Asus ROG Swift PG258Q Gaming Monitor Quick Review
They say that once you go past 60Hz, you’ll never want to go back. The phrase has commonly referred to 144Hz displays, which are truly buttery smooth, but the Asus ROG Swift PG258Q takes this way further with its native refresh rate of 240Hz!
Add in a very low 1ms response time and support for NVIDIA G-SYNC, and the PG258Q looks like it might just be the perfect monitor for eSports and fast-paced action games.
Design and Construction
Like its older, bigger brother, the PG278Q, the main display part of the monitor employs a no-frills approach with no visible buttons up front and slim bezels.
At the back however, ROG branding starts to show itself a little more but still looks clean overall. The rear ports include DisplayPort, HDMI, USB 3.0 passthrough, headphone jack, and of course power. There is an included I/O cover to make the overall appearance cleaner and to help with cable management.
As for controls, the PG258Q hides the buttons at the back. This type of setup can be frustrating, but I’d say that Asus implemented it well on their monitors. The buttons aren’t that hard to reach, the menu system is intuitive, and they also use a joystick for easier navigation.
Moving to the base, the ROG branding gets kicked up a notch by way of the built-in down-firing ROG LED logo that projects onto your desk. The base itself, along with the arm, are both very sturdy and easy to assemble and disassemble as needed.
The PG258Q’s position can be adjusted in a few ways including height, tilt, and pivot.
Height can be adjusted from 0 to 120mm
The monitor can pivot all the way to 90° (clockwise) for a full-on portrait mode.
Overall construction is very solid, so much that if you’re willing to stick to a 24.5″ 1080p TN panel, the PG258Q will probably last a couple of decades if well-taken care of.
Performance
The PG258Q uses a 24.5-inch TN panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. We have no complaints regards to the size to resolution ratio, as 24-25 inches is about as far as you can take 1080p before it starts to lose sharpness. I digress though, as the resolution isn’t the all-important factor when it comes to gaming monitors.
The low 1ms response time, the crazy 240Hz refresh rate, and support for NVIDIA G-SYNC are the things that may give you a slight edge, as well as a more immersive experience when gaming.
If you have a gaming rig that is capable of spitting out upwards of 200fps, in-game visuals are buttery smooth, and you may find that competitive first-person shooters like CS:GO and Overwatch are a little bit more comfortable to play since you have way more frames to work with. Those things being said, this is one of the fastest gaming monitors in the world, and it’s awesome.
Moving past gaming is where you start to see some drawbacks. Color and contrast are just fine for gaming and even watching movies, but when you start to attempt to do some creative work is where it starts to suffer. Viewing angles aren’t so great either, and the screen starts to shift to an orange hue when you aren’t looking at it straight-on.
The display surface is thankfully non-glare and is actually quite bright for a TN panel. Asus lists its brightness at 400 cd/m2.
Conclusion
The Asus ROG Swift PG258Q is one of the world’s fastest gaming monitors with a refresh rate of 240Hz and definitely gives a more immersive gaming experience with ultra-fast response times. It has the remarkable attention to detail that Asus is known for, as well as a solid construction. Design-wise, the base with the LED projected logo is not for everyone, but it’s not that hard to turn off.
Now is 240Hz for you? Probably not. For general purpose high refresh gaming, 120-144Hz should be just fine for you. If you’re the likes of a professional CS:GO player though? Then the PG258Q is for you. The Asus ROG Swift PG258Q is priced at Php38,260.
Asus ROG Swift PG258Q specs: 24.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) TN panel 1ms response time 240Hz refresh rate NVIDIA G-SYNC 400cs/m2 max brightness 1000:1 contrast ratio 20°~-5° tilt 50°~-50° swivel 0°~90° pivot 0~120 mm height adjust VESA Wall Mounting DisplayPort HDMI USB 3.0 Passthrough 564.1x(383.7 ~ 503.7)x 253.7 mm (with stand) 5.6kg (with stand)
- Very fast 240Hz refresh rate
- Low 1ms response time
- G-SYNC
- Very bright
- Solid construction
- Slim bezels
- Navigation buttons
Asus rog swift pg258q
Surprisingly, that 240Hz refresh rate does make a difference
Another design step too far is the cover that clips in place over the power, video and USB ports to make for a tidy look. It looks good, but it’s inconvenient when you want to use the USB ports. What’s more, the selection of connections is modest. You get just one DisplayPort socket one HDMI and two USB 3 ports, plus a headphone jack. You also miss out on speakers, but that won’t bean issue for everyone.
Setup, though, couldn’t be easier. The fully adjustable stand and excellent OSD makes the whole process a breeze. The mini-joystick controls on the back of the display for navigating the OSD are the best in the business. You also get several useful options in the OSD, including a mass of game centric presets, a Dark Boost setting for making the dark areas in games more visible, an overdrive option and, of course, the ULMB mode. The latter is a backlight-strobing blur-reduction setting, which works very well at up to 144Hz, although it can’t be used in conjunction with G-Sync or at a 240Hz refresh rate.
As for overall image quality, this display is very good for a TN panel, putting many other gaming monitors to shame. Colors are accurate (a color temperature of 6.578K and delta E of 0.91 right out of the box), viewing angles are better than expected and contrast is good (907:1). There’s a little of the usual crushed, slightly off-color look to light grey shades, as with many TN panels, but
otherwise it does a decent job. What’s more, quality doesn’t drop much as you increase the refresh rate.
Then we come to gaming where, rather surprisingly, that 240Hz refresh rate does make a difference. You’ll need to be in the upper echelons of competitive gaming to really benefit and even then, the difference to your final score might be minimal, but it certainly makes games feel snappier, as long as your CPU can output the frames.
-
Bitdefender | Awards Campaign LP com
- TNR earns Amazon affiliate commissions from qualifying purchases. You can support the site directly via Paypal donations ☕. Thank you!
- Revo Uninstaller 5 Pro 50% off
- Deal: 10% off for Parallels Desktop (full license 1st year of subscriptions only). Coupon code: 4AP-752-2GS. Dates: 4. 19 May.
- Up to 50% OFF EaseUS Video Tools (RecExperts, Video Editor, VideoKit, Video Downloader, Video Converter, Video Compressor and MakeMyAudio). Coupon: LOVEMOM.
As for choosing between 144Hz with ULMB blur reduction or 240Hz without the jury’s still out. The former does look clearer, but the latter feels more responsive, so it depends on the game you’re playing. What we can say. though, is that overall, the PG258Q is a fantastic gaming monitor. It’s just a shame if s so expensive. Alternatives with FreeSync instead of C-Sync are cheaper, and even they’re rather pricey for what still amounts to a 1080p, TN monitor.
Conclusion
The Asus ROC Swift PG258Q is a superb gaming monitor.
Its240Hz panel is class-leading for fast-paced games and image quality is decent too. However, there’s no getting around the fact for a 1080p TN gaming monitor struggles to feet like good value for money.
EDWARD CHESTER
VERDICT
Class-leading gaming performance, but far too expensive for a 1080p TN monitor.
Class-leading gaming performance, but far too expensive for a 1080p TN monitor.
Best Asus ROG Swift PG258Q ?
TNR earns Amazon affiliate commissions from qualifying purchases. You can support the site directly via Paypal donations ☕ Thank you!
Bình Phan Đức
Hello, I’m the founder of this blog and a part time blogger. Find more information about me at here. You can also connect with me via and YouTube.
ASRock Phantom PG34WQ15R2B Review
ALIENWARE AW2523HF Review
Let us know your thoughts on a product or view reviews from our members, independent experts and other websites.
Asus ROG Swift PG279Q Monitor Review
The Asus PG279Q is a great gaming monitor with a 1440p IPS panel. The picture quality is decent with great brightness and good reflection handling, so it looks great even in a dark room. Like most IPS monitors, it has a low native contrast ratio, so blacks appear gray in a dark room, but good viewing angles so the image remains accurate when viewed from up-close. It has an outstanding response time at the max refresh rate, the backlight is completely flicker-free, and it has outstanding low input lag.
Our Verdict
The Asus PG279Q is a very good monitor for most uses. It’s an outstanding gaming monitor with clear motion and low input lag. The high-resolution screen, wide viewing angles, and great ergonomics also make it a great office monitor. It doesn’t support HDR or wide color gamuts, but it’s still a good monitor for media creation or watching videos, but like most IPS monitors, it doesn’t look as good in a dark room.
The Asus Swift PG279Q is a great monitor for office use. The great ergonomics allow you to easily position it in any way you like. This 27 inch monitor has a QHD resolution which displays enough detail for most office applications. At the same time, anyone who sits next to you will enjoy the same picture quality even while looking from the side, so you can demonstrate your work nicely.
The Asus PG279Q is an excellent gaming monitor. It has an outstanding response time at the max refresh rate, as well as outstanding low input lag. It supports NVIDIA’s G-SYNC variable refresh rate technology for a nearly tear-free gaming experience, and it has an optional black frame insertion feature.
The Asus PG279 is a good monitor for multimedia usage. It has a relatively large screen size and good resolution so you can enjoy your multimedia content without sacrificing detail. At the same time, it’s very easy to position it to your liking. Finally, the low input lag, the good viewing angles, and the excellent gray uniformity will make sure that even those watching from the side will see a nice image without shades or dirty screen effect that feels very responsive.
You will enjoy using this monitor for media creation. It has a relatively large size and its resolution is great for working on photos or videos. It’s very responsive due to its low input lag, it has good viewing angles, and has excellent gray uniformity.
This monitor doesn’t support HDR.
- 7.9 Mixed Usage
- 8.1 Office
- 8.6 Gaming
- 7.5 Multimedia
- 7.6 Media Creation
- 5.9 HDR Gaming
- Updated Feb 17, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Aug 03, 2018: Review published.
- Updated Aug 01, 2018: Early access published.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 27″ (PG279Q) which is the only size of this monitor available. There are other variants within the Asus gaming range which differ in design, size, and refresh rate.
This monitor has been replaced by the PG279QZ, which is a minor revision. There’s very little difference between them.
| PG279Q | 27″ | 1440p | 144Hz | G-SYNC support |
| PG279QZ | 27″ | 1440p | 144Hz | G-SYNC support |
| VG248QE | 24″ | 1080p | 144Hz | Lightboost support |
| VG245H | 24″ | 1080p | 75Hz | FreeSync support |
| VG278Q | 27″ | 1080p | 144Hz | FreeSync support |
| VG275Q | 25″ | 1080p | 75Hz | FreeSync support |
Note: The Asus Swift PG279Q we purchased was manufactured in March 2017.
Compared To Other Monitors
The Asus PG279Q is great for gaming due to the G-SYNC variable refresh rate support, and it’s one of the best gaming monitors we tested in 2018. See our recommendations for the best monitors.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and the Gigabyte M27Q are both great gaming monitors with excellent gaming performance. The biggest difference is that the Gigabyte is a native FreeSync monitor with G-SYNC compatibility, while the Asus is a native G-SYNC monitor and doesn’t support FreeSync. The Asus has better ergonomics, but the Gigabyte has more features, like HDR support and USB-C input.
ROG Swift PG258Q 240Hz G-Sync Gaming Monitor Introduction
The Asus ROG Swift PG279QM is better than its predecessor, the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q. The PG279QM has a much faster response time at 60Hz, and unlike the PG279Q, it supports HDR. The PG279QM also has slightly better text clarity. On the other hand, the PG279Q is a bit more versatile for gaming, as it has an optional backlight strobing feature, which can improve the appearance of motion.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and the Asus ROG Strix XG27AQ are both excellent gaming monitors from Asus’s Republic of Gamers brand. One of the biggest differences is that the PG279Q has native G-SYNC support while the XG27AQ is simply G-SYNC compatible. That said, the XG27AQ has faster response times at max refresh and especially at 60Hz, resulting in exceptionally clear motion. While the PG279Q has a marginally higher contrast ratio, the XG27AQ experiences less backlight bleed resulting in more uniform blacks, which is good if you prefer to game in the dark. That said, black uniformity can vary between individual units. The XG27AQ also supports HDR while the PG279Q doesn’t, although its HDR experience is a bit lackluster because it doesn’t get very bright for HDR content.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and the Samsung Odyssey G7 C32G755T are great monitors with excellent gaming performance. The Samsung has a higher refresh rate and slightly better response time, but the difference might not be noticeable for most casual players. The Samsung is better suited for dark rooms because it uses a VA panel with a much higher contrast ratio, and it supports HDR. However, the Asus’ stand allows for more ergonomic adjustments, and its IPS panel has wider viewing angles, making it a better choice for sharing content or playing co-op games.
The Asus TUF VG27AQ is a bit better than the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q. Both monitors deliver the same excellent gaming experience and are among the best we’ve tested so far for gaming. The TUF supports FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) technology, while the ROG supports G-SYNC VRR. Their difference in overall performance is mainly due to the HDR support that the TUF provides and due to its faster refresh rate that helps motion look smoother.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and the LG 27GL850-B have very similar overall performance, but they have some significant differences. The LG supports HDR, supports FreeSync, and has better gradient thanks to its 10-bit panel. The Asus, on the other hand, has better ergonomics, supports G-SYNC, and has an optional black frame insertion feature to help improve the appearance of motion.
The Asus ROG Strix XG279Q is better than the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q. The XG279Q supports HDR, has a quicker response time, and its max refresh rate is slightly higher. However, the PG279Q has a much lower input lag at 60Hz, it has much better out-of-the-box color accuracy, and wider viewing angles.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is slightly better than the LG 27GL83A-B. The Asus has much better ergonomics, supports G-SYNC, and has a black frame insertion feature that can help improve the appearance of motion. The LG, on the other hand, supports HDR, supports FreeSync, and has a 10-bit panel and better gradient.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and the Dell Alienware AW2721D are both 27 inch, 1440p gaming monitors with native G-SYNC support. Although the Dell has a higher refresh rate and lower input lag, casual gamers might not notice the difference. The Dell supports HDR, whereas the Asus doesn’t, and it also has more USB ports.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is marginally better than the BenQ EX2780Q. The Asus has a slightly higher refresh rate, and its ergonomics are significantly better. Build quality is better on the Asus, and it has a more accurate color reproduction out-of-the-box. On the other hand, the BenQ supports HDR, but it doesn’t have a black frame insertion feature, which the Asus has.
The Acer Predator X27 and Asus ROG PG279Q offer very similar performance overall. The Acer X27 has a higher native resolution, at 4k, that allows you to see more details or multitask easier. The X27 supports HDR and has a wider color gamut. The ROG PG279Q has better motion handling, including an optional black frame insertion feature, and has less input lag for gaming.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is much better than the BenQ ZOWIE XL2540. The PG279Q has a higher native resolution and larger IPS screen that has much better viewing angles. While both support VRR, the Asus uses NVIDIA’s G-SYNC technology whereas the BenQ uses AMD’s FreeSync technology, so it’s important to match the monitor with whichever graphics card you have to be able to get the most out of either monitor.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG are two very similar monitors. Both have 1440p, 165Hz, IPS panels with native G-SYNC support. The ViewSonic has a better response time at 60Hz, better reflection handling, and a wider color gamut in SDR. The Asus has much better out-of-the box color accuracy, better ergonomics, and a better contrast ratio.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is very similar to the Asus PG279QZ. The two monitors are nearly identical in design and have a very similar overall performance, except for brightness. The older PG279Q is brighter than the newer PG279QZ.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and the Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q are very similar monitors in that they both have the same size, resolution, and refresh rate. The main difference is that the Asus is a native G-SYNC monitor, while the Gigabyte supports FreeSync. The Asus has a faster response time, but the Gigabyte has HDR support.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is a bit better than the Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx. The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q has better ergonomic adjustments so you can place it comfortably on your desk. Its viewing angles are slightly wider than the Acer’s, which is good if you often share your screen. Finally, it has an optional black frame insertion feature to help make motion crisper. The Acer Predator XB273K Pbmiphzx, on the other hand, has full 4k resolution and supports HDR so you can enjoy the newest HDR games.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is slightly better than the Asus VG279Q. The PG279Q supports G-SYNC and has a higher native resolution. The VG279Q supports FreeSync and has a stand with better ergonomics, to help you place it in a more comfortable position.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is marginally better than the LG 27UK650-W. The Asus has better ergonomics, supports G-SYNC, and has a lower input lag, which is great for demanding gamers. On the other hand, the LG is a 4k monitor with HDR support that also supports FreeSync to please gamers.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is better than the Asus ROG PG348Q. The PG279Q has better motion handling, with an even faster response time that produces almost no noticeable motion blur. The backlight on the PG279Q also has the option to introduce flicker to reduce persistence blur. While both monitors support NVIDIA’s G-SYNC technology, the PG279Q has a higher native refresh rate of 144Hz that can easily be overclocked to 165Hz.
Although the two monitors have a different panel type, most people will agree that the Asus ROG PG279QZ is much better than the Dell S2719DGF. The Asus has much better viewing angles due to its IPS panel and supports G-SYNC, whereas the Dell supports FreeSync. The Asus has much better black uniformity and incorporates a BFI feature that can make the image crisper.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is better than the Acer Predator XB271HU Bmiprz. The Asus has slightly better motion blur, which is great for gaming and comes with marginally better out-of-the-box color accuracy that is great for office use. Also, if you plan to use it for media creation, the better black uniformity of the Asus makes it a better choice.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is much better than the Dell U2715H. The Asus ROG PG279Q has a faster refresh rate and G-SYNC support which can remove tearing in video games. The Asus also has lower input lag which makes it very responsive to your actions and supports BFI to make the image crisper in fast-moving content.
If you want a monitor for office use, then the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is a better choice due to its wider viewing angles. On the other hand, if you’re playing a lot of HDR games, the Samsung CHG70 should be your choice as it supports HDR and will offer a decent HDR gaming experience. If plain gaming is your thing, then both monitors are excellent. They also perform very similarly in other uses without one being significantly better than the other.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is much better than the MSI Optix G27C. The PG279Q uses an IPS panel, which has much wider viewing angles and has a higher native resolution. It’s much easier to place in an optimal viewing position thanks to the better ergonomics. Motion looks better on the PG279Q, as there is much less motion blur, thanks to the faster response time.
Unless you’re looking for a more immersive gaming experience, the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is better than the Dell Alienware AW3418DW. The Asus has a lower resolution screen, but a higher refresh rate, better ergonomics, and an optional black frame insertion feature. The AW3418DW, on the other hand, delivers a more immersive gaming experience, thanks to the 34″ curve, 21:9 screen.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is much better than the Dell U2717D. The Asus performs much better in gaming, as it has a lower input lag, a much faster refresh rate, supports G-SYNC VRR, and has less motion blur. Finally, the Asus offers the option to introduce flicker to make the image crisper.
The Gigabyte AORUS AD27QD and Asus ROG PG279Q are very similar overall. The PG279Q has slightly better black uniformity and supports NVIDIA’s G-SYNC variable refresh rate technology. The AD27QD supports HDR, has much better gradients, and supports AMD’s FreeSync technology with both AMD cards and NVIDIA’s new FreeSync compatible drivers, making it a slightly more versatile choice if you have a 10- or 20- series NVIDIA GPU.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is a bit better than the Dell U2718Q. The PG279Q has much better motion handling. The high refresh rate delivers a nearly perfect response time with almost no motion blur, as well as being flicker-free. The Asus also has an optional black frame insertion feature that can help clear up motion and supports NVIDIA’s G-SYNC technology. The Dell has a higher resolution 4k screen, and supports HDR, even though HDR doesn’t add much due to the U2718Q’s limited color volume and low peak brightness.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is a significantly better monitor than the Dell S2716DG regardless of the use. The IPS panel of the Asus has better viewing angles, so when viewed from up close the image remains more accurate. The uniformity is also marginally better on the Asus, and this is good for a variety of uses.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is slightly better than the Razer Raptor 27 144Hz. The Asus has much better ergonomics, motion handling, and color accuracy, but the Razer has a significantly better build quality and supports HDR. Also, the Asus has a slightly higher contrast ratio, better black uniformity, and significantly better reflection handling.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and the MSI Optix MPG27CQ use different panel types, each with their strengths and weaknesses. The Asus looks better in a brighter room, and it has much better viewing angles. The MSI looks better in a dark room, but only if you’re sitting directly in front. For gaming, the better one depends a bit on your hardware. The Asus works best when paired with an NVIDIA graphics card, whereas the MSI works best with an AMD card or Xbox One.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is significantly better than the Asus VG245H. The ROG has a larger, higher-resolution screen, and faster refresh rate. The ROG also has better gray uniformity and wider viewing angles. Motion looks better on the PG279Q due to the faster response time and the optional Black Frame Insertion feature. The stand on the VG245H is slightly better, as the ergonomic adjustments have a slightly wider range.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is a much better monitor than the Samsung CF791. If you play a lot of games, the Asus has significantly better input lag, slightly better motion blur and supports G-SYNC to smooth out tearing. Also, the Asus has better viewing angles, which is great if you wish to use it at the office.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is a significantly better monitor than the HP OMEN 27 in almost every use. The Asus has an IPS panel and thus better viewing angles than the TN panel HP. Also, the Asus has better uniformity and better contrast ratio, and this is great for many different uses.
The Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is much better than the AOC AGON AG271QX. The PG279Q has much better viewing angles and an optional black frame insertion feature for even clearer motion. The AG271QX has better gradient handling, and there is almost no banding in areas of similar color.
The Asus ROG PG279Q is significantly better than the LG 32GK850G. The Asus has better viewing angles due to its IPS panel, and this is great if you plan to share your work with your colleagues. The ergonomics on the Asus ROG PG279Q are better so you can place it comfortably without much effort. Finally, the Asus ROG PG279Q has an optional black frame insertion feature that allows it to make the image look crisper by introducing flicker.
Asus’s ROG Swift PG258Q Monitor Is Gaming Overkill
A decade ago, people used to get excited by the prospect of LCD screens that could do just 100Hz. These days you can throw a stick at a LAN and chances are you’ll hit a screen with a super high refresh rates.
But there’s high, and then there’s the Asus ROG Swift PG258Q monitor. How high, you ask? 240Hz high.
What Is It?
Billed as a monitor first and foremost for gaming, the Asus ROG Swift PG258Q is a 24.5″ 1080p screen with 1ms gray to gray response time. Equipped with support for NVIDIA’s G-SYNC adaptive refresh rate technology, the monitor stands at 56.4cm x 33cm x 7.25cm tall.
Besides the refresh rate, one of the PG258Q’s biggest differences is the base. It’s a tripod-shaped stand, with two long, thin legs and a shorter third, rather than a traditional flat or square base. The whole monitor can be rotated into portrait mode, and the swivel range is fairly impressive:
You’ll want to use DisplayPort if you want to make use of the 240Hz feature, although there’s a HDMI port to plug a console in as well. There’s a 100mm x 100mm VESA wall mount at the back once the stand is removed, two USB 3.0 ports, a five way OSD controller and an LED-illuminated logo that can be disabled or customised by tweaking a removable insert. There’s a 3.5mm audio jack as well, although you’ll want to stick to separate speakers or headphones, and a port for the external power brick.
There’s a plastic insert on the back of the chassis that covers up all the ports, and the stand itself has a central hole for cable management. The panel itself is a TN model, which is great for low response times but not so good for colour reproduction, viewing angles or good blacks and whites. The in-built OSD also has a five level Blue Light Filter, adaptive contrast controls, and six preset modes for various game genres. There’s also extra features like the ability to have a crosshair permanently displayed in the centre of the screen, an FPS counter and a timer.
The price for all this, incidentally: 899 from most major Australian retailers.
What’s It Good At?
While the PG258Q deliberately has a strong gamer aesthetic, with the stylised vents at the bottom of the stand to the etching on the back of the monitor, it’s quite muted to sit in front of on a day to day basis. The bezel is relatively small – it’s actually thicker at the bottom than the sides or the top, which is a little odd – and being able to disable the red LED in the stand, or customise the insert, is a nice touch.
G-Sync support is great, although if you’re buying a 240Hz screen you’re not likely to be playing games at a) frame rates low enough where G-Sync is a major factor and b) games at quality levels high enough to make use of 240Hz in the first place. But for titles that do run at 200fps crazytown, the difference – and I’m talking as someone who bought the first commercially available 120Hz monitors, and has only owned high refresh rate monitors ever since – is immediately noticeable.
The difference between 60Hz and 240Hz is easy to spot at a glance, even if you’re just moving the mouse around on the desktop. But if you’re looking to upgrade from a 120Hz or 144Hz panel, you can still see the improvement when things are moving at high speed. It’s best seen when quickly flicking your aim and making Rapid movements, although you will need a PC that can pump out 200fps or more.
There’s a good range of additional features as well. Things like contrast boosters and blue light metres can’t rectify the drop in image quality from an IPS panel to the TN panel inside the PG258Q, but it does help. The PG258Q’s brightness is fairly decent too, which helps when adjusting to different lighting conditions.
What’s It Not Good At?
While the OSD has plenty of little features you can use, it’s not cleverly laid out. The menu for crosshairs and the FPS counter have to be disabled through a couple of button presses on the back – there’s no option within their individual menus to turn them off. It’s a design oversight, and something Asus could easily rectify in future models or hopefully with a patch or firmware update.
It’s a bulky monitor too. The three pronged nature means you probably will end up having it a bit further forward on your desk than you’d like, since you have to account for the weird shape of the base.
Asus ROG Swift PG258Q: 144Hz too slow?
The PG258Q’s biggest problem, and perhaps insurmountable for some, is the panel. Unlike more recent displays, Asus have gone all-out for the gamer crowd by using a TN panel for the lowest possible response times. That’s great for professional Counter-Strike players, but it means dealing with weaker colour reproduction and poor viewing angles. You can calibrate the screen to help things somewhat, but it’s not a great screen for Photoshop/Premiere work – which is a problem if you use your gaming machine for productivity as well.
Another odd quirk, and something that will directly affect the Counter-Strike crowd, is the lack of aspect ratio options in the OSD. These are helpful for gamers that don’t play at a monitor’s native resolution, as many Quake and CS:GO players do. You can fix this by going through the AMD or NVIDIA control panels, but it’s a lot faster to do it through the monitor.
Another quality of life issue is the space for cabling. While the hole in the stand is great for cable management, there’s not much width between the connectors themselves. The USB ports are just as cramped, and I ended up plugging a four-port HUB into the back instead to make life easier. It almost would have been better if Asus built the ports into the bottom of the monitor or the stand itself; things are a little too inconvenient, especially if you use the PG258Q as part of a triple or quad-monitor setup.
The price is obviously an issue as well, not just because it costs nearly 900 but because there are cheaper 240Hz gaming monitors on the market. You’re not buying a monitor like this for the resolution, OSD features or the image quality per se, you’re buying it for the high refresh rate. And while I’m happier with the crispness and brightness of the PG258Q compared to other 240Hz alternatives I’ve tried, it’s not so good that you can’t ignore the other trade-offs.
Should You Buy It?
Most people won’t be able to afford the PG258Q, and most who can won’t be able to justify it. It’s basically a monitor targeted at professional League of Legends, CS:GO, Dota 2 and Overwatch players, people who solely play games that medium to high-end machines can run at super-high frame rates.
But modern AAA titles like Ghost Recon: Wildlands or even something well optimised like Battlefield 1 struggle to reach 200fps at 1080p, even when paired with top of the line hardware, like the GTX 1080 Ti or a new Ryzen/Kaby Lake CPU. To reach the frame rates necessary to really unlock the potential of the PG258Q, you’d have to compromise on image quality – which goes against the point.
It’s a fantastic monitor for a single purpose – competitive gaming, especially CS:GO – but it’s not a wise all-around investment. Most people enjoy a wider range of titles, and they like to use their desktop for applications outside of games. If that sounds like you, a monitor with a better panel and image quality will be much better value for money.
Best Monitor for CS:GO
It used to be that a monitor wasn’t an often spoken about piece of equipment at all. Sure, there were monitors made specifically for gaming and all of that, but you were perfectly fine getting by with a regular old monitor either way. Pro gamers even swore by their old CRT monitors because new (at the time) flatscreen panels couldn’t reach the framerates that CRTs could reach.
That all changed around ten years ago when the first the LCD computer monitor capable of pushing 120Hz was released. As the technology got better and better it also got more and more mainstream, and today we have dozens of 144Hz monitors on the market, as well as models capable of pushing 240 frames (and even 360 frames) per second.
It goes without saying that having a monitor with a higher refresh rate can not only greatly increase the fluidity of your games but also your performance, as fast moving objects become much easier to track. If this all sounds new to you feel free to check out our article on framerate (and why it matters) by clicking here. If you’re already up to speed and looking for what monitors are favored by our analyzed CS:GO pros then read straight ahead!
Our Guide
The Pro Usage Top 5 below gets updated continuously and instantly so that you can always get an accurate overview of what the pros are using at any given time. In the body of the article itself, we go over the five most popular pro products in no particular order and, when relevant, we also give you some extra options in the form of products that fall just outside of the top 5 or are otherwise relevant.
ZOWIE XL2566K
ZOWIE XL2540
Asus ROG SWIFT PG259QN
The most popular monitors are calculated based on 532 professional players.
What makes a monitor good for CS:GO?
CS:GO is a very pure shooter. There’s deep mind games and a ton of strategy involved in high level matches, but in essence CS:GO is all about ‘point, click, and win’ in the sense that there are no abilities, shields, extra lives, or anything like that involved in the game. You get shot in the dome by an AK and you’re out of the round. It needs no explanation, then, that having great aim and the ability to spot players in an instant can really enhance your gameplay. The monitor, in a sense, should become your window into the world of the game and it should display whatever is happening in that world with the utmost fluidity and precision, as well as seamlessly translate whatever you do on your desk to the game.
You can play for hours upon hours (and you’ll need to if you want to get to the highest ranks) but if you’re playing on a slow, washed out monitor you’re going to be at a disadvantage in a game where a split second can mean the difference between a round that’s won and a round that’s lost.
According to our analyzed professionals (and our CS:GO analysts) you’re going to need a monitor that’s capable of pushing at least 240 frames per second. If you’re on a budget, or you’re a more casual player who wants to combine higher resolution gaming with high(er) framerates then 144Hz is also fine, but if you’re even a little bit serious about CS:GO we don’t recommend going below that. CS:GO isn’t a very heavy game to run at all so it’s quite easy to reach the required amount of frames to get the best out of a higher refresh rate panel.
All of the monitors in this list have a max resolution of 1920×1080, and even that can be considered too high for this game, at least when looking at the pros. A lot of pros lower their resolution in order to get higher framerates, for example. With GPUs becoming more and more powerful, we might see a time where 1440p is the standard resolution for competitive gaming, but that day isn’t here yet, so 1080p monitors are where it’s at.
We realize that people also like to game on higher resolution monitors, or even curved or ultrawide displays, but those are usually not ideal for high tier competitive gaming for a variety of reasons. If you want to play FPS games at the highest level, you want the fastest response times and most fluid gameplay, so eye candy isn’t of importance when we talk about competitive gaming.
ZOWIE XL2546K
The XL2546K is the successor to the wildly popular XL2546, featuring a number of improvements over its predecessor. When the people over at BenQ Zowie made the original XL2546 monitor, they set out to make the ultimate gaming monitor for CS:GO and according to our reviewer they did that perfectly, and the newer version shaves off some of the rougher edges of its predecessor in order to present a close to perfect product for competitive gamers.
The XL2546K packs a mean punch and with its 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time and perfect ‘sweet spot’ size it already sounds like a top product, but BenQ Zowie decided to really go all out on this one.
It’s not only the horsepower under the hood that matters. The XL2546K features a host of extra additions which are meant to make the life of any (travelling or non-travelling) serious gamer easier. The stand is super sturdy and easy to manipulate and features little markings all throughout the body so that you immediately set up your monitor exactly how you like it.
Aside from that there’s the fantastic S-Switch, which makes navigating the OSD a breeze and helps you navigate between up to three different profiles with the touch of just one button, which is very handy to switch between a more neutral productivity setting and a brighter, more colorful gaming setting, for example. It also has on-board memory so you can plug your personal S-Switch into any compatible monitor and just load up your own personal settings with the touch of a button. If you don’t want to use the S-Switch there’s a handy joystick to navigate the OSD.
The XL2546K also comes with BenQ’s Setting to Share feature. This means you can upload (and download) specific settings profiles so that you can always play with the exact settings that you want, no matter where in the world you are. This also allows you to try out any player’s settings for yourself.
The XL2546K is a great monitor for overall gaming, but it has a number of features that are going to sound really good to CS:GO players in particular. There is the possibility to tweak the color vibrance on the monitor itself so you no longer have to download additional software to get your game to look a little less drab, for example. That’s important, since a lot of players artificially raise the color vibrance of the game in order to make enemies stand our clearer. The fact that you can just do this on your monitor is an excellent addition.
There’s also the Black eQualizer function which lights up darker areas of the map without overexposing the brighter areas to help you spot enemies hiding under palace on Mirage, for example. Then there’s also the unique selling point of the XL2546, which is BenQ Zowie’s proprietary DyAc (Dynamic Accuracy) technology. It’s a form of motion blur reduction, and DyAc combined with the unbelievably smooth 240Hz refresh rate makes for a super crisp and clear image when you’re trying to (for example) control your AK’s spray.
If you are looking for a 240Hz monitor that was basically tailor-made for CS:GO, then the XL2546K is the one.
