Pi system bottlenecked it so comprehensively.

Geerling also checked the benefits of overclocking the Pi 5 CPU from 2.4 to 3.0 GHz. However, for the new average 4K at 25 FPS performance observed, there was too much system instability to make it enjoyable.

If you care to digest the Pi enthusiasts video, you will see similar observations playing titles like Crysis Remastered, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Forza Horizon 4. Better experiences were seen in the Obduction adventure title and Halo 3. Geerling seemed most pleased with how well his Pi eGPU system handled Portal 2“”“” (2011), enjoying a “flawless… butter smooth” 4K gaming session. The same game was “extremely choppy” on the Pi’s iGPU at 720p.

Before the video wrapped up, Geerling turned his attention to serious application and content creation shenanigans with the eGPU. He plugged in the Radeon Pro W7700Pi’s workstation graphics card for this video part. Again, the Pi’s CPU, bandwidth, and meager 8GB of RAM decreased the system’s performance. Nevertheless, the Pi enthusiast enjoyed pushing this powerful GPU in the Gravitymark outer-space visuals rendering benchmark and creating a ‘Battlestation Pi’ with six external 60 Hz monitors.

Hong Kong-based electronics firm InnLead has launched a 15.6-inch 4K Edge OLED 5D portable monitor that offers some unique features. It has a magnetic back that allows you to attach accessories to the display à la MagSafe. Some of these accessories include a magnetic cover stand, a snap stand, a wireless RGB monitor light bar, and a magnetic phone mount, making it downright convenient to use as a portable workstation. The portable monitor is currently available on Indiegogo, starting at $339.99 for the Super Early Bird option with a trade-in, or $399.99 without a trade-in.

The Edge OLED 5D uses a 60 Hz Samsung OLED panel, giving you the advantages of this screen technology like a near-infinite contrast ratio. The monitor covers 100% DCI-P3 for ultimate color accuracy, plus 10-bit color gamut, making it an attractive display for creative professionals who prefer working on the go. It also hits a brightness level of 440 nits, so that you can see what you’re doing in moderately bright spaces.

Aside from its 4K OLED screen and magnetic attachment plus points, Inn Lead also offers a wireless transmitter accessory, allowing you to use the portable monitor without the need for restrictive HDMI cabling. This mmWave transceiver has a 100-ft range, and you could even set up multiple transceivers, allowing you to switch devices at the touch of a button.

All these features come tightly packed in a light, portable, and elegant CNC-machined housing. The 15.6-inch screen weighs 1.46 pounds. or 666 grams, which makes it more than 50% lighter than a 15-inch MacBook Air, and it’s just 7.6mm thick, making it thinner than an iPhone. You also get two speakers on the display, along with two USB Type-C ports, a mini-HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headphone port.

The portable monitor comes in two flavors: a non-touch model that starts at $339.99 when you trade in an old monitor or tablet ($399.99 if nothing to trade in) if you get in at the Super Early Bird level. But if you wait for it to hit store shelves, the Edge OLED 5D (non-touch) has a purported retail price of $569. InnLead also offers a touchscreen version with a built-in battery for $459.99 with a trade-in and $519.99 via the Super Early Bird option. The touchscreen display’s expected retail price is $700, though, so it is probably tempting to reserve one now if you’re interested in it.

Note that this does not include any accessories yet, except for the free magnetic cover stand (and lightbar or phone mount, depending on the package you choose). The magnetic phone mount will cost you $15.99, while the snap stand starts at $29.99, and the RGB wireless magnetic lightbar is $26.99. However, acquiring the mmWave transceiver requires a much more significant extra amount, $199.00.

As usual, please note that buying products on Indiegogo is not an outright purchase. Instead, you’re investing in it with the hope that you’ll be among the first to receive the product if and when it hits the market. So, you’re bearing some risk whenever you get something on platforms like Indiegogo or Kickstarter. Nevertheless, the Edge OLED 5D seems to be an interesting display, and we can’t help but wonder how it would perform against the best portable monitors in our regularly updated buyers' guide.

FPGA console manufacturer Analogue has announced a new, 4K VRR-enabled version of the classic Nintendo 64— the Analogue 3D. This may not initially seem all that exciting. Still, those dedicated to classic N64 game preservation, especially without relying on still-developing PC emulation, may be interested to know that the Analogue 3D doesn't require emulation.

That "FPGA" part is key — FPGA means "Field Programmable Gate Array." In this context, Analogue has completely recreated and enhanced the functionality of Nintendo 64 without needing to rely on software emulation, ensuring 100% system library compatibility and accuracy. They've previously achieved this with the Analogue Pocket for a wider variety of retro handhelds, while 3D is geared explicitly toward the Nintendo 64.

While the announcement thread uses some undeniably flowery language, there is a significant market among game preservationists and retro gamers for console hardware like this. The comparative cost of acquiring and modding an original N64 to add Bluetooth and 4K (VRR) output support as the Analogue 3D will be shipping with is often higher than the $250 asking price for the Analogue 3D, especially if you don't happen to have the expertise to apply those mods to the original console yourself.

The Analogue 3D is a perfect modern recreation of the Nintendo 64. With region locking removed and 100% compatibility with the Nintendo 64's game library running strictly as intended without the input lag or sometimes dubious enhancements added by emulation, the Analogue 3D seems suited for many a retro enthusiast's collection.

Besides touting wireless Bluetooth controller support, the console is compatible with controllers made for the original Nintendo 64 and their expansions— including original Memory Paks that will allow you to transfer your old saves directly to the new hardware. Analogue 3D was also announced with a Bluetooth 8BitDo 64 controller intended to be paired with it, which touts a modernized Xbox-inspired layout for N64 titles with an added boon of hall-effect analog sticks, which should ensure much greater longevity on 8BitDo 64 than any mainstream first-party console analog stick has enjoyed so far.

Analogue also touts some less vanilla features, namely in the form of its 3D OS made for the console. These functionalities include Original Display Modes to imitate CRT and PVM display output on modern 4K panels, which should enhance the otherwise blurry picture, particularly with the help of VRR support to smooth out the more stuttery N64 games. Of course, the truly CRT-savvy will be a little skeptical of these.

Still, suppose they're comparable to or better than the best currently-existing CRT filters ordinary in the emulation scene to preserve these retro games' original art direction. In that case, Analogue 3D is looking pretty good. Analogue Pocket's Original Display Modes for its various handheld libraries were pretty accurate, but that's much easier to ensure on a handheld you manufacture.

At this point, Analogue 3D is really "missing" in Nintendo 64DD support, which the most dedicated enthusiasts can acquire for 3D or the original N64 using the SummerCart64 flash cart. Otherwise, it seems the perfect choice for playing N64 games on modern displays, particularly considering the existence of modern N64 game development.

Pre-orders for both Analogue 3D and the 8BitDo 64 controller intended to be paired with it open on October 21st. The Analogue 3D will cost $249.99, and the 8BitDo64 controller will cost $39.99.

10/17/24 Update: The original version of this article referred to the Analogue 3D as being based on an "FGPA" rather than an FPGA, and referred to it as a "Field Programmable Grid Array" instead of the correct Field-Programmable Gate Array. The article has been updated to correct these errors.

Raspberry Pi wizard Jeff Geerling has demonstrated 4K60 gaming on his Raspberry Pi 5 setup. Crucially, the Pi 5 was given a considerable lift in the GPU department via the use of an M.2 to OCuLink adapter and an AMD Radeon RX 460 desktop graphics card. It may sound quite a simple ‘hack’ from our brief intro, but there were quite a few more bits of support hardware required, as well as Linux kernel patching, to achieve the 4K60 gaming goal.

The embedded video is short and to the point, but if you want more details regarding Geerling’s 4K60 gaming feat you can head over to his blog, or check out the full 2-hour live stream. We also reported on an earlier version of this eGPU setup last November, before it was coaxed into gaming. The mini-computer enthusiast says there were several ways he could have achieved his Raspberry Pi 5 gaming goal, but he selected the following hardware:

• An external graphics card stand from JMT with a bundled M.2 to OCuLink adaptor
• An OCuLink cable
• The Pineboards HatDrive! Bottom for converting the PCIe FFC connection on the Pi to an M.2 slot
• A Lian Li SFX PSU rated at 750W to deliver power to the JMT adaptor and the desktop GPU
• An AMD Radeon RX 460 4GB graphics card from XFX

It seems that basically, the last two components in the list were chosen as they were at hand and good enough for the demo to succeed. However, Geerling elaborated on his RX 460 choice, mentioning that this specific model was “new enough to use the open source amdgpu driver in the Linux kernel, and old enough the drivers and card details are pretty well known.”

As hinted above, a lot of the background work that enabled 4K60 gaming on the Raspberry Pi was on the coding side of the equation. Geerling says he had to recompile the Linux kernel with the chosen AMD drivers. Then he had to patch code “that fixes a bunch of memory alignment issues.” Another important step was to enable the fastest PCIe Gen 3 connection setting in the Pi’s configuration file. Finally, after the latest AMD firmware packages were installed and the machine rebooted, the system was 4K60 gaming-ready.

On the newly graphically accelerated Pi 5, Geerling could play both SuperTuxKart and Doom 3 at 4K60 and max settings. These are admittedly older and less demanding titles, but it is nonetheless impressive to see the Pi 5 and RX 460 push so many pixels at such a rate. Without this eGPU, the Pi 5 could only muster 20FPS at 1080p in the same titles, according to the enthusiast.

Geerling isn’t finished yet. He indicates he is looking to get a set of code and patches sorted out so this or a similar eGPU adaptor could be used with “all graphics cards.” This work won’t just help with gaming endeavors, the extra GPU power could be used for video encoding, and other GPU-acceleration-friendly tasks.

Yesterday morning, Firaxis Games announced the Minimum, Recommended, and Ultra PC requirements for Civilization VII, the next in their timeless series of turn-based strategy games.

As an aside, Firaxis also mentioned that Civ VII would be coming to Mac OS X, Linux, and even SteamOS—likely meaning a natively playable Steam Deck port down the line since that device is only 720p/800p.

Civilization is known for being a PC series first, so no bloated (or lacking) console base specifications should be holding back the experience here— though there is some surprise that the demands for an "Ultra" class experience at 4K, 60 FPS, and High Settings demand a 32 GB allocation of RAM. This number is quite the increase of Civ VI's Recommend 8 GB RAM allocation.

The minimum system requirements for Civilization VII are pretty reasonable. For all tiers of performance and resolution, users should have at least 20 GB of space free on a Solid State Drive for the best experience.

For a playable experience targeting 1080p, Low settings, and 30 FPS, Firaxis recommends entry-level CPUs from Intel 10th Gen and AMD Ryzen's first generation— very old processors at this point that most PC gamers have likely long upgraded past. The graphics requirements of GTX 1050, RX 460, and Arc A380 are similarly reasonable. The old game's recommended RAM spec— 8 GB— is now the new minimum spec, probably the most significant bump for anyone already using 8 GB or less.

The new Recommended requirements targeting Medium settings at 1080p and 60 FPS do up the ante a little, though. Users are expected to have a 10th Gen Core i5 or a Ryzen 5 3600X-class processor and at least an RTX 2060, Arc A750, or RX 6600-class graphics card, which are considerably more expensive. The RAM requirement has also doubled while targeting the exact 1080p resolution as the minimum requirement, from raising detail to medium settings and targeting 60 FPS.

While large-scale RTS and city/society building games can get pretty intense with simulated aspects tied to the CPU and memory bandwidth, it still seems a bit surprising for many users reacting in shock about how high the requirements for Civilization VI at 4K 60 FPS have become. However, these are perfectly in line with— if not considerably more reasonable than— system requirements for several more realistic-looking, action-oriented titles on PC.

At least in terms of CPU and GPU, a 14th-generation Intel Core i7 or Ryzen 9 5950X-class CPU and the demands of an RTX 4070 or RX 7800 XT make sense considering the 4K, 60 FPS, and High settings target. 32 GB of RAM is still pretty severe for any modern game, though, and hints that the simulation aspects in play (or perhaps other gameplay elements like draw distance, zoom distance, or both) are particularly intensive on the CPU and RAM of each player's PC.

When building or purchasing a gaming PC, the video sub-system is ultimately what makes or breaks your experience. We all want the highest possible resolution, you need to take a look at one of the best 4K gaming monitors. But that means an expensive video card is needed to move those 8.3 million pixels. Even with the fastest hardware currently available, getting past 200 fps in 4K is hard.

What if you could have the best of both worlds in one monitor? 4K for more casual games, high-quality video and productivity; and FHD for super-quick response in first-person shooters and racing sims. You can do this with Alienware’s new AW2725QF. It operates like two monitors in one and with a single button, switches modes seamlessly. It’s a 27-inch IPS panel with 4K at 180 Hz, Full HD at 360 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR600 and wide gamut color. Let’s take a look.

Alienware AW2725QF Specs

The AW2725QF isn’t the first monitor I’ve reviewed with two resolution/refresh modes. I recently tested Asus’ PG32UCDP, an OLED that does 4K at 240 Hz and FHD at 480 Hz. While it posted some impressive numbers, it is also expensive at $1,300. The AW2725QF is selling for $600 at this writing and delivers nearly the same performance in both panel response and input lag.

For that sum, you get a 27-inch IPS panel that runs 4K at 180 Hz and Full HD at 360. It also supports G-Sync with an Nvidia certification and FreeSync plus VRR for consoles. A DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.1 inputs will run the full resolution and refresh rates with a PC. Consoles can run at 4K and 120 Hz with VRR.

A Fast IPS panel is certified for VESA DisplayHDR 600, and it offers wide gamut color. I measured over 90% coverage of DCI-P3. Creator modes deliver accurate sRGB color if you need precision for critical applications. The backlight is an LED edge array with 24 dimming zones for greater contrast in HDR mode. In my tests, the AW2725QF topped 11,200:1 with low black levels, putting it in Mini LED territory for both brightness and dynamic range.

Like all Alienware gaming monitors, the AW2725QF does not skimp on features. The only thing it doesn’t have are internal speakers, but you get a cool pop-out hook for headphones. It also has plenty of USB ports including a USB-C on the bottom edge of the panel where it’s easy to reach. AlienVision includes several viewing enhancements like sniper, night vision and aiming points.

Oh, and I almost forgot. The AW2725QF supports Dolby Vision. Though common for a few years in the TV world, Dolby Vision is still only found in a handful of computer monitors. Support from gaming titles is sparse which is the likely reason for this, but if more desktop displays had it, more game creators would embrace it. Its dynamic tone mapping is visibly superior to the fixed version found in HDR10 material.

Even with its huge array of features, the AW2725QF’s big attraction is its dual-mode operation. It literally is two monitors in one and as you’ll soon see, this could be a real game-changer.

Assembly and Accessories

Alienware continues its responsible tradition of forgoing the usual crumbly foam packaging for molded cardboard that is completely recyclable. The base and upright connect with a captive bolt and the panel snaps in place to create a solid package with a premium look and feel. The AW2725QF cuts no corners in build quality. The accessory bundle includes an IEC cord for the internal power supply plus DisplayPort, HDMI and USB cables.

Product 360

The AW2725QF follows Alienware’s simple but instantly recognizable aesthetic with smooth tapered surfaces, a matte finish, and elegant lighting. The back shows The Alien plus a “27” to denote the screen size. A crosshatch pattern adorns the central oval that rings the stand’s attachment point. The screen has a super thin flush bezel with the Alienware moniker at the bottom. The power LED is also a button and glows with whatever color you choose from the OSD. You can also pick the colors of the lights in the back. Or shut everything off for a stealth look.

The stand is Alienware’s usual high-quality piece with full ergonomics. You get 5/21 degrees tilt, 20 degrees swivel and a 4.3-inch height adjustment. The smooth and firm movements befit a premium display. At the top left is a metal headphone hook that extends when pressed. It feels capable of supporting heavy cans and will likely withstand many years of use.

The input panel is underneath and faces downwards. It’s split in two with USB 3.2 (one up and two down) on one side and video (one DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.1) on the other. On the front edge, next to the OSD joystick are two additional USBs, one of which is type C. The HDMI inputs are designed for consoles’ 4K at 120 Hz with VRR but will support the full 3840x2160 resolution, and refresh rates (180 or 360 Hz) on a PC.

OSD Features

The AW2725QF’s OSD is extensive so apologies in advance for the large number of photos. Hey, this monitor does a lot of cool stuff. A centrally located joystick controls the fun. Press it once to summon a quick menu with status bar. Click it back to open the full OSD.

To enable the AW2725QF’s dual refresh/resolution operation, you press the joystick once to open the quick menu, then scroll left or right until the “4K” icon is centered. Another press changes the resolution and refresh rate on the fly. I’ll get into more detail in the hands-on section because there are a few setup chores to do first.

In the Game menu are 12 picture modes with different levels of adjustability. Standard is the default and it’s reasonably accurate but has no options for color tweaks. The Creator mode has DCI-P3 and sRGB options along with gamma presets, but no color temps. The three Game modes let you adjust grayscale and configure video processing. And there’s the familiar Custom Color mode which has RGB gain and offset plus color management. For my purposes, I used Custom Color which, after a few tweaks, is very color accurate.

Game Enhance has timers, a frame rate counter and display alignment marks. The overclock is also dual mode in that you can set it separately for 4K and FHD resolution. In 4K, the choices are 170-180 Hz and FHD has 340-360 Hz. I maxed both modes and had no issues with stability. The three-level overdrive works well in both refresh modes. I found Super Fast to strike the best balance between blur reduction and ghosting. AlienVision has night vision, sniper mode and aiming points to help you better dispatch distant threats.

The input selector has options for the dual-resolution switch. I recommend leaving these alone as they are already on the right settings for an easy change that requires just two presses of the OSD joystick. AlienFX Lighting lets you change colors and effects for the power LED, The Alien and the 27 on the back of the panel. Or you can turn the lights off if you wish.

Smart HDR refers to the HDR10 options, which includes five modes. Though you might think DisplayHDR 600 is the brightest, it isn’t. Custom Color HDR is where I found the best image. It also has adjustments for brightness, contrast and color saturations. In the Dolby Vision sub-menu, you can pick between Bright, Dark, Game or Off. This mode only works when content is encoded in Dolby Vision.

The OSD joystick can be programmed for many different quick access functions. You can also set up your own AlienVision menu to easily toggle play enhancements on and off.

Alienware AW2725QF Calibration Settings

There are a few ways to optimize the AW2725QF’s image depending on your intended use. For most situations, the default Standard mode is fine with a slightly warm grayscale, accurate gamma and good color saturation in the DCI-P3 space. If you want sRGB, choose Creator mode and that gamut from the sub-menu. To calibrate grayscale, I recommend Custom Color, where you’ll find gain and offset sliders plus color management. I only had to tweak the gain controls to achieve reference level. The sRGB mode has a fixed D65 color temp that tracks without any visual errors. My settings for Custom Color mode are below.

For HDR content, the best image comes in the Custom Color HDR mode, which has the brightest highlights and broadest dynamic range. For Dolby Vision, I recommend Bright for rooms with some ambient light and Dark for rooms with no light.

Gaming and Hands-on

To set up the dual refresh modes, I started with the AW2725QF in 4K mode. Go to the Overclock section of the Game menu and select 180 Hz. Once this is working, select the 4K icon in the OSD quick menu to switch to FHD resolution. Visit the Overclock section again and set it to 360 Hz. Then, you’ll be able to switch with two presses of the joystick. When making the change, do it from the Windows desktop, not in-game. That way, it will be seamless.

My testing PC is equipped with a GeForce RTX 4090, so it is well suited for 4K gaming. I was able to maintain the maximum 180fps in 4K while playing Doom Eternal. I enjoyed the superb overdrive which erased nearly all motion blur.

I switched to 360 Hz mode by returning to the Windows desktop and pressing the OSD joystick twice. Make sure the little 4K icon is centered before the second press. The AW2725QF changes within a few seconds and I was back in Doom Eternal about a minute later. The response and non-existent input lag were obvious as my aiming precision improved by leaps and bounds. Dispatching enemies became child’s play because I could stop and fire exactly where I wanted to. If you’re playing in an esports competition, the FHD mode provides a significant advantage.

Comparing the images, FHD is a little softer than 4K. But motion resolution is so clear and consistent I barely noticed. The one thing in favor of the AW2725QF’s 4K mode is pixel density. 27-inch 4K monitors are rare, but they should be savored because there are 163 pixels per inch. That’s about as dense as it gets unless you go to 6K or 8K. That 27-inch size also means FHD won’t be as soft as it is on a 32-inch monitor, the more common 4K size. Bottom line, the AW2725QF has a pixel density advantage over its chief rival, Asus’ PG32UCDP.

I had no negative observations to make when engaging in workday tasks. The AW2725QF’s color is superb with rich hues and bold saturation. The native gamut is just over 90% of DCI-P3 so it’s well situated between sRGB and the full P3 space. You get more color but not too much more. Accuracy, particularly in the Custom Color mode, is excellent and I never thought it looked overblown in SDR/sRGB content. The high pixel density also made small text razor sharp, enough that I barely noticed that I wasn’t playing or working on a 27-inch screen. My daily use display is 32 inches.

Takeaway: The AW2725QF is incredibly versatile for any game type and any work situation. If you have a powerful video card, you can play most games in 4K. But if you want the ultimate advantage with super low input lag, FHD/360 mode is only two button clicks away. The switch was always seamless and reliable. I also appreciated Alienware’s precise overdrive. The HDR image is one of the best apart from a premium Mini LED or OLED so that is a definite consideration. For $600, the AW2725QF delivers tremendous performance and usability.

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The AW2725QF’s comparison group is a bit diverse with both IPS and OLED screens, all 4K. I’ve included the only other dual-resolution screen in my database, Asus’ PG32UCDP, plus Alienware’s AW3225QF and Aorus FO32U2P for the OLED category. IPS is represented by HP’s Omen 27k and BenQ’s EX321UX which is a Mini LED display.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

Here’s what I expect most of you have skipped ahead to. Is the AW2725QF the fastest monitor of all time? Not quite. That honor still belongs to the PG32UCDP, which, in 480 Hz mode, draws a full white field in 2ms and has 11ms of total input lag. But the AW2725QF is close behind at 3ms and 17ms for its 360 Hz mode. Remember that at the faster refresh rate, both monitors are running FHD resolution, but the AW2725QF has greater pixel density thanks to its smaller screen. In 4K mode, both monitors are quick but not quite as smooth as the 240 Hz displays which can draw in 4ms. When total input lag is considered though, the AW2725QF is faster at 180 Hz than two of the 240 Hz monitors in the group.

Test Takeaway: There are a few things to consider here. First, there is nothing that has better motion resolution than a fast OLED. At 360 Hz, the AW2725QF is close but not quite as clear. However, when input lag is considered, it beats all but a few 500 Hz screens on the market. Since the principal selling point is dual mode opedual-modets only real competition is the PG32UCDP which costs more than twice as much. For $600, the AW2725QF is one of the fastest and most versatile gaming monitors available.

Viewing Angles

OLED screens will beat the AW2725QF’s off-axis image quality but not by a lot. Among IPS monitors, this is one of the better examples, with only a slight red shift to the sides and no apparent reduction in light output. Gamma is consistent too which means detail is sharp. The top view is blue in the middle and red on the sides with a 40% light reduction and lower gamma as well.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

My AW2725QF had visually perfect screen uniformity except for a slight hotspot in the lower right corner. I couldn’t spot the problem in actual content unless it was nearly all dark. It certainly was not a distraction at any time.

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

The AW2725QF is an extremely bright monitor, nearly matching some Mini LED displays. In SDR mode, I recorded almost 500 nits peak which is a lot of headroom for indoor use. The brightness slider is non-linear in operation which means each click changes the light level by a different amount. From 75% and up, the screen gets significantly brighter.

Of the IPS screens, the AW2725QF has the lowest black level and the best contrast by a hair. 1,176.2:1 is better than the IPS average of 1,000:1. Coupled with excellent color saturation, the picture is quite vivid.

After Calibration to 200 nits

Calibration required me to lower the contrast slider a few clicks to solve a clipping issue, so the resulting dynamic range is lower than before. 944.3:1 is OK but not quite at the level of most of today’s IPS monitors. It’s mitigated somewhat by the wide color gamut, so I recommend sticking with Custom Color mode rather than Creator for the most vibrant image.

ANSI contrast falls a bit to 839.8:1. Intra-image contrast suffers a bit because you can’t use the zone dimming for SDR content. It only works in HDR mode. The AW2725QF’s performance in contrast tests is good but with some room for improvement.

Test Takeaway: The AW2725QF has vibrant color but slightly less SDR contrast than the competition. It’s unfortunate that the zone dimming can only be used for HDR. The picture is satisfying though, and I suspect that most buyers will be focused (and properly so) on its substantial gaming prowess.

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The AW2725QF has 12 total picture modes that can create a large number of different looks should the user choose. Standard is the default, and it can be used without calibration. Specific gamuts can be chosen in Creator mode, or you can calibrate grayscale in the Game and Custom Color modes.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

In the AW2725QF’s default Standard picture mode, you can see a slight blue reduction as brightness increases but the errors are only a hair past the visible threshold. One could use the monitor this way and be happy. Depth and contrast are solid thanks to accurate gamma which stays very close to the 2.2 reference line.

After calibration in the Custom Color mode, grayscale tracking is visually perfect with nearly all errors below 1dE. It doesn’t get much better than that. Gamma is unchanged which is also a good thing.

If you need sRGB for color grading work, it has an error-free grayscale, but gamma is a little off the mark. It’s light in the 10% brightness region, then becomes too dark in the upper mid-tones. This makes the image a little flat but sinc,e color is on-spec, it can be used for critical applications.

Comparisons

The AW2725QF’s default grayscale error is 3.48dE which is just at the line between calibrate or not. Since the error is small, it’s forgivable if you don’t want to tweak the Custom Color mode. But if you do, it takes the number to near-reference level.

In the gamma comparison, the AW2725QF places third in both metrics. The range of gamma values is fairly tight relative to the competition and the deviation from 2.2 is only 1.36%, actual value 2.17. This is very good performance.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

The AW2725QF has bold and vibrant color and when referenced to DCI-P3, we see a little bonus red and blue and a slightly under-saturated green primary. This is typical of the wide-gamut LCD/LED monitors I’ve tested. With an average error of 2.56dE, there will be no complaints about accuracy.

Calibration lowers the gamut error to 1.83 which isn’t much, but the difference can be seen. Magenta and cyan are now closer to their hue targets.

The sRGB option in Creator mode is spot-on with a small average error of 1.51dE. That qualifies it for critical work and color grading if you have that need.

Comparisons

None of the monitors here have any visible color errors so the accuracy comparison is essentially a wash. The AW2725QF performs on par with its competition. Where it lacks a bit though is in color volume and that is solely due to the slight green under-saturation I noted earlier. This is squarely in the realm of nit-picking but if you want the largest possible gamut, a Quantum Dot monitor is the way to go. You’ll find that tech in the AW3225QF, EX321UX and FO32U2P OLED screens. They fill out the green primary for extra total volume. The AW2725QF’s sRGB volume is a nearly ideal 98.62%.

Test Takeaway: The AW2725QF doesn’t have quite as much color volume as its competition but it has enough to be called colorful. Accuracy is high whether you calibrate or not and for gaming, it provides a rich and vibrant image. It should be noted that the AW2725QF is significantly less expensive than all but the HP.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.

The AW2725QF has comprehensive HDR support with five modes for HDR10 and three more for Dolby Vision. The latter standard is rarely seen in the computer monitor genre and I’m glad to see it included here. Though it doesn’t have a lot of game support, it is commonly seen from streaming services like Netflix and Disney+.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

The AW2725QF is rated for VESA DisplayHDR 600, and it easily exceeded that figure in testing with a peak white level of 663 nits. This was achieved in the Custom Color HDR mode. Interestingly, I could only hit around 420 nits in the DisplayHDR 600 mode when measuring a 25% window pattern. It’s likely that a smaller window would get over 600 nits. However, when viewing content, Custom Color HDR was clearly brighter with better black levels and contrast. The AW2725QF’s ratio of 11,276.4:1 is excellent when compared to other edge-backlight monitors. You can thank the 24 dimming zones for this.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

Custom Color HDR also has the most accurate grayscale, EOTF and color tracking of the five HDR modes. There are no visible grayscale issues, and the luminance curve stays very close to the reference. The tone-map transition comes a tad early, 65 instead of 70%. But you won’t see this issue in actual content.

In the HDR gamut tests, the AW2725QF is generally over-saturated but in a linear fashion so as not to clip detail. This provides extra impact to HDR content and coupled with the well-engineered dimming feature, delivers an excellent image. The Rec.2020 chart looks respectable with similar over-saturation until the AW2725QF runs out of color. It manages around 90% of red and blue, while green tops out at 65%.

Test Takeaway: The AW2725QF is one of the best edge-backlight HDR monitors I’ve reviewed. It has solid contrast that’s beaten only by OLEDS and some Mini LEDs. The dimming feature works seamlessly to deliver the best possible image with accurate and well saturatewell-saturated600, you won’t find much better.

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With the graphics and display hardware currently available, it’s difficult to buy or build a gaming PC without some compromise. 4K delivers the sharpest picture, but you sacrifice frame rates. You can run at some ridiculous speeds with a 360 or 500 Hz monitor but then you give up resolution. And putting two premium monitors on your desk runs up the bill even more.

Alienware has found a great balance by employing some simple math. 4K has four times the number of pixels as Full HD. That means it can engineer a monitor that runs both resolutions by doubling the refresh rate and halving the pixel count. It is truly two monitors in one.

The AW2725QF truly delivers a lot for $600. You get superior pixel density in 4K, 163ppi for the 27-inch screen. 180 Hz is faster than many 4K displays and coupled with a precise overdrive, a premium system can drive it smoothly and with low input lag. And when you want even more performance, two clicks of the OSD joystick makes a quick and seamless change to FHD and 360 Hz where you’ll enjoy even smoother motion and no perceptible input lag. In the video processing metric, it's a win-win.

The AW2725QF also delivers an excellent image with good SDR contrast and excellent HDR contrast. The 24-zone dimming edge backlight hit over 11,200:1 in my tests which puts it ahead of nearly all edge-backlit screens and within striking distance of many Mini LEDs. To see better, you’ll have to spend a lot more money. I also noted very accurate color with calibration. And even in its out-of-box mode, the picture is very colorful and satisfying.

The Alienware AW2725QF presents an effective and innovative solution to the issue of balance between display and video card. It’s versatile enough to be paired with gaming systems that cover a wide range of costs. And at $600, it’s priced below premium Mini LED and OLED monitors. At this point in time, it has no real competition. Definitely check it out.

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If you're in the market for a new gaming monitor, you should take a close look at this Amazon offer on the Dell S2721QS. This 27-inch gaming display has a dense 4K resolution and usually costs around $299. Today, however, it's available for just $199. So far, no expiration has been specified for the discount, so it's not clear how long it will be available at this price.

We had the opportunity to review the Dell S2721QS a few years ago and were very pleased with our experience, rating it at 4 out of 5 stars. The colors looked great, and the brightness was definitely a winning asset. Our biggest complaint was that it was lacking in HDR support. If you want to see how it stacks up against other gaming monitors on the market, check out our list of the best gaming monitors.

This Dell gaming monitor isn't the biggest on the market, but it's still pretty big, spanning 27 inches. It has a dense, 4K UHD resolution, measuring 3840 x 2160px. The response time can get as low as 4ms, while the refresh rate caps out at 60 Hz.

The Dell S2721QS is AMD FreeSync certified, which ensures dense resolution and low framerate compensation (LFC) support. It covers 99% of the sRGB color gamut and is illuminated by a maximum brightness of 350 Nits.

Visit Amazon's Dell S2721QS product page for more details and purchase options.

Alienware just released a 27-inch 4K display that gives gamers the best of both worlds and has the potential to land on our best gaming monitors list. The AW2725QF has two modes: a native 4K mode with 3840x2160 resolution and a 180Hz panel, and a native FHD mode (1920x1080 resolution) with a 360Hz refresh rate. This allows you to enjoy immersive games with smooth animations, and with a push of a button, you can also gain the upper hand in competitive games with the competitive 360Hz refresh rate.

The Alienware monitor can achieve this kind of refresh rate by combining four pixels into one in the FHD/360Hz mode. But aside from its sharp resolution and ultra-high refresh rate, the AW2725QF also covers 95% of DCI-P3 with a Delta E<2 accuracy straight out of the box for nearly lifelike colors. It also has Dolby Vision and is VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified, making it the ultimate display for both entertainment and creative work.

This display is also Nvidia G-Sync compatible and is certified with VESA AdaptiveSync. This guarantees that you won’t experience tears and stutters while gaming, and its 0.5ms gray-to-gray response time means you’ll have minimal ghosting and blurring that could throw off your aim.

With its dual HDMI 2.1 ports and single DisplayPort 1.4 connector, this dual-resolution gaming monitor can be used with your preferred gaming platform. It also has a single USB-B 3.2 Gen1 upstream port that gives you three USB-A ports and one USB-C port on the display, making it convenient to attach your peripherals.

But despite all these features, Alienware is doing one thing right: the monitor is just $599.99 — a great deal for those looking for a display that will give them everything they need in the professional and gaming worlds.

Pineboards, maker of many hardware on top (HAT) boards for the Raspberry Pi, has shown just how far PCIe support has come in the Raspberry Pi 5. Using one of its newest HATs, Pineboards has succeeded not only in getting an AMD external GPU running on the Raspberry Pi 5, but playing a 3D open-source racing game.

Here’s the setup, which Pineboards says took about an hour to get working. It's using a Raspberry Pi 5 — naturally — with its Hat uPCIty Lite board. The uPCIty Lite allows you to connect any PCIe card to the PCIe bus on the Raspberry Pi 5. It has a single PCIe X4 slot, but the slot is open-ended — this means you can still connect an X16 card to it.

Pineboards connected an AMD Radeon RX 460 GPU (the specific card appears to be made by Gigabyte) to the uPCIty Lite. To power the GPU, it used a 400W be quiet! ATX power supply. 

After applying “some slight driver fixes” provided by Coreforge and a bit of tinkering, our friends at Pineboards were able to play SuperTuxKart, a 3D open-source racer, on the Raspberry Pi 5 with full 4K display support. They posted their success to a thread on X (formerly Twitter).

In November 2023, Jeff Geerling outlined his journey of getting external GPUs working on the Raspberry Pi. Beginning with the Raspberry Pi 4 and Compute Module 4, Geerling discovered some PCIe bus quirks related to memory management.

The Raspberry Pi 5 fixed those bus quirks, but there remained a problem with Linux GPU drivers, assuming they were running on an X86 architecture rather than the Arm-based SoC found on the Pi. With a lot of help, many hours of debugging, and probably a fair bit of banging his head against the desk, Geerling was able to display Wayfarer through an AMD RX 460 and run some of the tests in the glmark2 benchmark tool, but gaming remained out of the question at the time.

As you can see in the video in their X thread, SuperTuxKart runs really well with Pineboards' setup. The community has made many improvements to the Linux kernel drivers for the Raspberry Pi 5, and Pineboards told me “It’s impressive how things have changed in the last few months.”

If you're on the hunt for a new main monitor and centerpiece for your gaming battle-station setup then you probably want something special that has the latest features, plenty of screen real estate, and the performance needed to display your games with the optimal visual acuity. Today's deal should satisfy all of those needs and with a tasty $200 knocked off of the MSRP price of this monitor, it's less strain on the finances.

This is certainly not a budget-oriented monitor, you're looking at a halo product that uses the latest OLED display tech for a gaming monitor. If you pop on over to the Dell Alienware website you can find the Dell Alienware AW3225QF curved 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor for $999, saving $200 off the original $1,199 MSRP price.

With its 4K resolution and ample pixel density on a 32-inch QD-OLED screen, the Alienware AW3225QF is a great piece of kit. The screen also features a 1700R curve for more immersive gaming, a blisteringly fast 240Hz refresh rate, adaptive sync, HDR10, and Dolby Vision.

The input panel of the AW3225QF includes one DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 (one upstream and three down), and a USB-C port. We've had the chance to review the Alienware AW3225QF, and we were impressed with its performance in our benchmark testing. We awarded the monitor 5 stars and gave it an Editor's Choice award, noting how the monitor produced a stunning image with broad contrast and rich color, excellent OLED color volume compared to most other OLEDs we'd tested, and 110% DCI-P3 color gamut.

If you want sharp image quality, 4K resolution is an excellent place to be in 2025. Sure, there are 8K screens and even more modest 6K ones making the rounds these days, but they cost a pretty penny. On the other hand, lower resolutions deliver higher frame rates while using the best graphics cards. However, 3840 x 2160 sits at the head of the table regarding premium viewing experiences for what our eyes can perceive.

For years, the 4K resolution was a luxury not achievable for reasonably priced PC monitors. However, as these high-resolution screens have become more commonplace and the bleeding edge has turned to high refresh rates and full-array local dimming, a relatively large assortment of budget 4K monitors allows you to take the plunge without breaking the bank.

Below are the best budget 4K monitors we've tested. Thankfully, most of these monitors sell for under $400, allowing you to devote funds to other critical gaming components.

The Quick List

Best Budget 4K Monitors You Can Buy Today

Best Budget 4K Computing Monitor

The Samsung UR59C is the best budget 4K monitor, offering a 32-inch VA panel with accuracy and curves. Image quality is superb, with bold, accurate colors and clear text after calibration. When we tested in sRGB mode, we recorded a color error of 4.3dE with visible errors, but our calibration (see our recommended settings on page 1 of the review) got it down to 0.9dE. So your web and games should look as intended. The UR59C also offers fantastic contrast, as expected from a VA panel, hitting an impressive 2,590.5:1 after calibration.

Ultrawide screens typically offer more noticeable curves, but despite its 16:9 aspect ratio, the UR59C's1500R curve is pronounced and beneficial, allowing us to keep more windows in view.

This monitor isn't fit for serious gaming, but casual players can make it work. The UR59C has a 60 Hz refresh rate, 4ms response time, and no FreeSync or G-Sync to fight screen tears. You'd get noticeably better response times and input lag scores from a 75 Hz screen. But games didn't look bad with its high contrast and the pixel density of a 32-inch, 4K screen. So if you're games that aren't graphically intense or at lower settings and you have a speed enough graphics card that can consistently hit 60 frames per second (fps), you can enjoy blur-free gaming on the UR59C.

More: Samsung UR59C review

Best Budget 4K Gaming Monitor

You’ll have to pay a hefty price for a monitor that can push 8.3 million pixels at a 144 Hz refresh rate. The best budget 4K gaming monitor, the Asus TUF Gaming VG289Q, is a slower 60 Hz but fights screen tears with FreeSync. Yes, input lag is significantly larger than what you’ll find on a 144 Hz monitor, as is response time. But this is an excellent option if you’re working with a budget graphics card and want your games to look detailed and realistic. SDR games looked extra colorful on the VG289Q, and dynamic contrast brought subtle visual benefits, like added dimension. However, there are screens on this page with better contrast.

HDR isn’t as fantastic as you’ll find on a monitor with a full-array local dimming (FALD) backlight or an edge array backlight, but shadows and highlights looked more distinct, and we enjoyed the color boost.

For more premium high-res gaming screens, check out our Best 4K Gaming Monitors round-up.

More: Asus TUF Gaming VG289Q review

Best 32-inch Budget 4K Monitor

If the best budget 4K monitor for you is in the 32-inch range, check out the LG 32UN500-W Contrast is a top consideration for image quality, and the 32UN500-W’s VA panel didn’t disappoint in our benchmarks, hitting 2,353.9:1 out of the box. In addition, the 32UN500-W’s native color gamut is DCI-P3, and it covers that color space accurately without any visible errors.

Again, as a budget 4K monitor, the 32UN500-W isn’t winning any HDR prizes. Color lacks the expected pop, and overall the image doesn’t provide a noticeable boost over SDR.

But the 32UN500-W also thoughtfully includes two 5W speakers and even AMD FreeSync to fight screen tears during casual gaming. In general, it delivered popping colors with deep blacks, making it a great fit for your favorite 4K movie and the like.

More: LG 32UN500-W review

Best 27-inch Budget 4K Monitor

If you’re looking for high pixel density for not a lot of money, you’ve come to the right place. Take a gander at the Asus Rog Strix XG27UCS, which is a 27-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) IPS gaming monitor with a speedy 160 Hz refresh rate.

As you would expect from a ROG Strix gaming monitor, the XG27UCS comes packed with features, including a feature-packed OSD (including GamePlus options), FreeSync and G-Sync compatibility, nearly 100 percent coverage of DCI-P3, and HDR10 support — we even managed to hit close to 500 nits of HDR brightness.

We measured near-pro-level accuracy straight out of the box, with a grayscale error of 0.58dE (although it wasn’t quite able to match the segment leader). The color error score was also impressive at 1.06dE.

If there’s one glaring flaw that we could point out with the XG27UCS, it would be with its measured contrast. We measured 900:1 (versus a rated 1,000:1), which is near the bottom of the pack in this segment.

More: Asus Rog Strix XG27UCS Gaming Monitor Review

Best Budget 4K Monitor for Creatives

You should probably opt for a professional monitor if you're doing professional work. Pro monitors are known for offering exceptional accuracy for a premium price. But with monitors continuously improving, we’re at a point where you can find monitors with pro-level accuracy in key areas, like color, just without the pro-level price tag.

The HP U28 is one such screen and the best budget 4K monitor for creatives. Of course, none of the monitors on this page are color slouches, but the U28 stands out with its ability to accurately cover both the sRGB and P3 color spaces with just a switch in the OSD and no calibration. You also get an adjustable stand that allows height and swivel adjustments and the ability to flip into portrait mode, offering plenty of flexibility for creative work.

However, HP’s U28 comes at a cost premium. While not as pricey as professional monitors, the U28 is the most expensive monitor on this list as of this writing.

Still, with a USB-C port letting you charge laptops (or other devices), you may be able to reduce cable clutter, and there are many other ports here too. With that bonus in mind and creative-level accuracy, the U28 is great for feeding your hobby or even career.

More: HP U28 review

Best Budget 4K Monitor With USB-C

The Samsung 27” S80UA is a little more expensive than the other monitors on this page, but you won’t have to worry about image quality. It’s super colorful for a budget screen, covering 95% of DCI-P3, according to our testing, and accurately. You can also opt for sRGB mode, which also offers a low color gamut error of just 2.8dE.

Great for productivity, the S80UA has a great port selection, plus a USB hub. You can add three USB-A ports to your PC by connecting the monitor via USB-C. It can also charge devices via USB-C at up to 100W, so you may be able to ditch your ultraportable laptop’s charger.

You also have DisplayPort and HDMI options, and even a headphone jack. But there are no speakers, and like many budget 4K screens, HDR is a bust. You’re better off watching your HDR movies in the monitor’s SDR modes, but color will still look great. On top of that, the stand is reliable, even in portrait mode, but is a little low, despite height adjustment.

More: Samsung 27-inch S80UA review

Quick Shopping Tips

When looking for the best budget 4K monitor, keep this in mind:

• What size do you need? For a budget monitor, 32 inches is a nice sweet spot, providing ample screen space while still fitting atop a desk. If you don't need to share the screen, consider 28-inch and 27-inch screens. They're common in this price range and generally less expensive.

• Decide the monitor’s main purpose. For gaming, higher refresh rates and Adaptive-Sync (AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync) are priorities, alongside a beefy graphics card. You should have a minimum of a GTX 1070 Ti or RX Vega 64 for medium settings at 4K or, for high or better settings, an RTX-series or Radeon VII. For general productivity or entertainment, look for high contrast for high image quality. Creatives should strive for accuracy. For more, see How to Buy a PC Monitor, plus our Best Gaming Monitors list.

• Errors under 3 Delta E (dE) are generally invisible to the naked eye. A monitor with a 5dE color error, for example, probably has colors that look visibly off. Accuracy is a bigger priority for creative work.

• Do you need HDR? A 4K monitor with the right HDR implementation makes 4K/HDR content look much better than it would on a regular, SDR monitor. While many 4K monitors support HDR, few budget ones deliver it with noticeable impact. If you want a monitor that makes the HDR upgrade worth it, consider increasing your budget or opting for a lower resolution to save money. Read How to Choose the Best HDR Monitor for more.

• Consider ports and other features. Do you need HDMI 2.1 and/or the latest DisplayPort (1.4)? How important are USB Type-A ports to you? Do you want USB-C for charging or a single-cable setup? Speakers and the stand’s ability to tilt, swivel or rise are also considerations.

Finding Discounts on the Best Budget 4K Monitors

Whether you're shopping for one of the screens that made our list of best budget 4K monitors above or something else, you may find savings by checking out our best monitor deals page, along with our lists of Dell coupon codes, Lenovo coupon codes, LG coupon codes, HP coupon codes, Monoprice coupon codes and Newegg promo codes.

A new mini-PC from Miniproca melds a NUC-like device with a flip-up touchscreen. Miniproca claims its 7-inch screen-lidded device is a “revolutionary” mix of high-performance PC and monitor, delivering a versatile All-in-One PC to its Kickstarter backers.

Adding more than a simple status screen to a Mini PC sounds like it could be helpful for some people. However, Miniproca might be pushing its luck by suggesting you can use its new device “anytime, anywhere—from coffee shops to airplane seats.”

We think the 7-inch touch screen may be helpful for browsing or playing mobile-style games at a push. More realistically, you may want to connect this to a large screen and use the tiltable touch display for live feed updates, messaging, status messages, control palettes, etc.

Looking at the specs, we see that the Miniproca device supports up to three additional displays via its DP, HDMI, and USB-C ports. Though we know it is made of an ‘aluminum alloy,’ a device with a screen that will be frequently adjusted (0 to 90 degrees tilt) needs to be durable tested, so pre-orders seem risky.

The AMD CPU of choice is a generation or two behind but still offers a lot of processing power for a small form factor device. We could grumble about the RAM and storage and the lack of expandability, but if this device is priced well, these known limitations won’t be too off-putting.

Super Early Bird pricing for the Miniproca isn’t outlandish, starting at $699, but its purported final retail price of $1,259 for a model in 8GB/512GB configuration seems improbable.

Miniproca’s new Mini-PC seems to have got off to a flying start. The project was launched today with a funding goal of $5,000 within 5 hours, and it has since reached past $33,000 with 33 days to go.

It seems increasingly necessary for mini-PC makers to deliver some exciting twist on the form factor, or news of their latest product may be drowned out among the also-rans. Whether the twist is appealing or practical enough to gain traction is up to consumers. The ‘retail price’ doesn’t help either.

Kickstarter users already seem to have passed judgment on this Miniproca device, which has been very successful since its launch. However, we shall repeat our standard warning about crowdfunders—backing this kind of project isn’t the same as buying a product. You may face lengthy delays, spec changes, and/or even project cancellations and difficulties getting refunds or warranty cover.

As mainstream graphics cards become more powerful, it's not surprising that PC gamers are increasingly interested in 4K monitors. A panel packing 8.3 million pixels (3840 x 2160) makes your favorite games look sharp and realistic. And we can't forget that the added resolution also comes in handy for productivity tasks. However, that 4K resolution requires a graphics card capable of delivering high enough frame rates to make games playable.

In addition to being one of the most popular resolutions among the best gaming monitors, 4K also allows for larger displays while retaining sharpness. Thanks to the abundance of pixels, you can stretch your screen size well past 30 inches without making them so large they are visible.

However, that image quality can often come at a steep price. Anyone looking for a 4K monitor knows they're not cheap. Yes, 4K is about high-res gaming (and other media), but you'll still need solid gaming specs, like a 120 Hz-plus refresh rate, low response time, and your choice of Adaptive-Sync (Nvidia G-Sync or AMD FreeSync, depending on your system's graphics card). And you can't forget the cost of the powerful graphics card you'll need to game properly in 4K. See our Best Gaming Monitors page for lower-resolution recommendations if you're not ready to fully embrace 4K.

Our top overall pick is the Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM, a 27-inch monitor capable of 240 Hz at 4K resolution. However, it's not the only standout 4K monitor available today; let's look at the other contenders for the enviable crown.

The Quick List

Best 4K Gaming Monitors You Can Buy Today

Best 4K Gaming Monitor

The Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM3 ticks all the right boxes out of the gate: it has a 32-inch 4K QD-OLED panel and a comfortably fast 240 Hz refresh rate. It supports both flavors of ActiveSync and ELMB and is even DisplayHDR 500-certified.

Sure, it’s fine to get the basics right, but Asus goes above and beyond with the ROG Swift PG32UCDM3. It supports DisplayPort 2.1a, giving you full compliance with the latest GeForce RTX 50 Series and Radeon RX graphics cards, and our testing showed it covers 107 percent of DCI-P3.

And although most people aren’t pawing at their gaming monitors, the ROG Swift PG32UCDM3 employs what Asus calls a BlackShield. Not only does the BlackShield offer additional scratch protection (perhaps you have a rogue cat), but it also does an even better job of dealing with ambient light and mitigating reflections. It also helps to make blacks really look black.

“While a 330 or 500 Hz OLED is cool, it won’t do much for gaming besides drop input lag by a few milliseconds,” wrote our monitors reviewer, Christian Eberle. “And the PG32UCDM3 managed 18ms in my test, making it one of the quickest 4K screens I’ve reviewed. And if you spring for one in hopes of upgrading your PC after the fact, it has ELMB for smooth operation at 120 Hz.”

The ROG Swift PG32UCDM3 doesn’t come cheap, with a street price of $1,449. However, it is loaded to the gills with features and has the performance to back up its price tag.

More: Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDM3 review

Best OLED 4K Gaming Monitor

When OLED monitors first hit the scene, pricing was exorbitant. However, over the years, pricing has become more reasonable, albeit not low enough to displace mainstream IPS and VA monitors. However, Dell is making a strong play for value in the 4K OLED gaming monitor market with the S3225QC. This 32-inch 4K monitor may not have the fastest response times or refresh rates, but it strikes a strong balance between image quality and color accuracy.

And better yet, the S3225QC carries an MSRP of $699, making it one of the cheaper 4K OLED monitor offerings out there for gamers. The 120 Hz refresh rate might seem quaint compared to some of the 160 Hz or 240 Hz offerings also on this list, but those monitors can cost an additional $200 to $500. Besides, many would love the higher density and rich color afforded by an OLED monitor, but don’t have a graphics card capable of sustained 120+ FPS at 4K resolution.

In its favor, the S3225QC brings full support for Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync technologies, supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and features exceptional color accuracy straight out of the box.

We also found the build quality and ergonomics of the S3225QC to be fantastic. We've always spoken highly of the quality that Dell imparts with its monitors, and the S3225QC is no exception. The 22-pound monitor has a beefy base that firmly supports the display without wobbling. The monitor also adjusts for tilt, swivel, and height without any play between positions.

Another standout feature of the S3225QC is its integrated speaker system. We also think of speakers on a gaming monitor as being an afterthought, but Dell includes five 5-watt speakers on the S3225QC affixed behind a fabric grill.

"The spatial audio feature is a real thing, and I was immediately struck by the expansive sound stage," wrote our Christian Eberle. "Though it works best with content mastered in Dolby Atmos, it had a positive impact on the stereo feed from games and YouTube videos. The bass was so present, it seemed a little overblown at first, but within a few minutes, I realized I was hearing the full spectrum of sound, which is a rarity from a computer monitor."

With its $699 price tag, the S3225QC is an excellent bargain on this list of 4K gaming monitors. If you can make do with the 120 Hz refresh rate, you’ll be more than happy with what this monitor offers.

More: Dell S3225QC 32-inch 4K QD-OLED Monitor Review

Best Premium 4K Gaming Monitor

The Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP is another dual-mode monitor on our list. However, whereas Alienware AW2725QF is smaller and more attractively priced, the PG32UCDP steps up to the larger and more popular 32-inch segment. More importantly, the PG32UCDP opts for an OLED panel, which pays dividends in overall responsiveness and color reproduction.

The PG32UCDP features a 1080p mode allowing the panel to refresh up to 480Hz. However, you can quickly switch to 4K mode, allowing refresh rates up to 240Hz. Of course, you also get AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and we witnessed consistently high frame rates without any motion blur.

As we wrote, the PG32UCDP has a premium aesthetic, which uses a combination of metal and plastic. It's a highly ergonomic design that also comes with the usual assortment of HDMI and DisplayPort connections. You even get USB hookups along with a KVM to support multiple PCs. And, of course, we can't forget the ROG logo which projects onto your desk for some added visual flair.

We found the response and total input lag to be class-competitive with other 240Hz monitors, while its 480Hz performance was unmatched. "History is made here with the PG32UCDP’s 480 Hz scores," we said in our review. "The draw time for a full white field is 2ms, and the total lag is 11ms. These are the fastest results I’ve ever recorded for any monitor over the past 12 years. Granted, the resolution is FHD, but the smoothness here is incredible."

The PG32UCDP knocks it out of the park on so many levels, but be prepared to pay for that luxury. It currently has a street price of around $1,200.

Read: Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP Monitor Review

Best 4K Gaming Monitor Value

With the monitor industry quickly transitioning to OLED panels that offer ultra-fast response, excellent contrast, and vibrant colors, it’s often easy to lose sight of more value-conscious offerings that appeal to a larger audience.

Such is the case with the Asus ROG Strix XG27UCS, which features an IPS panel and a 4K resolution. While many 4K OLED monitors can cost upwards of $800, the XG27UCS carries a sub-$500 street price.

It's impossible to be all things to all people, but the XG27UCS comes close to hitting that mark. The XG27UCS is a 27-inch monitor, meaning that it should be small enough not to overpower smaller desks. It also features a 4K resolution, providing a dense 163 pixels per inch, compared to the 138 ppi found on 32-inch 4K panels.

With its lower price point, you can’t expect to bounce up against the 240 Hz refresh rate limit. Instead, the XG27UCS is limited to 160 Hz. But you do get excellent color accuracy without additional calibration and very sharp image quality, thanks to the high pixel density. Asus has also managed to incorporate a backlight strobe that can be enabled simultaneously with Adaptive-Sync (AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync are supported).

To reach the lower price point, you won’t find superfluous details like RGB lighting or outrageous design elements. On a more functional level, there are no speakers or USB ports, which may be something you would want in a gaming monitor.

The XG27UCS was among the best in its class in terms of response time, at 6 ms. Although 6 ms should be sufficient to quell most motion blur, the monitor also employs a comprehensive overdrive to not only tackle blur but also any stray artifacts.

Given a street price of around $470, the XG27UCS represents a remarkable bargain for gamers who don’t want to drop a few hundred bucks more on an OLED panel.

More: Asus ROG Strix XG27UCS Gaming Monitor Review

Best 4K Gaming Monitor for Consoles

For hardcore console gamers who want to have the best display performance available, there are plenty of options available. However, one that really stands out from the crowd is the Alienware AW3225QF, which is a 32-inch monitor with a 4K resolution, 240 Hz refresh rate, and a brilliant QD-OLED panel. If you own an Xbox Series S/X or PlayStation 5 console, it doesn’t get much better than this.

The monitor supports Dolby Vision on the Xbox Series X and ranks near the top of its class in most categories. Throw in excellent motion resolution and low input lag, and the Alienware AW3225QF is a boon not only to console gamers but also to those of us who prefer PC gaming.

Although you can't make full use of the 240 Hz refresh on today's Xbox and PlayStation consoles, PC gamers are in luck. "The AW3225QF has Display Stream Compression for its DisplayPort 1.4 input and in my tests, I could sustain 240fps in 4K at Doom Eternal’s max detail setting," wrote our Christian Eberle. "The difference in motion resolution between this and 120fps is visibly significant. The higher frame rate also affords lower input lag. The AW3225QF manages that feat as well."

$1,200 is not a small sum by any means for a gaming mointor, but the Alienware AW3225QF is well worth the price of entry.

Read: Alienware AW3225QF Review

Best Monitor for Gaming and TV

Samsung has a long history of delivering dual-purpose monitors that are equally adept at TV duties as they are at gaming. The latest entry in that lineage is the M9 M90SF Smart Monitor.

The M9 M90SF definitely has the gaming credentials, as this is a 32-inch monitor with a 4K resolution (3840 x 2160), a brilliant QD-OLED panel, and a 165 Hz refresh rate. You'll also find support for AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync up to that maximum refresh rate. In addition, the M9 M90SF has a typical brightness of 250 nits, but can boost to 450 nits with HDR content. You'll find a variety of video inputs, including one DisplayPort 1.4, one HDMI 2.1, and one USB-C.

In our testing, the M9 M90SF showed mid-pack performance with a 6 ms response time (full black to white), and an input lag of 26 ms. This is a strong performance for a 165 Hz monitor, and was only bested by 4K monitors with a 240 Hz refresh rate.

But there's more: the M9 M90SF also functions as a full-featured streaming TV platform, including Samsung TV Plus (with free, ad-supported content) and your favorite streaming apps (Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, YouTube, YouTube TV, Prime Video, etc.). There are also two 5-watt speakers onboard for blasting audio from your media content.

"Though the M9 has just two internal speakers, they play a wider range of frequencies than typical monitor speakers and with a wider sound stage. There isn’t a ton of bass, but there is clarity and balance," wrote our Christian Eberle. "The dialogue in TV shows like Severance was easy to understand and put just forward enough in the mix that I had no need to adjust the volume more than once."

The M9 M90SF is loaded with features and is a perfect all-in-one tool for gamers who want it all in a single monitor. However, you'll pay for that luxury with an MSRP of $1,599.

More: M9 M90SF 4K Gaming Monitor Review

Other 4K Gaming Monitors We've Tested

Not every gaming monitor we tested made our best list, but here are a few we've recently tested that are still worth a second look.

*️⃣ Acer Predator XB273K V5
The Acer Predator XB273K V5 measures 27 inches across and offers dual-mode functionality: it can run 4K resolution at 160 Hz or 1080p resolution at 320 Hz. This gives gamers the ability to pick and choose when they want to run at a crisper resolution or crank the frame rate in less demanding games. With a price tag under $400, this IPS monitor offers tremendous value for discerning gamers.

Read: Acer Predator XB273K V5 Review

*️⃣ Asus ROG Strix XG32UCWMG
The Asus ROG Strix XG32UCWMG puts its 32-inch 4K QD-OLED panel front and center, and it's a real gem. You get a glossy screen coating that helps to produce even better colors and clarity (at the expense of more reflections) and offers accurate color from the factory. The monitor can also reach 480 Hz, provided you're willing to drop to 1080p.

Read: Asus ROG Strix XG32UCWMG Review

*️⃣ BenQ DesignVue PD3226G
BenQ is a well-established brand in the monitor space, consistently delivering exceptional value. That's definitely the case with the DesignVue PD3226G, a 32-inch 4K gaming monitor featuring a 144 Hz refresh rate and an IPS panel. Not only does it score top marks with its video processing and low input lag, but we also measured a maximum brightness of 458 nits in SDR mode.

Read: BenQ DesignVue PD3226G Review

Quick Shopping Tips

When seeking the best 4K gaming monitor for you, consider the following:

• 4K gaming requires a high-end graphics card. If you're not using a GeForce RTX 4090 or Radeon RX 7900 XTX, you'll want at least a GeForce RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 6900 XT to game at high-quality settings. Visit our Graphics Card Buying Guide for help.
  
• G-Sync or FreeSync? A monitor's G-Sync feature will only work with PCs using an Nvidia graphics card, and FreeSync will only run with PCs carrying an AMD card. You can technically run G-Sync on a monitor that's only FreeSync-certified, but performance may vary. We've seen negligible differences in mainstream gaming capabilities for fighting screen tearing between the two. Our Nvidia G-Sync vs. AMD FreeSync article offers an in-depth performance comparison.
  
• 4K and HDR go hand-in-hand. 4K displays often support HDR content for extra bright and colorful images. But for Adaptive-Sync optimized for HDR media, you'll want a G-Sync Ultimate or FreeSync Premium Pro (formerly FreeSync 2 HDR) monitor. For a noticeable upgrade from an SDR monitor, opt for at least 600 nits brightness. You can learn more from our glossary page on HDR and our buying guide for picking the best HDR monitor.

For more guidance picking a monitor of any resolution--gaming or otherwise--check out our PC Monitor Buying Guide and list of the Best Computer Monitors.

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One of the best gaming monitors available, the Alienware AW3225QF packs some serious specs, and with its impressive list of features, it's easy to see why this gaming monitor would be a welcomed addition to any PC gaming setup. With a 4K resolution and ample pixel density on its 32-inch QD-OLED screen, the Alienware AW3225QF is a great piece of kit, but it does come with a fairly hefty price tag.

With a limited-time money-off offer that takes some of the sting out of the hefty price tag of this premium gaming monitor, you can pick up the Dell Alienware AW3225QF curved 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor from Dell's website for $1,099, saving $100 off the $1,199 MSRP price. 

We've had the chance to review the Alienware AW3225QF and were so impressed with its performance in our benchmark testing that we awarded the monitor 5 stars and gave it our coveted Editor's Choice award.  We noted how the monitor produced a stunning image with broad contrast and rich color and how the OLED panel had a greater color volume than most other OLEDs we'd tested, covering around 110% of DCI-P3.

With its 1700R curve for more immersive gaming, Adaptive-Sync, HDR10, and Dolby Vision, the AW3225QF has extra features beyond the impressive screen. Excellent build quality, and that world-leading 240 Hz 4K QD-OLED display help to justify the price a little compared to just buying a large OLED TV, plus the extra connectivity a PC monitor offers. 

The input panel of the AW3225QF includes one DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 (one upstream and three down), and a USB-C port.

I’ve been reviewing a lot of OLED monitors lately, mainly of the 27-inch QHD 240 Hz variety. They provide astounding performance and a stunning image, but I know many buyers want 4K resolution. That means fewer choices, but some of the best 4K gaming monitors are out there, mostly running at 144 to 160 Hz. When you run below 200 fps, there is some motion blur, and those extra pixels won’t help, even if you have a stout video card capable of driving 8.3 mega-pixels at 144 fps.

Now that you’ve been warned, prepare for 4K at 240 Hz. There are few choices here, but if you have the system to run 4K at 240fps, you can have a truly wonderful gaming experience. Recently, I checked out the Alienware AW3225QF, and now I have Aorus’ FO32U2P, part of Gigabyte’s premium line of gaming hardware. Let’s take a look.

Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P Specs

An OLED panel running at 240 Hz is where it’s at for the smoothest possible motion processing and low input lag. QHD has plenty of pixel density in the 27-inch size, 109ppi, but 4K has more. The FO32U2P is a 32-inch flat 16:9 QD-OLED panel with 144 ppi.

A Quantum Dot layer gives the FO32U2P a huge color gamut. Gigabyte claims 99% coverage of DCI-P3, but I measured almost 108%. This is a lot of color and it’s easy to see the difference between it and more typical wide-gamut screens that cover around 90%. Surprisingly, it doesn’t have the largest gamut I’ve measured, more on that later, but it’s up with the very best.

Color accuracy is assured by an individual factory calibration with a data sheet included in the box. My sample met its data points and can indeed be used without adjustment. I found a small gamma issue, which I’ll detail in the test notes, but the FO32U2P has no problem keeping up with its competition.

In the brightness department, it has typical performance with 265 nits peak white for SDR and 457 nits in HDR mode. It won’t hit the searing 1,500-nit highlights of a Mini LED monitor, but among OLEDs, it is no brighter or dimmer than average. Of course, it has the same infinite blacks as the competition, so contrast is better than any LCD.

With 240 Hz available, video processing is superb. OLED extracts smoother motion from a given refresh rate than LCD, so you don’t need super high speeds to achieve perfect motion resolution. The FO32U2P’s 4K resolution means you’ll need a top-of-the-line video card to crack 200fps, which is the point where blur is absent. Adaptive-Sync is supported here for both FreeSync and G-Sync platforms. The FO32U2P has not been certified by Nvidia, but I have had no issues running G-Sync at any time.

Physically, the FO32U2P stands out thanks to elegant styling. It follows the format of a thin panel with a component bulge in the back. The panel part is just four millimeters thick with a metal backing. The bulge is relatively slim and is set off with LED lighting and a sculpted geometric shape. The stand is premium as well.

The feature list includes everything in Gigabyte’s stable, meaning plenty of play aids like aiming points, sniper mode, night vision, and timers. You get an on-screen dashboard to monitor nine parameters in real time. The OSD includes an extensive set of OLED care features to prevent burn-in. Nothing is left out here, and the price of $1,200 reflects that. While not a value option, the FO32U2P delivers a lot of goodness for the money.

Assembly and Accessories

The FO32U2P ships in a clamshell box that opens to reveal blocks of crumbly foam protecting the contents. The base and upright assemble with a captive bolt and the panel snaps on. The screen is protected by thick film, so shipping damage is highly unlikely. The external power supply includes cords for three different countries’ electrical standards. For video, you get HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C cables. Peripherals are supported by a USB-A/B cable.

Product 360

The FO32U2P has a minimalistic look in front, with just a small Aorus logo on the bottom bezel. The rest of the frame is flush and quite narrow. When the image is visible, the border is barely noticeable. There are no controls on the front and the power LED is very small and doesn’t glow too brightly.

You can see the panel-on-bulge styling from the back and sides I spoke of earlier. This is unique to OLEDs. The panel part is just four millimeters thick, while the bulge extends depth to 2.2 inches, thinner than the average 32-inch monitor. The bulge has a unique-looking LED strip on top with another Aorus logo at its center. Molded-in textures and sculpted lines create a unique blend of elegance and entertainment. The FO32U2P is clearly aimed at gamers but will work in an enterprise setting, too.

The stand is very stout and solid, with a generous 5.1-inch height adjustment. You also get 5/20 degrees tilt, 20 degrees swivel, and a 90-degree portrait mode. Movements are smooth and firm, with no play at all. The cast aluminum base is finished in a matte black crinkle coat and is more than up to the task of keeping the FO32U2P in place. The upright is slender, with a cutout in the middle and a cable management clip at the bottom.

The jack panel is in the usual up-and-under center spot and features two DisplayPort 2.1 inputs, one standard and one mini. It should be noted that the current crop of GeForce RTX 4090 video cards tops out at DP 1.4a. The FO32U2P includes a version switch in the OSD to address this. There is also a DP 1.4 output for daisy chaining, meaning you don’t have to run multiple video cables to your PC. Additional inputs include two HDMI 2.1 and a USB-C, which support DP functions and provide 65 watts of power. USB 3.2 is covered by one upstream and two downstream ports along with KVM options in the OSD. The internal speakers play cleanly with five watts of power, and you get a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 3.5mm microphone input.

OSD Features

The FO32U2P’s OSD is summoned by a press and up-click of the joystick. Two additional buttons flank it and can be programmed for a variety of different functions for quick access. The joystick directionals take you straight to inputs, volume and picture mode selection.

The first menu is Gaming but since nearly all the play aids are in a separate Game Assist section, the only things here are an Adaptive-Sync toggle, black equalizer to enhance shadow detail, super resolution edge enhancement and aspect ratio options.

The fun starts in the Picture menu where you get 10 image modes. The default is Eco, but I recommend using Standard or Custom since it is brightness limited. The latter includes calibration controls like gamma presets, color temps, color management and gamut selection. I recommend leaving that last one on Native. The other options gray out key image controls. The downside is that you’ll be using the full native gamut which covers 107% of DCI-P3 for all content. But there is an accurate sRGB picture mode if you want the smaller color space.

The KVM feature gets its own menu with easy setup through a wizard. It lets you bind a single set of peripherals to multiple systems. The FO32U2P has extensive PIP and PBP options that let you view two video sources at once.

The LED lighting is found across the top of the component bulge in the back and features three different effects. The first one reminded me of the Cylons from the original Battlestar Galactica with its back-and-forth light pulses that cycle through the full color spectrum. If the lights distract, you can turn them off.

The FO32U2P has a huge list of OLED care options to prevent burn-in. You can run a pixel clean procedure, recommended every four hours, that wipes the screen to equalize pixel usage. It’s best to run when you’re not using the monitor. The significant option here is APL Stabilize. This is a form of variable brightness with three levels of intensity. On Low, there is no change in brightness for dark or light content. I verified this in testing. It is the best way to use the FO32U2P because the image remains stable. The two higher settings change brightness globally and you’ll see some shift during gameplay.

Game Assist

Pressing the joystick and clicking right brings up the Game Assist menu. This menu is unique to Gigabyte monitors and has a huge array of features to aid gameplay. You can put a data window at the top of the screen that runs countdown and elapsed time, plus a frame rate indicator. Visual aids include aiming points, four different sniper mode magnifications, and night vision.

The Dashboard is activated with a USB connection and Gigabyte’s OSD Sidekick app. Once installed, you can monitor CPU and GPU parameters in real-time through an on-screen window. It’s fairly large and will cover about 10% of the screen in a corner of your choosing. It can be shrunk by turning off some of the nine available info fields.

Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P Calibration Settings

The FO32U2P comes out of the box in Eco mode. It’s color accurate, but brightness is limited, peaking at around 150 nits. You can use either Standard or Custom to unlock the full luminance range. Both can be calibrated, so I went for Custom. The Normal color temp hits the 6500K white point, but I found a small improvement with the User Define option and its RGB controls which are precise. The gamma presets are accurately labeled but tracking showed some too-bright values in the middle and upper steps. I’ll show you those results on page four. If you want sRGB color, choose that picture mode. The Color Space option should be left on Native. The Adobe and Display P3 choices gray out all other picture controls. My SDR settings are below should you wish to try them.

In HDR mode, you get five new presets. HDR is the default and best choice. Three of them include luminance and color adjustments to help tailor the image to your liking. This is rare among HDR monitors. Most offer no options for HDR image control.

 Gaming and Hands-on

Fortunately, I have a GeForce RTX 4090-based PC to test gaming monitors. The FO32U2P, with its 4K resolution and 240 Hz, used every ounce of that card’s capabilities. I could feel waves of heat blowing from the tower PC as I played. But the benefit was well worth it. Nothing is as sharp as 4K and motion resolution was off-the-chain good, as in perfect. Moving objects and backgrounds retained every scrap of detail. G-Sync worked perfectly, though you’d unlikely see a frame tear at speeds over 200 fps. I never dropped below 230 fps during my gaming sessions!

The FO32U2P offers multiple HDR modes, and I experimented a bit with it. Doom Eternal offers extensive in-game adjustments, so I tweaked them in the default HDR mode but could never find the right balance of settings. I tried HDR Vivid, which adds monitor settings to the mix and achieved the image I was looking for. It has multiple luminance sliders and a color enhancer too. All of these came into play. I could make highlights brighter and more detailed while retaining clear and deep blacks and supremely saturated color. The FO32U2P’s extra HDR adjustments are a very powerful feature that you won’t find anywhere else.

Since the FO32U2P is flat and 16:9, it is perfectly suited for work. You won’t sacrifice anything by using it for productivity. Its size is perfect for multi-tasking but not so big that you can’t focus on what you need to. TV-sized monitors are great for gaming but are too big for Word and Excel. The FO32U2P is an ideal balance between work and play.

The image is stunning in SDR and HDR modes. Though I noted light gamma in testing, this doesn’t detract from the image. When comparing the FO32U2P next to an Alienware AW3225QF, it had slightly less impact. But viewed alone, there was no perception that it was anything but gorgeous to look at. I’m spoiled by OLEDs and if you buy one, you will be too.

Physically, the FO32U2P has no negatives. The stand is superb, build quality is high-end, and controls are easy and intuitive. The light show is cool, with its effects playing on my back wall. The OSD was easy to navigate. When I saw that you could make the OSD jumbo-sized, I thought I might find a remote in the box, but there was none. 32 inches is on the edge for viewing distance, so a remote isn’t really needed. But it would be nice to have when watching movies where I would sit back a bit more.

Takeaway: The FO32U2P is a gorgeous monitor even when turned off. With elegant styling and a stunning OLED picture, I would happily use it for work and play. It has decent audio and is a pleasure to game on with its blur-free motion and quick response. The additional HDR adjustments make it a breeze to tweak to your liking. There is nothing it can’t do well.

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I’ve tested plenty of 240 Hz OLEDs, but aside from the FO32U2P and Alienware’s AW3225QF, they have all been QHD monitors. Since this review is about 4K, I’ve rounded up two other OLEDs, Asus’ PG42UQ and Philips’ 42M2N89; and two Mini LEDs, AOC’s PD32M and Acer’s X32.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

If you want a speedy monitor, 240 Hz provides. The FO32U2P matches performance with the AW3225QF in the screen draw test but is a bit behind in the lag test with 25 versus 22 milliseconds. Highly skilled gamers might notice this difference, but most of us will not. The Aorus is plenty fast, and its motion processing is second to none. There is no blur or hesitation of any kind. Notice that the slower screens lag only in draw time. The overall lag winner is the Acer X32, with just 21ms total. While it is very responsive to control inputs, it shows some motion blur in fast sequences.

Test Takeaway: For the highest possible motion resolution, nothing can touch a 240 Hz OLED. The FO32U2P shows no motion blur whatsoever, and its control lag is low enough to be imperceptible to all but the most advanced players. It is 100% competition-ready and will deliver amazing game performance if you have enough video card juice to keep frame rates above 200fps in 4K resolution.

Viewing Angles

I have noted very subtle color and brightness shifts on other Quantum Dot OLED panels and the FO32U2P appears to exhibit the same behavior. This is due to the slightly higher degree of polarization caused by that extra layer. There is a tad more green visible, but the luminance and gamma are unchanged on the horizontal plane. The top view retains gamma well but dims about 10% and shifts towards red.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

All the OLEDs I’ve tested have excellent screen uniformity. I measure a dark gray field because black is too dark for the meter to detect. The FO32U2P’s result is well below the 10% visible threshold with a 6.44% score. The Alienware is one of the most uniform screens I’ve tested, but to the naked eye, it is no better than the Aorus.

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

The FO32U2P isn’t super bright in SDR mode but with 265 nits peak, there is more than enough light output for indoor environments. My office gets plenty of Florida sunshine and I still had to turn down the brightness slider once testing was complete to achieve comfort. Yes, the Asus is brighter, but you won’t last long running it at 356 nits before fatigue sets in. The same is true of the Mini LED monitors, they are much brighter than is practical for standard work or gameplay use.

As is typical for OLEDs, the FO32U2P has unmeasurable black levels, so contrast can’t be determined.

After Calibration to 200 nits

Since variable brightness was not in play, I set the FO32U2P to 200 nits using a full field pattern. This is to maintain a level playing field with other monitors. Once testing was complete, I lowered the brightness to a more comfortable level. Contrast is still unmeasurable for the OLED screens. The Mini LED monitors were tested with their local dimming turned off, so the numbers reflect their native IPS contrast.

The Philips OLED is the one exception I have encountered. For some reason, it does not fully shut down its pixel matrix when a black pattern is displayed. Though this black level is very low, it is measurable, hence the 27,726.9:1 contrast ratio. That is still far above anything LCD is capable of, but it is slightly less impressive than other OLEDs.

The ANSI test shows the same behavior from all monitors. The FO32U2P can’t be measured, and the IPS screens are at 1,000-1,100:1. The Philips manages 45,170:1, which is excellent, just not as good as other OLEDs.

Test Takeaway: I can’t say it enough: if you want the best contrast and the most impactful image possible, buy an OLED. The FO32U2P delivers typical OLED quality in the contrast tests. Even the Philips will look better than any Mini LED monitor. At this point in time, no display technology has more dynamic range than OLED. And what could be more than infinite?

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Many OLEDs like the FO32U2P come with factory calibrations. This is appropriate given their premium status and high price tags.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

The FO32U2P gets off to a good start with visually perfect grayscale tracking. No steps exceed 2dE, which is as good as the very best professional screens I’ve tested. It has some weaknesses in the gamma department, though. The values increase over reference as brightness increases. This means highlight areas will be too bright and some detail will be less sharp. I didn’t observe any crushing in actual content, but the picture was slightly less impactful than the Alienware AW3225QF I compared it to.

For ego’s sake, I calibrated the FO32U2P to a very high standard but could not fix the gamma errors. A compromise is possible by selecting the 2.4 gamma preset. This improves clarity in brighter parts of the image, but then some shadow detail is less crisp.

The sRGB picture mode has equally accurate grayscale and similar gamma behavior. It is a bit light across the board, with a dip at 90%, like the result I recorded for Standard and Custom modes. This mode is fine for color-critical work, but gamma tracking has some room for improvement.

Comparisons

The FO32U2P’s grayscale tracking is among the best I’ve measured. With 1.44dE out of the box and 0.43dE after calibration, it doesn’t get much better. However, gamma has room for improvement. The 0.35 range of values and 4.09% deviation (actual value 2.11) put it in last place among these premium displays. While the picture is well in the realm of excellence, the other OLEDs are just a hair better.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

Is there a good side to light gamma? In the FO32U2P’s case, yes. Color gamut tracking shows evenly applied over-saturation throughout. That’s a good thing because it makes the image very colorful without obscuring detail. Reds are particularly vivid while green is just a tad over and blue is spot on. The hue error in magenta is easily fixed with grayscale calibration, though the change from 2.40dE to 2.03dE is nearly invisible. No one will complain about color accuracy, saturation or quality when using the FO32U2P.

The sRGB is right on point as well. There are no calibration options in this mode, only brightness can be adjusted. But it’s completely on the mark and qualified for professional applications.

Comparisons

It’s clear that buying a premium OLED monitor means solid color accuracy, with or without calibration. The FO32U2P’s 2.03dE gamut score is superb, even though it’s a fifth-place finish. All the monitors here are top-of-the-line.

The QD layer takes DCI-P3 coverage past 107%, which is excellent, but the Alienware OLED and the two IPS screens have more color. The X32 is the current gamut volume record holder in my test database of 385 monitors. Can you see this difference? Barely. No one using an FO32U2P will complain about a lack of color. It is extremely vivid. And it is completely qualified for critical applications in the DCI-P3 and sRGB color spaces.

Test Takeaway: While a few monitors have a little more color volume than the FO32U2P, it is right in the running as one of the most colorful screens I’ve tested. Quantum Dots are where it’s at, and Aorus delivers both accuracy and saturation in generous amounts.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.

The FO32U2P supports HDR10 and HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) formats by switching automatically. It offers five total HDR modes, three of which include picture controls. This is a rarity among HDR monitors and is definitely a good thing.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

The FO32U2P’s variable brightness feature works more aggressively in HDR mode. I measured 457 nits from a 25% window with APL Stabilize in the OLED Care menu set to Middle. Oddly, the Low and High options were both less bright. The FO32U2P is rated for VESA DisplayHDR 400, and it meets that spec with room to spare. If you want maximum HDR brightness from your gaming monitor, Mini LED is the best choice, as the AOC and Acer demonstrate with their lofty peaks of 1,650 and 1,150 nits, respectively.

I never thought I’d see an OLED lose a black level or contrast comparison, but the Philips manages this unfortunate feat because it doesn’t shut off black pixels completely. Though its HDR contrast ratio of 20,006.4:1 is high, it is well behind the other screens.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

The FO32U2P default HDR mode is labeled “HDR,” and it is the most accurate option. It grays out image controls, so if you want to make changes, choose one of the other presets. They are all color-accurate, but HDR has the best luminance tracking. Grayscale is without visible error. The EOTF starts a bit below the reference line, and then goes a tad above before reaching the tone-map transition at 65%. This is a minor error that I could not spot in content.

HDR color tracking shows general over-saturation in the manner of most wide-gamut screens. Points are on their hue targets and progress linearly, so there’s no foul here. The FO32U2P’s HDR color is exemplary. It covers a decent portion of Rec.2020 too, so if you watch or play content mastered to that spec, you’ll see almost all the color present in the original material.

Test Takeaway: The FO32U2P has the same stunning HDR as every other OLED I’ve tested. With deep blacks, color accuracy and high saturation, it has impressive impact for games and video. It has the added bonus of HDR picture adjustments which is something you won’t find in most other HDR screens.

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The OLED gaming monitor is filling up nicely with high performance displays that have stunning imagery and video processing that’s next level. None of them can be called “budget,” but you can get a 27-inch QHD 240 Hz screen for less than $1,000. If you’re willing to spend a bit more though, 4K at 240 Hz in the 32-inch size is available. If you pick up a Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P, it’s around $1,200 at this writing.

If you choose a monitor like the FO32U2P, a fast video card is a must. You’ll be missing out if you can’t run at 4K over 200fps. When you do, you’ll find the best possible gaming experience. Aorus provides premium video processing and flawless Adaptive-Sync, and I never found a single reason for complaint during my many gaming sessions.

The FO32U2P’s main attraction is its OLED screen. Not only does it have the same infinite contrast as other OLEDs, but it also has more color volume than almost anything else you can buy, thanks to its Quantum Dot technology. Though I noted light gamma in SDR mode, you won’t notice a problem unless you compare it side by side with something like Alienware’s AW3225QF.

Where it impressed most was in its HDR adjustability. By default, it looks great. But when I dove into the adjustments, I found even more image goodness. With a few OSD tweaks, you can make the HDR image really pop with color, contrast and detail.

There’s no getting around the fact that 4K anything is going to be costly. The monitors and the system needed to drive them to 240 Hz are expensive. But if you can manage it, the Gigabyte Aorus FO32U2P is a great choice. It looks and plays as well as the very best gaming monitors available.

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It's been a year since Apple first announced the Vision Pro, which is powered by visionOS. So it should come as no surprise that Apple announced the logical follow-up today: visionOS 2. 

The biggest news Apple wanted to present with visionOS 2 is an updated version of the Photos app. While the Vision Pro has always supported spatial video and photos captured with a supported device (i.e., an iPhone 15 Pro), you can now "spatialize" your existing 2D photos. This adds a new level of immersion that makes it seem as if your photos jump out of the screen. Canon will release a special spatial lens for its EOS R7 digital camera, which should help increase the amount of spatial multimedia consumed on Vision Pro. 

SharePlay is also now available with the Photos app, meaning that other Vision Pro users can experience your Photos library, complete with their creepy Spatial Persona appearing in the room with you in real time. Apple also announced that spatial videos are now editable with Final Cut Pro and will be viewable with a new dedicated Vimeo app for Vision Pro. 

One significant addition is to the Mac Virtual Display mode. This mode allows you to use your Vision Pro as a virtual monitor for your Mac. Apple says that it will now support higher resolutions, including support for ultrawide resolutions, up to Dual 4K (7680 x 2160)

Travel mode now adds support for trains, which joins existing support for airplanes, and mouse support is coming to the Vision Pro, which can be helpful in the Mac Virtual Display mode.

Since it launched in February, the Vision Pro has only been available in the United States. However, that changes on June 28th, when the headset launches in China, Japan and Singapore. Then, on July 12th, sales will commence in Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Mid-way through Computex 2024, Nvidia has launched several updates for its graphics cards. There's an update for the Nvidia App beta, now boasting 4K 120FPS AV1 capture (on RTX 40-series GPUs) and a game ready 555.99 driver that adds support for Pax Dei and Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.

The new Nvidia App beta update is the first major update Nvidia has announced since the application's debut in February. The most noteworthy feature of the update is the addition of 4K 120FPS capture using AV1 encoding RTX 40 series GPUs. While the feature won't be used by everyone, it will be handy for users who want to record gameplay at 120 FPS while retaining maximum visual fidelity, as well as game streamers who use platforms that accept 120 FPS AV1 streams. Those are both pretty niche groups, but we're sure they'll appreciate the addition.

Nvidia demonstrated AV1's advantages at 4K 120FPS over the older H.264 codec. It also showed a side-by-side comparison of Horizon Forbidden West captured using both codecs at 10Mbps, highlighting the obvious differences in visual fidelity — H.264 really doesn't do that well at 4K with such a low bitrate. AV1 showed significantly fewer artifacts, presenting a much cleaner image that actually looks pleasing despite using a highly constrained 10Mbps bitrate cap.

Nvidia also revealed some of the short-term plans for its Nvidia App. Developers continue to work on implementing all the remaining Nvidia Control Panel options for future updates, including display and video settings, plus additional settings not found in the control panel such as DLSS controls.

Nvidia also confirmed it's working on multi-monitor support for RTX HDR, which has been a highly requested feature by GeForce owners since RTX HDR first debuted. The app is still in beta, however, and Nvidia has not announced a date for when it will fully replace GeForce Experience.

Game ready 555.99 drivers

Driver 555.99 adds game support for three new titles: Pax Dei; Shadow of the Erdtree, a new expansion pack for Elden Ring; and Still Wakes the Deep, from the developer of Dear Esther. Pax Dei is a social sandbox MMO that enters early access on June 18th. The game takes place in a medieval atmosphere, full of myths, ghosts, and magic. You can make your own story and choose how you want to play the game in the game's open-world playground.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree delivers a new story that's separate from the main game. The expansion is set in the Land of Shadow with new enemies, weapons, and equipment to learn to utilize and conquer.

Nvidia also added eight new G-Sync Compatible displays in driver 555.99, featuring a plethora of IPS panels and two new OLED models from Asus and LG. The IPS models are a combination of 27-inch and 24-inch 1080P and 1440P variants boasting 165Hz and 180Hz refresh rates. The two OLED models are Asus' 39-inch PG39WCDM 3440x1440 ultrawide boasting a 240Hz refresh rate, and LG's C4 TV series, coming in sizes of 42, 48, 55, 65, 77, and 83 inches with a max refresh rate of 144Hz.

Several bugs have been squashed with driver 555.99 as well. GeForce Experience no longer flickers or black screens if Instant Replay is enabled, and the FPS overlay in the Nvidia App has stopped showing NA (or no frame rate monitoring capability) in multiple (unnamed) titles. CUDA 12.5 now works with CUDA enabled Docker images, Microsoft New Teams/Outlook no longer artifacts when MFAA is enabled in the control panel. Finally, LG's OLED48C4 and 32GS95UE TV and monitor are now detected as G-Sync Compatible displays in the driver.

Manufacturers have been pushing the limits of monitor refresh rates, with Asus currently leading the pack with its ROG Swift PG248QP 540Hz gaming display. However, TCL CSOT, a subsidiary of appliance manufacturer TCL, recently signaled that the monitor Hertz wars still have a long way to go, after demonstrating a 4K@1000 display panel at Display Week 2024.

What's more impressive is that TCL first deployed the high refresh rate technology at 4K resolution. In contrast, the 540 Hz Asus ROG Swift monitor only has a 1080p display. LG also introduced a dual refresh rate monitor for those who want 4K quality for watching movies and productivity, and 480 Hz for gaming. However, the LG UltraGear monitor only gives you a maximum of 240 Hz when you're at 4K resolution. You need to lower your quality (via a dedicated button) to Full HD if you want to use it at its maximum refresh rate.

Most industry insiders expected 1,000 Hz to first debut at lower resolutions. Blur Busters, the creator of the popular TestUFO motion test, shared the news of TCL CSOT's 4K@1000 display and said, "We had expected 1,000 Hz to arrive, but we didn't expect it to debut at the 4K resolution before 1080p and 1440p…"

Aside from the display's resolution and maximum refresh rate, we don't know much about the display, although Blur Busters says that it's apparent that the TCL CSOT monitor uses LED technology. Nevertheless, OLED displays are poised to catch up with this development, especially as Samsung and LG have released 4K OLED screens with 480 Hz and 360 Hz refresh rates.

These high refresh rate screens showcased at Display Week 2024 show a potential direction for future monitors. While a 60 Hz refresh rate seems sufficient for day-to-day uses, Nvidia begs to differ, especially if you're into competitive gaming. But more than that, TechSpot discovered that faster refresh rates can have a positive impact on productivity.

TechSpot staff Tim Schiesser unintentionally discovered this during their OLED burn-in testing. According to Schiesser, "The 240 Hz refresh rate at 4K is much better than I was expecting for productivity work. Relative to the 144 Hz LCD I was using, the combination of a higher refresh rate and faster response times makes this QD-OLED much nicer to use for everyday tasks. Especially when browsing the web and scrolling through text, the speed and refresh rate combination is noticeable and provides a smoother, clearer experience – so it's not just gaming where you'll benefit from a 240 Hz refresh rate."

You will definitely need a more powerful GPU, the latest HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 2.1a standard connectivity, and the correct cables with no issues to push so many pixels to that monitor — even the powerful RTX 4090 can't hit the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9's 240 Hz limit. So, if the TCL CSOT 4K@1000 display was available today, you likely would not have a device powerful enough to utilize its capabilities.

However, this display isn't built for today's technology. Instead, it's a concept screen designed to showcase TCL CSOT's capabilities, especially as Nvidia is rumored to launch the next-generation RTX 5000 series graphics cards this year. And with some users claiming that high refresh rate displays improve both gaming and productivity, this might be the excuse you need to go ahead and buy that high-end GPU and monitor for your gaming PC and workstation.

The Samsung Odyssey Ark isn't your average everyday gaming monitor. Not only is this thing the size of your average television, but it's also curved to the extreme and features a novel mechanism that allows you to tilt the monitor into a 'cockpit' mode for an interesting way to consume your media, or a change to how you perform your usual workflow. 

The Samsung Odyssey Arc is an imposing monolith of a monitor that at its original $3000 price tag puts a lot of people off by the price alone. Today, Samsung's Second Gen Odyssey Arc falls to $1,799 its lowest-ever price on Amazon and this is for the now-refined second-gen iteration of this monitor with some essential quality-of-life enhancements such as a DisplayPort connection.

With a 1000R curve, a large 55-inch Quantom Mini-LED screen with a 4K resolution, and the ability to rotate vertically into its unique cockpit mode. The Samsung Odyssey Ark surrounds you with its size and curvature to immerse you in whatever game you're playing. To enhance your experience further this screen comes with an impressive sound solution with speakers set in the corners of the monitor and built-in sub-woofers to create an advertised surround sound dome to encapsulate your ears.

This is a big and heavy monitor so it will need ample desk space to install, plus with such a large screen it's always better to sit a little way back from the screen for a better visual experience. Now that the monitor also includes a DisplayPort in its connection lineup, it's much more appropriate for a gaming PC and for hitting that 165Hz refresh rate. 

The second-generation Arc includes an advanced remote control to help navigate the OSD and Samsung gaming hub. You can connect multiple devices into a hub so that you can simultaneously display and control multiple input sources all at once.

A recent attempt to fully map a mere cubic millimeter of a human brain took up 1.4 petabytes of storage just in pictures of the specimen. A collaborative effort between Harvard researchers and Google AI experts took the deepest dive yet into neural mapping with the recent full imaging and mapping of the brain sample, making puzzling discoveries and utilizing incredible technology. We did the back-of-napkin math on what ramping up this experiment to the entire brain would cost, and the scale is impossibly large — 1.6 zettabytes of storage costing $50 billion and spanning 140 acres, making it the largest data center on the planet.

The study is full of mind-numbing stats. To image a human brain, the researchers needed to utilize Google's machine learning tech, shaving estimated years off of the project. Scientists first sliced the sample into 5000 wafers orders of magnitude thinner than human hair. Electron microscope images were taken of each slice, which were recombined to count around 50,000 cells and 150 million synapses, the connection points where neurons meet and interact. To recombine these images and map the fibers and cells accurately, Google's AI imaging tech had to be used, digitally working out the routes of the gray matter. 

The synthesized images revealed many exciting secrets about the brain that were previously totally unknown — some cell clusters grew in mirror images of one another, one neuron was found with 5,000+ connection points to other neurons, and some axons (signal-carrying ends of nerves) had become tightly coiled into yarn ball shapes for totally unknown reasons. These and other discoveries made in the course of research excited their scientists beyond reason. Jeff Lichtman, a Harvard professor said to The Guardian on the project, "We found many things in this dataset that are not in the textbooks. We don’t understand those things, but I can tell you they suggest there’s a chasm between what we already know and what we need to know."

For context on the size of the brain sample and the data collected from it, we need to get into mind-numbingly colossal numbers. The cubic millimeter of brain matter is only one-millionth of the size of an adult human brain, and yet the imaging scans and full map of its intricacies comprises 1.4 petabytes, or 1.4 million gigabytes. If someone were to utilize the Google/Harvard approach to mapping an entire human brain today, the scans would fill up 1.6 zettabytes of storage. 

Taking these logistics further, storing 1.6 zettabytes on the cheapest consumer hard drives (assuming $0.03 per GB) would cost a cool $48 billion, and that's without any redundancy. The $48 billion price tag does not factor in the cost of server hardware to put the drives in, networking, cooling, power, and a roof to put over this prospective data center. The roof in question will also have to be massive; assuming full server racks holding 1.8 PB, the array of racks needed to store the full imaging of a human brain would cover over 140 acres if smushed together as tightly as possible. This footprint alone, without any infrastructure, would make Google the owner of one of the top 10 largest data centers in the world, even approaching (if not reaching) the scale of Microsoft and OpenAI's planned $100 billion AI data center. 

All of this is to say the human brain is an impossibly dense and very smart piece of art, and the act of mapping it would be both impossibly expensive (we didn't even begin to guess how long it would take) and likely foolish. Just because mapping is done does not mean that scientists would know what to do with the maps, as just the one-millionth piece of the brain we have mapped will pose questions for researchers for likely years to come. Thankfully, we apparently don't need to know everything about the brain to start meddling with it; in case you missed it, Elon Musk's Neuralink has begun rolling out to very early adopters. And if you want more on Google's efforts in the AI space, OpenAI is not playing very nice with them today.

Though many factors besides resolution contribute to a premium gaming experience, users still gravitate towards pixel count as a decider when shopping for a monitor. There is no shortage of 4K monitors available and a big reason for that is the advent of inexpensive consoles that play 4K with HDR at 120 Hz. But the real fun happens north of 200 fps. Motion resolution is the key to smooth play and quick response when it comes to the best 4K gaming monitors.

With 8.3 million pixels to move around the screen, most 4K monitors live at 144 Hz, but a few 240 Hz models have come across my desk. Now that OLED panels have ascended to the mainstream, it’s only logical to want a 4K OLED that can run at 240 Hz. Alienware obliges with the AW3225QF. It’s a 32-inch QD-OLED panel with a 1700R curve, 4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision, 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync and a very wide color gamut. Let’s take a look.

Alienware AW3225QF Specs

The AW3225QF is one of two new Alienware offerings that feature a fast-refresh Quantum Dot (QD) OLED panel. The 360 Hz QHD AW2725DF was recently covered here, and it proved to be a level-up display, earning a five-star Editor’s Choice rating thanks to its stellar image and incredible gaming performance.

The AW3225QF is a mere 240 Hz, but with 4K resolution, it has the goods to deliver an incredible image. It has unmeasurable black levels and sports the same broad contrast as any OLED monitor. Thanks to a premium Samsung panel part, it adds significant color gamut volume with a QD layer. According to my tests, this and its 27-inch stablemate cover around 110% of DCI-P3.

HDR10 is supported, and there’s a rarely seen feature here, Dolby Vision. This HDR standard has dynamic metadata which means content will alter its tone mapping to fit the display it’s viewed on. HDR10 has fixed metadata, so it’s left to the monitor to map the difference between the mastered level, usually 1,000 nits, and the actual max output level.

If you’re looking for maximum brightness, OLED won’t deliver the high output of a Mini LED monitor. The AW3225QF tops out at just over 250 nits for SDR and 450 for HDR. While this may sound weak compared to the 1,000-plus nits a Mini LED is capable of, it’s more than enough to deliver a bright and sharp image.

An equally big draw here is the 240 Hz refresh rate. 4K monitors are often seen topping out at 120 or 144 Hz, which is logical given the current state of consoles like the PlayStation 5. But PC gamers with powerful video cards can go much faster. The AW3225QF has Display Stream Compression for its DisplayPort 1.4 input and in my tests, I could sustain 240fps in 4K at Doom Eternal’s max detail setting. The difference in motion resolution between this and 120fps is visibly significant. The higher frame rate also affords lower input lag. The AW3225QF manages that feat as well.

As a premium display, the AW3225QF includes a full suite of gaming aids, aiming points, timers and a frame counter, along with LED lighting in the back with colorful effects behind an Alienware logo and a giant “32” denoting the screen size. There are plenty of USB ports, including USB-C and two HDMI 2.1 inputs. Build quality and styling are in keeping with Alienware’s high standards as well. And the price, while not low, isn’t as dear as you might think, $1,200 at this writing.

Assembly and Accessories

Like all Dell and Alienware displays released in the past few years, the AW3225QF comes in fully recyclable packaging made from molded pulp rather than crumbly polystyrene foam. The three pieces, panel, upright and base, are very well protected. They assemble without tools to create a solid package that exudes quality. Extras in the box included DisplayPort, HDMI, USB, and IEC power cables, along with a snap-on cover for the input pack.

Product 360

If you’ve ever looked at OLED and LCD monitors side by side, you can always tell the OLED by its deep black screen. The AW3225QF accentuates this with a glossy top layer. While optically pure, it won’t reject harsh reflections, so some care is required when setting up. Keep bright lights and sunny windows behind it, and you’ll be fine. The bezel is narrow all around, with flush mounting and a small Alienware logo at the bottom center. The power button glows at the lower right and can be programmed for different colors in the OSD.

In the back, large white surfaces announce styling by contrast with the panel, which sits proud of a component bulge. The black-and-white theme is something you’ll see in most Alienware products, including PCs. It’s a strong brand visual. The LEDs light up behind an Alienware head and a large “32.” They can be controlled in the OSD, and each logo can be a different color if you wish.

The stand is a solid affair with a plastic finish over a metal core. Ergonomics include 4.3 inches of height, 20 degrees swivel and 5/21 degrees tilt. The panel can sit just high enough for a vertical placement which is always my preference for curved monitors. The AW3225QF isn’t extremely curved, 1700R for 16:9 is relatively subtle. But there is enough wrap to enhance gaming realism just a little. And there is no image distortion when working in productivity apps like word processors or spreadsheets.

The input panel is up and under the left side of the AW3225QF and includes one DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, two HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 (one upstream and three down) and a USB-C. The latter is there for peripherals like headphones, since there’s no 3.5mm jack, and BC 1.2 compliant charging.

OSD Features

Reach under the center of the AW3225QF and you’ll find the OSD joystick. Click or press it and you’ll see a quick menu that can take you straight to picture mode or brightness. Press it again to see the full OSD.

The Game menu starts with 12 picture modes, Standard is the default, that cover popular game types. Creator lets you select either DCI-P3 or sRGB color gamuts along with gamma. Custom Color has a two-point white balance control and hue/saturation sliders for all six colors. The AW3225QF is accurate in its Standard mode with no need for calibration. However, in Custom Color, I was able to achieve visible improvement. The sRGB Creator mode is also accurate enough for critical applications.

Game Enhance Mode is where you’ll find timers, a frame rate counter, and display alignment marks. If you can afford two or three AW3225QFs, they can easily line up precisely. If you’re looking for aiming points, they are in the AlienVision menu, which also has night vision and other enhancement windows in its option list.

The lighting on the AW3225QF’s backside and the power button can be configured for each logo. You can use different colors for each element or turn them off.

The HDR modes are in the Display menu, with six possible options. Desktop is the default, but I found a better image using DisplayHDR True Black. It conforms closely to industry standards for grayscale tracking, EOTF and color saturation in both DCI-P3 and Rec.2020 spaces. HDR Peak 1000 gives you more output in small highlight areas. But when I measured 25% window patterns, I saw the same 453 nits. More on that later.

In the PBP/PIP menu there are 13 different ways to display two video sources at once, either as windows in the corners of the screen or in a side-by-side layout. The OSD joystick can be programmed for quick access to different monitor functions. This is especially handy if you want to use the AlienVision enhancements. You can turn them on and off with just a couple of clicks.

Finally, in the Others menu, there are two panel maintenance features, Pixel Refresh and Panel Refresh. Pixel refresh is an orbiter that shifts the image while you’re working or playing. You won’t see it in operation. Panel Refresh runs a routine to equalize pixel usage while the AW3225QF is in standby. A panel health indicator in the status menu lets you know when it’s time to refresh.

Alienware AW3225QF Calibration Settings

In the AW3225QF’s Standard mode, you don’t need to calibrate, and all content will be shown using the full native gamut, which covers almost 110% of DCI-P3. Few users will complain about such a colorful image but if you’d rather use sRGB for SDR content, the Creator mode has selectable gamuts that are very accurate. To get the best possible image, I went to Custom Color and adjusted the RGB gain sliders for a visually perfect picture. My SDR settings are below.

In HDR mode, DisplayHDR True Black is the best choice. HDR Peak 1000 is a tiny bit brighter in specific highlight areas of the image, but it crushes black detail and has somewhat flat-looking mid-tones.

Gaming and Hands-on

Right off the bat, I wondered what I could do with the AW3225QF’s Dolby Vision support. Only a handful of computer monitors can do it and unfortunately, only a handful of PC games have it. On the console side, you’ll need an Xbox One. For my tests, I plugged an Apple TV 4K to stream content from Netflix. Some of the best examples are shows like Formula 1, Drive to Survive and Locke and Key. Watching in Dolby Vision up close was nearly a cinematic experience. Without built-in speakers to provide the sound, I donned a pair of AirPods Max and enjoyed the Dolby Atmos spatial audio.

In fairness, I am a home theater buff, and usually, I watch movies in a dedicated room with a projector and surround sound. The idea of a personal theater is highly appealing and the AW3225QF is an ideal display for this. I sat three feet back and was nearly as immersed as I am in a cinema environment. The combination of OLED magic, Dolby Vision, a large slightly curved screen and premium audio provided something that was instantly addictive.

The AW3225QF offers three Dolby Vision modes, Bright, Dark and Game. Bright worked well in my well-lit office, while Dark was best, well, in the dark. Game was similar to Bright, but I noticed a bit of edge enhancement and crushed highlight detail. The monitor switched between SDR and Dolby Vision automatically and quickly. It also switched seamlessly to HDR10 mode for Amazon content like Making the Cut and The Grand Tour. With its dynamic tone mapping, Dolby Vision was the clear winner, but HDR10 looked pretty awesome too.

On to gaming, the AW3225QF excels there as well. It is one of the very best gaming monitors I have experienced to date. Not only is image quality unparalleled, but it also responds as if I were a Force-wielder. Low input lag and movement completely free of blur or hesitation, contributed to gameplay that I have not found in any LCD panel. My GeForce RTX 4090-based PC had no trouble keeping frame rates at or near 240 fps. At no time did I see it drop below 230. Coupled with the 139ppi pixel density, infinite contrast and vivid color, the virtual environment was as real as its creators could make it.

Back in the real world, I spent some time writing and editing graphics and found the AW3225QF perfectly suited for it. The curve is almost unnoticeable in productivity applications and there is no hint of image distortion. In terms of feel and perception, it is no different than a flat monitor. The broad contrast made everything look sharper, down to the smallest type or detail.

I noted that a firmware update was required, dated March 18, 2024. This adds an option to turn off Dolby Vision, which locks itself on once it is engaged. You can download it from Dell here.

Takeaway: I found no issues to complain about when working or playing on the AW3225QF. It served only to strengthen my position that OLED is the best video display technology that currently exists, and this monitor is a standout example. Gaming is more realistic, more responsive and more addictive. Productivity is made easier with the stunning image and its rich color. It’s hard to imagine how it could get much better.

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To compare the AW3225QF’s performance, I rounded up an all-OLED group from my testing data. We have Alienware’s AW2725DF, Samsung’s OLED G8, Asus’ PG49WCD and Philips’ 42M2N89 and 34M2C8600.

Pixel Response and Input Lag

Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

Test Takeaway: If OLED is considered the king of gaming monitor tech, then the Alienware AW3225QF and AW2725DF are the kings of kings. Nothing is as smooth or responsive in my experience, and that includes LCDs running at 360, 500 and 540 Hz. The only caveat is that the AW3225QF’s 4K resolution will demand more from your gaming system. You’ll need a premium video board to see its full capabilities

In my experience to date, the two Alienware screens are the fastest OLEDs you can buy. Though they run at different refresh rates, 240 and 360 Hz, their response times are the same 4ms. As OLEDs, they achieve smoother motion than an LCD that responds in 4ms. And there is no overdrive or strobing in play here, so that you won’t see any artifacts or reduction in light output. Motion resolution is visually identical to static resolution. Alienware also boasts the OLEDs with the lowest input lag at 19 and 22ms, respectively. If you want ultimate performance, the AW2725DF is it with 360fps capability and 19ms of total lag. But the 240 Hz AW3225QF isn’t far behind. Only the most skilled players will perceive a difference. This is phenomenal performance that can’t be replicated by any LCD.

Viewing Angles

Looking over photos of other OLED monitors, they are all superior to the best LCDs, but they aren’t quite perfect. QD-OLED has a slight advantage though in that its color shift at 45 degrees horizontal is very subtle, almost imperceptible. You can see a slight red tint if you’re looking for it. There is no change in brightness or gamma though which makes the AW3225QF very shareable. At 32 inches, it will undoubtedly see more than one user sitting in front of it. The top view retains gamma well and only dims by 10% with a more visible red shift. This is definitely a “gather ‘round” monitor.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.

My AW3225QF sample fared extremely well in the uniformity test. I measure a 10% field pattern for OLEDs because black fields are unmeasurable. 3.42% is well below the threshold of visibility. There are no hotspots anywhere on the screen and all field patterns, in all colors, are perfectly uniform from edge to edge.

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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

The AW3225QF isn’t super bright, but its SDR peak output of 259 nits is enough for the average indoor space. If you have a lot of sunlight coming through a window, you’re better served by a Mini LED screen, but then you’ll give up that OLED contrast. As usual, it’s unmeasurable. Oh wait, there’s an exception here. The Philips 42M2N89 doesn’t completely shut off its pixel array when a black pattern is displayed. This is the only OLED I’ve seen that does this. Its contrast ratio of 27,726.9:1 is still far greater than any LCD, but among OLEDs, it lags.

After Calibration to 200 nits

Setting the AW3225QF to 200 nits proved challenging. There is no option in the OSD to toggle variable brightness. This is a technique employed by OLEDs to maintain high brightness in small highlights without overdriving the panel. The AW3225QF employs this to a subtle degree. I had to shut off the OSD to let brightness settle before taking a measurement. I set 200 nits for testing purposes but in practice, I would lower the slider another 10 clicks or so to prevent eye fatigue.

Black levels are unmeasurable whether the pattern is full field or an ANSI checkerboard. This is why OLEDs look so much better than LCDs. When it comes to dynamic range, there is simply no comparison.

Test Takeaway: The AW3225QF has all the brightness and contrast of the best OLED panels currently available. In this regard, it is no better or worse than the competition, but as you’ll see later, it has a significant advantage in terms of color volume.

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The AW3225QF ships in its Standard picture mode which is accurate enough to be used without calibration. It uses the full native color gamut, which covers 109% of DCI-P3, for all SDR content. If you want sRGB, it is available in the Creator mode.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

Out of the box, the AW3225QF puts up a solid grayscale and gamma chart. There are no visible grayscale errors and gamma is nearly all on the 2.2 reference line. There is a slight hump at 80 and 90%, which represents lower output values, but you’ll have a hard time seeing this in actual content. This is excellent performance.

In Custom Color mode, you get RGB gain and bias sliders that are very precise. I only adjusted the gains to achieve pro-level numbers. Gamma went a tad light with a dip at 90%, but again, this is hard to spot in actual content.

The sRGB option in Creator mode has excellent grayscale tracking, but gamma is a little wonky. The 10% step is too light, making shadow detail more visible but less impactful. The range between 30 and 80% is a tad dark, but that is forgivable given the AW3225QF’s high contrast. You can compensate by turning up the brightness a click or two.

Comparisons

OLEDs in general have solid out-of-box accuracy in my observation. The AW3225QF is a bit behind the pack, but visually, it is the same as the top screens. The Samsung is a definite over-achiever with its 0.50dE default result.

After calibration, the AW3225QF improved to second place at 0.49dE. Obviously, the G8 should be left alone since its error level increased with calibration. But these are very fine and ultimately invisible differences. OLEDs are premium products, and as such, they deliver high accuracy and fidelity.

In the gamma tests, the AW3225QF shows a tight range of values, but the dip at 90%, which I noted earlier, pulls its average further from 2.2. A 2.27% deviation equates to an actual value of 2.15, which is not bad but not as good as the others.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

In the color gamut tests, the AW3225QF leaves no cause for complaint. In Standard mode, you can see that it goes past the triangle perimeter for all colors and is slightly over-saturated overall. Tracking is linear, which results in a very colorful and natural image. The errors are small enough to be invisible. Only slight hue issues remain in cyan and magenta.

My grayscale calibration fixes the secondary colors and leaves saturation points unchanged. The improvement is more measured than visible. No one will complain about an uncalibrated AW3225QF.

The Creator mode offers a spot-on sRGB option with a low error level of 1.79dE. This is professional grade accuracy. You can’t adjust grayscale in this mode but there are gamma presets that work well.

Comparisons

It doesn’t get much better than the AW3225QF’s 1.33dE color score unless you’re a 42M2N89 or an OLED G8. Those differences are visible to the color meter but not to the naked eye. You can choose any of these screens and enjoy excellent performance.

Besides its blinding speed, the AW3225QF’s biggest selling point is its large color gamut. It’s roughly equal to the AW2725DF and a few points shy of the current OLED record holder, Asus’ PG49WCD. With the lowest volume here being 95.26%, you won’t be unhappy with any of these monitors. However, the Quantum Dot technology has a clear advantage. Whether you use DCI-P3 or sRGB, the AW3225QF is qualified for color-critical applications.

Test Takeaway: You won’t find many monitors more colorful than the AW3225QF. Among OLEDs, only the PG49WCD has greater volume. That color is accurate right out of the box and can be made slightly better with calibration. There is nothing to complain about here. It won’t get better until Rec.2020 monitors are available to consumers.

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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.

The AW3225QF supports HDR10 signals with an automatic switch and six additional picture modes. It defaults to Desktop, but I found the best image and accuracy with DisplayHDR True Black option. I didn’t measure the Dolby Vision mode, but I confirmed its correct operation using content and disc-based test patterns.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

OLED panels don’t produce impressive brightness levels for HDR like Mini LED monitors but trust me, they look far better. The AW3225QF is on par with its competition for peak brightness and black levels. For indoor environments, 453 nits peak is more than enough output to create bright and impactful images. As I noted earlier in the SDR tests, the Philips 42M2N89 doesn’t shut off its pixel array completely, so it has a measurable black level. With over 20,000:1 contrast, the difference between it and the others is mostly subtle.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

The AW3225QF’s True Black mode achieves visually perfect grayscale tracking and a decent EOTF curve. Luminance runs a tad dark up to the 45% level, but not enough that detail is obscured. You can compensate in most cases by adjusting the HDR black levels in the game’s menu. This is a minor error. I measured the Peak 1000 mode and found the same peak brightness but more severe crushing of shadow detail. I don’t recommend this mode for gaming.

In the HDR gamut tests, you can see a little over-saturation in general, but because it’s linear, you won’t see any masking of detail in mid-tone areas of the image. Like in SDR mode, the points go past the DCI-P3 triangle perimeter just a bit, but not enough to cause a visible problem. In the 2020 test, the AW3225QF meets or exceeds the targets until it runs out of color at around 90% for red and 80% for green. Blue comes up shy at 95%. This is typical performance for any wide-gamut monitor, but the AW3225QF covers more volume than most.

Test Takeaway: There is no better monitor for HDR content than an OLED. The AW3225QF delivers the same true blacks and high impact as any other OLED but goes a bit further with greater color volume and Dolby Vision support. The extra saturation can be seen in a side-by-side comparison. Given its other positive attributes, it’s hard to say anything other than that it’s the best HDR monitor I’ve yet reviewed.

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In my experience with OLED monitors, I’ve found that they all perform exceptionally well, with only minute differences between them. In other words, I have yet to see a bad one. I would be happy to put any of them on my desk or in a media room for gaming. This bodes well, given that the category is still premium-priced. There are no truly inexpensive OLEDs yet but if you take the plunge, you will absolutely get what you pay for and more. Once you’ve gamed on a fast example like the AW3225QF, you won’t care what it costs.

The Alienware AW3225QF is the second fastest OLED in my test database behind the AW2725DF. Its motion processing is perfect with no blur or hesitation of any kind. Input lag is on par with a 360 Hz monitor even though it runs at 240 Hz. Though all the OLED screens I’ve tested deliver superb gameplay, the AW3225QF is noticeably better.

It also shares the crown with the AW2725DF for image quality. Though its contrast and black levels are the same as any OLED can boast, it has a larger color gamut that covers 109% of DCI-P3. That’s another area where OLED has a general advantage over nearly all LCDs but the two Alienware monitors are more colorful than all the other OLEDs I’ve reviewed except for Asus’ PG49WCD.

It’s a stretch to attach the term value to the AW3225QF, but at $1,200, it really isn’t super expensive. Perhaps it’s a harbinger of the future where OLEDs don’t cost more than LCDs. OK, we’re not there yet, but things are moving in the right direction.

The Alienware AW3225QF is a superb monitor in every respect and receives my highest recommendation. If you have a console or gaming PC itching for the best image quality available, definitely check it out.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test PC Monitors

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MORE: How to Choose the Best HDR Monitor

If you've got the money and more importantly the GPU to run it, then this large OLED gaming monitor deal from Amazon might be the perfect upgrade to your gaming. With an almost 42-inch screen size, sharp 4K display, and accurate color calibration, this monitor is bound to make whatever media you host on it look good.

With 29% knocked off of the full price of this monitor at Amazon - you can pick up the Asus ROG Swift PG42UQ for just $999. It's still a premium-priced product, but it does contain some outstanding features and performs extremely well with near-perfect video processing when we tested it out.

We've reviewed the Asus ROG Swift PG42UQ and awarded this monitor an Editor's Choice award for its outstanding performance and feature set. Out of the box, the color accuracy and calibration are superb covering nearly 94% of DCI-P3, and with its matte anti-glare micro-texture coating, the screen resists reflections, giving you a great picture in well-lit conditions.     

The build quality of the Asus ROG Swift PG42UQ is equally impressive, with a thin frameless front and the thickness of the chassis contained in the rear. This is also where some decent-sounding speakers are housed, giving this monitor alternative options for how you listen to your media. To top it off, the Asus ROG Swift PG42UQ also comes with a remote control for when you want to sit back and enjoy a movie or other streamed content.

Samsung is currently having a "High-Resolution Week" sales event where large discounts can be had on a small range of its high-resolution monitors. The deals on offer mainly include the ViewFinity professional range of monitors, and these deals are available from a range of retailers at the same price. If you're a professional photographer or videographer, today's deal is worth your consideration.

You can grab this discounted Samsung ViewFinity S9 monitor deal from Amazon for $899 (down from its regular price of $1,599). The same offer is also available directly from the Samsung store, as well as B&H Photoand Newegg while the event lasts.

The Samsung ViewFinity S9 is a flat-screen 27-inch monitor with a high-resolution 5K display (5120 x 2880 pixels). It provides a high-density 218 PPI (pixels per inch) picture with a DCI-P3 99% color gamut and 600 nits of brightness to help the picture pop. The monitor also has a matte finish to reduce screen reflection. But that's not all. Also included with the monitor is a slimline 4K webcam, speakers, and a remote control for use with the installed smart apps. 

One of this monitor's standout features is its ability to calibrate your monitor with your smartphone. With the smart calibration app on your phone, you can choose between either the DCI-P3 or sRGB color space and set your preferences, color temperature, luminance, and gamma settings. 

The ViewFinity S9ere has many connectivity ports available: 1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x mini-DisplayPort, and 3x USB-C (3DN). The stand on the S9 lets you view the screen in either landscape or portrait and is height, tilt, and swivel adjustable. Of course, you could also mount it to a wall or monitor arm, as Vesa mounting is also an option.

Following the near-complete PS5 Pro specs list leak earlier this month, leaked info verified by Tom Henderson at Insider Gaming points toward the specific requirements for games to receive "PS5 Pro Enhanced" labeling, codenamed "Trinity Enhanced" internally.

The ideal "Trinity Enhanced" mode is described as using PSSR to upscale resolution to 4K, achieving a constant 60 FPS, and adding or increasing ray tracing effects compared to the stock PS5 version, which may or may not have RT. While specific PS5 titles are built from the ground up for RT, like Spider-Man 2, others skirt RT entirely while still targeting 30-60 FPS, like Final Fantasy XVI — so this seems ideal for those games, in particular.

However, "Trinity Enhanced" requirements seem looser than meeting all three of the above goals at once. Instead, meeting any of the below-listed requirements will give a PS5 Pro game its appropriate Trinity Enhanced/PS5 Pro Enhanced labeling.

Leaked PS5 Pro "Trinity Enhanced" Requirements (any)

• Inclusion of "PS5 Pro Ray-tracing effects"—In other words, some titles' only enhancement on PS5 Pro will be the addition of ray-tracing effects to games that ran at specific performance targets (4K30, etc.) but didn't yet include RT. This also applies to games that already had some RT but disabled or lowered the quality of features like RT reflections on PS5.
• Increased target framerate versus standard PS5—This entails 30 FPS PS5 games going up to 60, 60 to Variable or 120, etc. PS5 has supported VRR since April 2022.
• Increased target resolution for games that run with Dynamic Resolution Scaling on PS5 — Most modern console games utilize some degree of dynamic resolution scaling, especially when targeting 4K resolution or 60 FPS.
• Increased fixed resolution for games that already run at a fixed resolution on PS5—This enhancement entails changing the 1080p lock to 4K lock, etc. It's self-explanatory. Either of these increased target resolutions can also be met using Pro-exclusive PSSR upscaling.

Let's use a specific PS5 game as an example to examine these PS5 Pro Enhanced requirements in more detail.

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition was released on PS5 with various performance modes. As what was originally a PS4 game locked to 60 FPS without RT, one of the basic PlayStation 5/Special Edition enhancements was ray tracing. Ray tracing could be enabled in DMC5:SE while targeting 30 FPS at 4K or 60 FPS at 1080p. However, the game also offered to run at up to 120 FPS/120 Hz without ray-tracing with resolution scaling enabled.

With the four existing performance modes of DMC5:SE on current PS5 hardware targeting either ray tracing or high FPS, it seems evident that a "Trinity Enhanced" patch for the game would allow you to do both. Enabling RT in DMC5:SE's Variable 120 Hz Performance Mode, for example, would seem to fall perfectly in line with the PS5 Pro's established ~4X RT performance boost—though it may not consistently hit 120 FPS.

Widespread speculation from outlets like Digital Foundry points toward actual next-gen titles like Grand Theft Auto VI being unable to run at 60 FPS on the console. However, if the footage of the game we've already seen is running with those ray-traced effects at 30 FPS on existing console hardware— as DMC5:SE is above when targeting 4K— it does seem that PS5 Pro may allow those 30 FPS RT Modes to hit 60. 

On base PS5 and in PC games, real-time ray-tracing is also incredibly CPU-intensive, not simply GPU-intensive. However, console games can be optimized at an SoC level, and it seems as if the PS5 Pro's GPU may be tailor-made to offset those CPU bottlenecks otherwise introduced by real-time ray tracing on the console.

Considering the nature of these "PS5 Pro Enhanced" performance targets and the existing leaked specs, it may be too soon to rule out 60 FPS for PS5 Pro games.

OLED panels are becoming more commonplace in the gaming monitor field, and Gigabyte is flexing its muscle with the debut of three new offerings to expand its lineup. We’ve already discussed the Aorus FO32U2P, but the FO32U2 and the FO27Q3 will also join it. According to product listings on Newegg, all three monitors will go on sale on April 30.

The Aorus FO32U2P is a 32-inch QD-OLED monitor with a 4K resolution and 240 Hz refresh rate. It supports HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity (UHBR 20), VESA ClearMR 13000 and DisplayHDR True Black 400 certifications, along with 99 percent coverage of DCI-P3. Also included are AMD FreeSync Premium Pro support, an integrated KVM switch, and a height-adjustable stand.

The Aorus FO32U2P is shadowed by the Aorus FO32U2, which initially seems like a carbon copy regarding specs. However, upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that the FO32U2 doesn’t support DisplayPort 2.1. Instead, it falls back to the tried-and-true DisplayPort 1.4 standard. As far as we can tell, this is the only spec difference between the two monitors.

The final slice from Gigabyte’s QD-OLED Aorus pie is the Aorus FO27Q3, which has a smaller 27-inch panel. The smaller panel also means that resolution takes a step back, dropping to 2560 x 1440. However, that resolution reduction also allowed Gigabyte to crank the refresh rate to 360 Hz versus 240 Hz for its 4K siblings. VESA ClearMR 13000 and DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification remain, and you still get FreeSync Premium Pro support. A KVM switch is included, and like the FO32U2, it only supports DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1.

Newegg lists the 32-inch Aorus FO32U2P for $1,199 and the FO32U2 at $1,099, respectively. The 27-inch Aorus FO27Q3 retails for $799.99. The monitors are scheduled to ship by April 30.

All three monitors are covered by Gigabyte’s new enhanced three-year warranty covering burn-in. While many manufacturers employ hardware and software mitigations to reduce the occurrence of screen burn-in, offering a lofty warranty is definitely a pro-consumer move. Gigabyte’s new warranty policy now matches coverage provided by rivals Asus and MSI. However, new technology on the horizon could potentially eliminate screen burn-in.

Although almost everything else in the computer component scene seems to have consistently risen in price with minimal discounts now and then, computer monitors have managed to buck the trend and become more accessible. With the constant leap forwards in technology and gimmicks for PC monitors, there's always a new model being pushed in that forces the price of the new standards to fall. This is great news for us tech consumers. 

Having a high-resolution 4K monitor on your desk is more of an option than ever these days as prices have gone from the extreme to the more standard. In this deal, Newegg is offering Acer's V287K bmiipx 28-inch 4K monitor for just $179, which is a superb price for a UHD IPS screen, and it's even got a 60Hz refresh rate and 4ms (Gray to Gray) response time, and support for HDR10.

One of the bonuses of having a high 3840 x 2160 pixel count on a smaller 28-inch screen is a tight pixel density, which will make the images on your computer screen exceptionally sharp. Also, don't be put off by the lower-sounding 60Hz refresh rate. Yes, there are higher ones out in the market, but 60Hz is perfectly fine and even OK for gaming in most cases, so if you're using this screen for gaming, work, or productivity tasks, there isn't a negative to this screen at this deal price. 

The Acer V287K bmiipx comes with 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 port and 2 x HDMI 2.0 ports, plus an audio-out port for connecting up a pair of headphones or speakers if it's more convenient than connecting to the PC. For color, the Acer V287K covers 90% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and has a 300-nit brightness for a vibrant viewing experience.

BenQ has launched a new flagship 4K HDR gaming projector to its X-series. The new BenQ X3100i can project gamescapes up to 150-inches and boasts impressive specs. As well as 4K and HDR support, the 4LED high-brightness projection system is claimed to reproduce 100% of the DCI-P3 color space. Gaming modes, high performance, built-in Google Android TV, and 7.1-channel and Dolby Atmos audio add further appeal to this US$2,399 projector.

As you might expect, Image quality is at the forefront of the projector's design, with HDR tone mapping and SSI Dynamic Black technology. Moreover, a 4LED array delivers “high brightness, vibrant hues, and 100% of the DCI-P3 color space,” according to the projector maker. Specifically, the 4LED system is said to provide 3300 ANSI lumens of brightness.

The tailored gaming abilities of the BenQ X3100i are central to its appeal. It has a selection of game modes users can switch between (RPG, SPG, FPS, and RCG), as well as an Auto mode for consoles. Another of the modes mentioned is BenQ’s version of the popular FPS crosshair, which some find helpful for targeting clarity in shooters.

Another important thing for gamers is that BenQ has put effort into making sure gamers don’t feel that projector gaming is a lower-performance experience than using a modern monitor. Games projected at 1080p can run at 240 Hz and 4 ms low latency. However, cranking up the detail to 4K means 60 Hz max refresh rate and 16 ms latency.

BenQ also highlights its CinematicSound for increasing gaming immersion. It says that its “dedicated Bongiovi DPS enhances audio dynamically to craft a 3D audio realm filled with depth and distance.” Additionally, support for the more well-known 7.1-channel and Dolby Atmos audio standards is provided.

There are a few projector-specific stats to be aware of with the BenQ X3100i. BenQ boasts of its projector’s flexibility with regard to positioning. Its throw ratio of 1.15-1.5 and 1.3x zoom means that it can project a 100-inch screen from just 2.5m (8.2 feet). It also offers a 40%-60% vertical lens shift for installation choice flexibility without sacrificing image quality. It's also quite compact, as 4K projectors go, at 10.7 x 8.4 x 10.2 inches.

The BenQ X3100i has an MSRP of $2,399 and is expected to become available starting next month.

Today at Newegg, you can pick up one of the best 4K gaming monitors, the Gigabyte M28U, at its lowest price to date. This gaming monitor usually goes for around $529, but right now you can get it for $449. Using the included $20 rebate card will take the final price down to $429.

The Gigabyte M28U is AMD FreeSync Premium Pro certified, which guarantees a high refresh rate, dense resolution, and low framerate compensation (LFC) support. It also ensures low latency for HDR and SDR, along with a meticulous color and luminance certification.

The Gigabyte M28U features a 28-inch super speed IPS panel with a 4K UHD resolution that measures up to 3840 x 2160. This gaming monitor has a short response time of 1ms and can reach a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz. It also supports VESA Display HDR400.

It covers 94% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and is illuminated by a brightness of 300 nits. It has two 3W speakers integrated for audio ouput as well as a 3.5mm jack for external audio peripherals. A USB hub is included with three USB ports alongside a DisplayPort input and two HDMI ports for video input.

Visit the Gigabyte M28U gaming monitor product page at Newegg for more details and purchase options. Don’t forget to use the rebate card to redeem the offer.

Capture card manufacturer Magewell has unveiled two new highly-capable 4K capture cards sporting a highly unusual M.2 form factor. The new card's are known as the Eco Capture HDMI 4K Plus M.2 and Eco Capture 12G SDI 4K Plus M.2. As the names suggest, one model is designed to work with HDMI connectors while the other is designed to work with SDI ports, which is a video connector used by the professional video production industry.

M.2 capture cards are not something you often hear about, but the ultra-compact form factor has many advantages. One of the biggest advantages is integration with newer motherboards that sacrifice most of their smaller PCie x8, x4, and x1 slots for M.2 slots. In these cases, having an M.2 capture card instead of a traditional half-height or full-height PCIe card can be really effective, especially if a system is already using the remaining one or two standard PCIe slots for graphics cards, audio cards, and/or ethernet cards.

Another use is with Mini-ITX motherboards which have even fewer PCIe slots than ATX and micro-ATX motherboards. In cases where the primary and only PCIe x16 slot is being used, M.2 is the only way to add additional PCIe devices to the system. Lots of Mini-ITX boards have more than one M.2 slot as well, which will allow users to build a full Mini-ITX system without sacrificing M.2 storage.

With these capture cards, streamers, video enthusiasts, and professionals can re-route all their video encoding and video processing to the capture card. This offloads work from the CPU and GPU, freeing up resources and improving image quality in some cases (depending on how slow or old the CPU or GPU is). Most people will find the built-in encoders found in the best GPUs and best CPUs to be more than adequate. But, a dedicated capture card can still be beneficial for highly-demanding setups that require more processing power than what a built-in CPU/GPU encoder can provide.

The M.2 card's themselves come in a 22 x 80 mm form factor, similar to that of 2280-sized M.2 SSDs. Both cards come with a green PCB and feature a large black cooling solution on top, with a very tiny fan actively cooling the encoding chip underneath. Since the M.2 standard does not feature any external ports, the cards need to be used with a special adapter that connects the card to a full-sized HDMI or SDI connector.

According to Magewell, these two new cards offer double the frame rate of their previous versions, featuring 60FPS playback at resolutions of up to 4096x2160 (ie. 4K resolution). Both cards are compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems and support native video APIs like DirectShow, DirectKS, V4L2, and ALSA. Plus, they also support high-quality upscaling, downscaling, cross-scaling, and color space conversion.

Pricing has not been unveiled just yet, but the Eco Capture HDMI 4K Plus M.2 is reportedly now shipping, and the Eco Capture 12G SDI 4K Plus M.2 will be available in the next two months.

Earlier this year at CES, Samsung pulled the wraps off a stunning 57-inch gaming monitor. The new Odyssey Neo G9 is a towering beast, even eclipsing the stunning, rotating 55-inch Odyssey Ark.

At the time of its announcement, Samsung didn’t reveal pricing or availability for the Odyssey Neo G9. However, the company is now at least giving us the lowdown on when it will hit stores: August 23. The company has revealed the launch date in a teaser video posted to YouTube, but remains mum about pricing.

For some perspective, the Odyssey Ark features a 55-inch Mini-LED panel and a $2,999 MSRP direct from Samsung, but Amazon currently offers it for $2,500. Given its slightly larger size and even loftier specs, we could see the 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 crossing well over the $3,000 threshold.

According to Samsung, the 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 uses a Mini-LED panel (with a native contrast of 1,000,000:1) featuring a Dual UHD resolution (7680 x 2160) and VESA Display HDR 1000 certification. In other words, that’s like having two 4K monitors sitting side-by-side, giving you an effective aspect ratio of 32:9. Given how expansive this monitor is, it’s not surprising that Samsung went with a tight 1000R curve to help wrap the display for a more immersive viewing experience.

As you might expect, given its Dual UHD resolution and a fast 240Hz refresh rate, the monitor supports HDMI 2.1 and is the first monitor on the market to adopt DisplayPort 2.1.

When it announced the 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 in January, Samsung also noted that the screen would adopt its Smart Hub, which provides access to streaming media apps like Netflix, Prime Video, and YouTube. This is hardly surprising, given how massive this monitor is — we expect many will want it to pull double duty as a television. It will also support the Samsung Gaming Hub, with native access to Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now game streaming services.

With the official release of the 57-inch Odyssey Neo G9 less than two weeks away, the only thing left to ponder is how many mortgage payments it will cost.

The RTX 4060 Ti 16GB might be one of the least attractive GPUs due to its $500 price point, but according to a review by Daniel Owen, the GPU is substantially quicker than the $100 cheaper 8GB model in several modern games. In his review, Owen compared the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB to the 8GB model to see how much of a performance difference the extra VRAM capacity would provide. He found the RTX 4060 16GB provides roughly 40% extra performance in several modern 2023 titles at 1080p and 1440p resolutions. At 4K resolution, the additional VRAM is even more beneficial, giving the 16GB card twice the performance of the 8GB model (on average).

It's worth mentioning that the 4060 Ti 16GB's capacity is only advantageous in games that spill over 8GB of memory capacity. Nonetheless, Owen's review found that quite a few 2023 titles will take advantage of more than 8GB of memory.

The tech YouTuber compared the 16GB version of the RTX 4060 Ti to the 8GB version in seven modern AAA 2023 titles, including Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart, Jedi Survivor, Forespoken, Cyberpunk 2077, Resident Evil 4, Remnant 2 and The Last of Us Part 1. Testing was also conducted at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions with various game settings (including RT settings) to see how the GPUs behave in different scenarios.

Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart is one of the most sensitive applications to the 4060 Ti 16GB's extra memory capacity. At 1080p Very High with RT enabled, the 16GB was 34% faster than the 8GB model. At 1440p, this lead was boosted to 43% and at 4K, the 4060 Ti 16GB was 85% quicker. With RT disabled, the 4060 Ti 16GB lost a bit of its lead but was still more than 30% faster at 1080p and 1440p, and over 50% quicker at 4K.

Lowering graphics quality settings to High (with no RT) made the 16GB card a whopping 50% quicker than the 8GB model at 1080p. We're not sure how this is possible, but we suspect this might be a bug with the game. So take this result with a grain of salt.

Another VRAM-sensitive title is Resident Evil 4 (2023), where the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB was 12% faster at 1080p, 9% faster at 1440p, and 24% quicker at 4K — with the game running at its maximum settings with RT effects. Tho interestingly, the 1% lows in this game are particularly sensitive to the 8GB limitation on the lower-end 4060 Ti, revealing a 77% to 113% performance advantage in 1% lows for the 16GB card at 1080P, 1440P, and 4K.

However, not all of the latest 2023 releases need more than 8GB of memory to perform well. Owen found that the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB saw no noteworthy performance improvements with Remant 2 and Jedi: Survivor at 1080P or 1440P — even with both games running in their highest graphical settings (with RT enabled on Survivor). The only exception is at 4K resolution, where the 16GB card was 7% faster in Remant 2 and 14% more performant in Jedi: Survivor compared to the 8GB model.

For a full breakdown of the rest of the games Daniel Owen tested, check out his full review on his YouTube channel.

As far as VRAM utilization is concerned, all of the games that performed better on the 16GB card did not use the whole 16GB. The most demanding title was Resident Evil 4, utilizing just 12.1GB of memory at the game's maximum settings at 4K resolution. The rest of the games (and tested resolutions) sat below 12GB, with most hovering in the 9GB to 11GB range. This is great to see and means the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB will have the additional memory capacity to spare as it ages.

Turns Out, DLSS 3 Frame Gen Consumes Extra VRAM

Daniel Owen also tested VRAM utilization with resolution upscaling to see how that might benefit the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB. Interestingly Owen found that DLSS 3 frame generation negatively affects VRAM consumption and consumes more video memory than standard DLSS upscaling with frame generation disabled.

In testing with Cyberpunk 2077, he found that the game will consume 8426MB of VRAM at 1440P RT Ultra settings on the 16GB 4060 Ti. With DLSS Quality, memory usage drops by over a full Gigabyte down to just 7249MB, but with Frame Generation enabled, VRAM usage goes back up to 8GB (or 8000MB) roughly.

The RTX 4060 Ti 8GB suffers from the same problem, but less so since the game is approaching the hardware's 8GB limit. The 8GB memory is still a bottleneck, providing less FPS than the 16GB card, even with DLSS enabled. (To clarify, DLSS quality mode saw the closest performance gap between the two cards.)

Overall, Owen found that the more expensive RTX 4060 Ti 16GB can be substantially faster in some games, particularly at 4K resolutions, than its 8GB counterpart, proving that 8GB can be a bottleneck even on a mid-range GPU like the 4060 Ti. However, Owen's results also demonstrate that the 16GB's additional capacity is not-beneficial in all games, at least for now. It'll be interesting to see how games evolve down the road and if we'll see more of a performance gap between the two cards if games utilize more than 8GB of memory.

The best graphics cards don't always have to run full throttle. Sometimes, we may leave our system idling or use it to do the normal stuff, like watching YouTube videos. Some of us may ignore the graphics card's power consumption. Still, the German publication ComputerBase has inadvertently unearthed a simple option to help reduce idle power consumption on AMD Radeon graphics cards if you're running single or dual high-resolution, high-refresh-rate monitors.

ComputerBase recently upgraded its labs with Powenetics V2 measuring software and hardware to improve power metric logging and a new 4K display with a 144 Hz refresh rate and Adaptive Sync support. As a result, the news outlet had to retest all its graphics cards and stumbled upon a discovery that enabling Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) can substantially lower the graphics card's idle power draw. The VRR option is available in Windows and AMD's drivers; however, the latter cannot enable it automatically. VRR is a technology that automatically adjusts your monitor's refresh rate to match the frame rate output from your games or content so that both remain in sync. You may find the VRR term under a different name, depending on the manufacturer, like Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync, or Nvidia G-Sync.

AMD's RDNA 3 graphics cards, specifically the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, showed the most significant benefit. According to ComputerBase's results, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX drew 81% and 71% less idle power in a single-and dual-monitor configuration, respectively. Even under a more realistic test with Windows movement, the graphics card saw 36% lower power consumption. Watching YouTube at SDR and 60 FPS didn't yield significant results. With HDR enabled, however, the graphics card consumed 31% less power.

The phenomenon isn't limited to AMD's RDNA 3 graphics cards, either. ComputerBase saw similar behavior on last-generation RDNA 2 SKUs, such as the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6700 XT, although to a lesser degree. For example, enabling VRR decreased the Radeon RX 6800 XT's idle power consumption by 79% and the window movement test by 17%. The option didn't substantially impact the Radeon RX 6800 XT in the other scenarios.

VRR enablement had a reversed effect on Intel and Nvidia graphics cards. ComputerBase recorded up to 11% higher idle power consumption on the Arc A770. However, Arc A770 sipped 4% less power with the YouTube HDR test at 60 FPS.

The same option negatively impacted Nvidia's latest GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards, such as the GeForce RTX 4080. ComputerBase observed 25% higher idle power on a single monitor and up to 12% on a dual-monitor layout. The VRR option also increased power consumption between 4% to 5% when watching YouTube videos.

People had been critical of AMD's RDNA 3 graphics card's idle power consumption and high-resolution display, and with good reason. A graphics card shouldn't pull over 100W when the system is idling or even when watching a YouTube video. The VRR option is a game-changer for RDNA 3, as it brings the graphics card's idle power consumption down to Ada Lovelace levels in idle scenarios. However, Ada Lovelace is still power efficient. For example, even with VRR enabled, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX's power consumption was still higher than the GeForce RTX 4080 in the Windows movement and YouTube tests.

ComputerBase has contacted AMD to inquire about the technical details of why and how VRR can make a big difference in lowering idle power consumption on RDNA 3 graphics cards. However, the chipmaker hasn't gotten back to the German publication, but we'll keep our eyes peeled when it does and update this article with some insight from AMD.