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You'd be forgiven for thinking 5K resolution is a bit overkill for a 27-inch gaming monitor—and I'm not going to dissuade from that notion. Squeezing 15 million into that space is perhaps one way to ensure you're getting the most bang for your buck.
The Asus ROG Strix XG27JCG is the smaller scale frame we're clapping our eyes upon today. This 27-inch IPS panel may be small, but Jeremy found it to be sufficiently mighty in his Asus ROG Strix XG27JCG review, awarding it a score of 80%. While we're on the subject of heavy-hitting figures, you can get this 5K gaming monitor for only $700 at Amazon.
So, you already know you're getting plenty of pixel density for that price, but on top of that you'll also enjoy a fairly decent refresh rate of 180 Hz at the 5K native resolution. Again, that's not the speediest refresh rate out there, but as Jeremy puts it "180 Hz at 5K. Bananas, isn't it?"
But I've got good news for those desperate for a higher refresh rate; this is a dual-mode monitor with a refresh rate that goes all the way up to 330 Hz in its 1440p mode. It's definitely more than just a neat bonus, as Jeremy explains, "[The 1440p mode] promises to make this monitor usable with vaguely affordable GPUs and also a decent option for esports.
"After all, running at the full native 5K native in the latest games is a very big ask in terms of raw PC performance, not to mention largely pointless for online shooters where frame rate rather than image detail is king."
To reiterate, this is not an OLED, but even so this IPS panel can get decently bright. Enjoying HDR 600 certification, this screen can get to 600 nits of brightness which will be bright enough for most gamer dens, I reckon. Also unlike many OLEDs our Jeremy has reviewed in the past, this IPS panel enjoys crisply rendered fonts—especially if you happen to plug it into an Apple Mac, apparently.
What's more outstanding about this particular IPS panel though is the response time, which is 0.3 ms—couple that with the high refresh rate in the 1440p and you've got a real esports contender. That said, Jeremy does also note, "If online shooters are your priority, the problem is that you can get a higher refresh and faster responding 1440p OLED at this price point, and that's got to be a better fit."
To sum up, this is a small screen with some big screen ambition and pixel density that gives even the odd OLED a run for their money—though this panel won't melt your retinas with its 600 nit brightness.
👉 Check out the rest of Amazon's gaming monitor deals 👈
1. Best overall:
MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED
2. Best 1440p:
MSI MPG 271QRX
3. Best ultrawide:
Gigabyte MO34WQC2
4. Best budget ultrawide:
Alienware 34 QD-OLED AW3423DWF
5. Best WOLED:
LG UltraGear 32GS95UE
6. Best 27-inch:
Alienware 27 AW2725Q
