- The MSI MAG 272QP and Gigabyte Aorus FO27Q5P monitors have arrived
- Both use the same Samsung 27-inch QD-OLED 500Hz panel
- Newegg has priced the MSI model, and it’s a fair bit more affordable than the existing Samsung Odyssey OLED that also uses this panel
A pair of new OLED gaming monitors with an extremely fast 500Hz refresh rate are now available, according to the manufacturers.
Tom’s Hardware spotted the announcements for the Gigabyte Aorus FO27Q5P (pictured above) and MSI MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 (pictured below) monitors. I should note that they aren’t on sale just yet, but should be available imminently.
Both monitors, which were initially unveiled earlier this year, are built around the same Samsung 27-inch QD-OLED panel, so the core specs for the display are identical. It’s a Gen 3 panel which offers more readable text and finer detail (thanks to an updated subpixel layout), plus it’s brighter compared to its predecessor OLED screen from Samsung (offering 1,000 nits peak brightness).
With both monitors you get a 1440p resolution panel with HDR1000 certification (plus HDR TrueBlack 500 and ClearMR 21000) and a super-fast 0.03 ms response time (near-instant). They also benefit from FreeSync Premium Pro support and are G-Sync Compatible, with highly accurate colors (99% DCI-P3 coverage). As mentioned, the refresh rate is 500Hz.
There are some important differences on the connectivity front, though, notably that the Gigabyte Aorus FO27Q5P offers DisplayPort 2.1a UHBR20, whereas the MSI MAG 272QP is only DisplayPort 1.4a – though both offer a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports. (Some tech sites seem to have got this round their necks, so to clarify, the MSI monitor definitely doesn’t have DisplayPort 2.1a based on the official specs page).
Another noteworthy point is that the Gigabyte monitor has a pair of built-in 5W speakers, and there aren’t speakers with the MSI model – not that this is likely to matter to the kind of competitive gamers who’ll be looking at these screens.
Analysis: more (hopefully) affordable 500Hz OLEDs are welcome
There are monitors with faster refresh rates that have been shown off, but remember, these are OLED panels, and 500Hz is blazing fast for this tech – and indeed the fastest you can get (for now, at least, though that may change before too long). It’s also arguable how high you need to go with refresh rates, anyway (but let’s not go off on that tangent).
The Samsung Odyssey OLED G60SF carries the same 1440p and 500Hz panel, and is already out on the market priced at $1,000 (at the time of writing) in the US. There’s no official pricing on either the MSI MAG 272QP or Gigabyte Aorus FO27Q5P from the makers, but Newegg US does have the MSI model listed and priced at $750. Ordering isn’t live yet, but assuming that’s not a placeholder – and we must be a bit careful around that – this looks like good value for the spec on offer. That’s not to say it’s exactly cheap – but you didn’t really expect that a 500Hz OLED monitor would be, did you?
Of course, these kinds of screens are for the most competitive gamers out there who are into their esports. You’ll need a very powerful PC and one of the fastest graphics cards to drive 500Hz – which is 500 frames per second – at 1440p resolution even with less demanding games (which esports titles generally are, as they place a premium on fluid frame rates over visual bells and whistles).
Aside from the still rather wallet-worrying price, another concern that might remain for those considering an OLED gaming monitor is the possibility of burn-in (permanent image retention caused by a static element, like a game HUD or desktop OS interface, being present on the screen for too long).
Both MSI and Gigabyte offer a three-year warranty which includes protection against burn-in, and the manufacturers also have their own tech to protect against image retention. That includes MSI’s OLED Care 2.0 and Gigabyte’s OLED Care, along with heat dissipation measures to lower screen temperatures (and therefore reduce burn-in risk).
