When every millisecond counts
But if you do have your heart set on a 500Hz gaming monitor and have the desktop to power it, the 24.5-inch Alienware might be the obvious pick. Not only has it seemingly beaten the Asus to having a release date — it’s due out in China on February 8th and March 21st in North America — it’s a fast IPS screen rather than a TN panel, which should mean better colors and viewing angles by far.
Otherwise, it’s a G-Sync screen with an anti-glare coating, two HDMI 2.1 ports alongside its primary DisplayPort 1.4 connector — you only get 240Hz over HDMI — four 5Gbps USB-A ports, customizable RGB backlighting, a pull-out headset hanger, and a pair of 3.5mm audio-out jacks in addition to Nvidia’s Reflex Latency Analyzer.The downside, as you might expect for an ultra high-refresh-rate screen, is that you’re limited to 1080p resolution, which translates to just 90ppi on a monitor this size.
If you don’t like its included stand for some reason, there’s a standard VESA 100 x 100 mounting pattern, and it also comes with a USB-C to DP cable if you plan to connect a laptop. Lastly, there’s a DisplayHDR 400 certification, though, in our experience, that simply means it can reach 400 nits of brightness, not that it has any amount of HDR worth writing home about.
Dell says that its price will be announced closer to its shipping date. Personally, I’m a lot more excited for fast OLED than I am for fast IPS —