New 360Hz Asus Monitor Lands Just in Time to Tax New GPUs

[Nergal]

 

 

 

Today, Asus officially announced via press release the ROG Swift PG259QN 360Hz, the fastest consumer gaming monitor from any company yet. Supporting frame rates up to 360 fps, this beast is set to hit in September, and will have a 24.5 inch "Fast IPS" FHD screen with a 1ms response time, G-Sync compatibility and HDR 10 support. Though Acer and Alienware are both looking to hit the 360Hz milestone soon as well, this makes Asus the first company to cross this particular finish line.

We’re pretty sure we got our first hints of this monitor at this January’s CES, where Asus and Nvidia invited our editor Scharon Harding to look at what was then called the ROG Swift 360. An Nvidia spokesperson told her that the display is intended for competitive esports players, who could expect a 4% improvement in flick shot aiming tests according to Nvidia’s research. They then showed her a demonstration of a Dota map scrolling at 240Hz vs 360Hz, where Harding said she could notice a slight improvement in text legibility thanks to the screen being able to update colors more quickly. Breaking this frame rate down, the Nvidia spokesperson also told her the monitor could show a new frame once every 2.8ms.

Most of the best gaming monitors right now land between 144Hz and 240Hz, though there are some 300Hz options if you’re willing to dole out the cash for them. 360Hz would make this display the fastest one yet, regardless of manufacturer, though that speed does limit it to FHD and a smaller 24.5 inch screen size. And though Asus has yet to announce an official price, it will most certainly cost you more than similar 280Hz monitors like the $450 Asus TUF Gaming VG279QM. Not to mention that you'll need a powerful video card like the upcoming RTX 3090 to actually hit performance high enough to take advantage of 360Hz.

At frame rates this high, it’s arguable whether the average person will be able to see the difference between this and a cheaper option. But if you play a lot of twitchy action games like Fortnite, or just love smooth experiences, then the ROG Swift PG259QN 360Hz will soon be the Rolls-Royce of high frame rate displays. And like any good luxury device, it’ll have plenty of convenience too, like three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort compatibility and built-in software for adding crosshairs, timers and other overlays to your video feed.