I'm looking for a 27-inch curved monitor with a 2560×1440 resolution and a refresh rate higher than 165Hz. It will mainly be used for FPS games. My system has a Ryzen 9 3900X and an RTX 4070 Ti.
I currently use an Acer EI322QUR Pbmiippx, a 31.5-inch 1500R curved 1440p monitor running at 165Hz, but it feels too large for competitive FPS gaming. I also have a 27-inch Samsung monitor, though it is limited to 60Hz. I understand that 27-inch curved OLED options are basically unavailable, so I'm looking for the next-best panel and motion-performance combination.
The monitors I've been considering are the ASUS ROG Strix XG27WCMS at 280Hz, the MSI MAG 275CQDF X24 at 240Hz, and the discontinued Samsung Odyssey G7 LC27G75TQSNXZA at 240Hz. Are there any other good curved 27-inch 1440p monitors with refresh rates above 165Hz that I should consider?
1 Answer
At this size and refresh rate, most of the curved options use VA panels rather than IPS. VA gives you much better contrast, but the tradeoff can be dark-level smearing, especially in fast games. Modern VA panels have improved a lot, though, and the effect is minor for many players. The MSI looks like a reasonable choice, and the ASUS is worth considering if you want the higher 280Hz refresh rate. There is also the Koorui H27S25E as another budget-oriented option.
VA is much closer to IPS in color quality than it used to be, while offering substantially better contrast. The main concern is motion performance in dark scenes, so reviews that test response times are more useful than the advertised 0.5ms rating.
Curved high-refresh displays are usually VA because that panel type is easier to manufacture in a curved form. Just keep in mind that black smearing is still a possibility.