Fastest 240 Hz Monitor for E-Sports, CS:GO, Apex etc?

[XanderBaatz]

I am looking for the fastest monitor, with the least blur and motion blur possible. I am very sensitive to input lag and blur, so I want an upgrade.

I have been looking at the BenQ XL2546 and the Alienware AW2518H, and they both seem to be strong contenders.
The BenQ has strobing all the way up to 240 Hz and seemingly low input lag but bad pixel response, and the Alienware has low input lag along with low motion blur.

I have also been looking at the fairly new ASUS ROG XG248Q, which seem to have lower input lag than most other monitors along with a great blur reduction implementation (ELMB), but I have an NVIDIA GPU and I don't know if ELMB works with my graphics card.

I am open to other monitor suggestions as long as they have as low input lag and blur as possible.

Thanks in advance!

[karavanasam]

ELMB works with any GPU.It makes screen faster but darker.If you wont have a problem with dark but fast gaming,you will love it.
I also have Asus monitor but I am not using ELMB because I dont need it.

[Notty_PT]

XG248Q or XG258Q are your best options, input lag wise (I´ve tried almost every 240hz monitor).

Deciding between the 2 is tricky tho, because both have advantages and annoying disadvantages.

What I will do is highlight each model behaviour, the final decision is yours!

Asus XG258Q:

- Lowest inpug lag 240hz monitor you can find, if you connect it using DisplayPort. Using the HDMI 2.0 connection the lag will increase.
- Panel has a light coating (is not glossy tho, not even semi glossy, but way lighter than most TN matte panels) wich makes the colours pop more and some transitions are smoother because of that aswell
- 24,5 inches starts to be too big for 1080p imo. You can notice pixels if you play very close to the monitor
- 24,5 inches imo is the limit you want to go on monitors for competitive gaming. I have to put the monitor far from my eyes to avoid moving my eyes
- Strobing only at 144hz, if you are interested, and its strobing is totally crap, not even worth it


Asus XG248Q:

- Low input lag too, on both Displayport and HDMI 2.0 connectors
- Panel has a very aggressive coating, wich is really annoying. You will notice smearing because of this, at least I did
- 23,8 inches is nice for 1080p, it has good ppi and is way crisper than any other 240hz model, because of that
- 23,8 imo is an amazing size for competitive gaming, easy for your eyes to spot all the info (map/radar at the corners, Crosshair, health/ammo, enemies on the corners of the screen on some window or something)
- strobing at 240hz
- Some DisplayPort errors, for example, sometimes when you Alt+Tab on a game, everything will be distorted and you need to turn the monitor OFF for 1 minute and connect it again or just reboot the PC. This is VERY annoying as I alt Tab a lot. Didn´t happen using HDMI 2.0, but with HDMI 2.0 you can´t have Gsync, only FreeSync (depends on your GPU)
- This monitor is cheaper, at least here in Europe we can find it for 380€, mine was even 339€

Wich one is better? Idk. For now I have a 144hz model and XG258Q 240hz. I still kept my XG258Q because I´m beating every personal record, aiming wise, with it. Mainly due to its ultra low input lag. I still prefer smaller screens and Idk how long I will keep this model, but for now I´m using it on games where I can sustain 200-220fps+, mainly Quake Live, Aim Hero.

On a brief note, I tried AlienWare AW2518HF, it has awful overdrive, the panel coating is the lightest, so the colours pop and the contrast is superb. Its input lag is noticeable higher than the Asus models I mentioned.

I would stay away from every Benq models because Benq overdrive to me is one of the worst on the industry, and also doesn´t offer you many options to tweak.

You can ignore my opinion about benq tho, I believe I´m a benq "hater", because I´m yet to find a benq product that I can say is amazing. Same with their mice (I´m mice enthusiast too and tried almost everything). I will NEVER get the hype with Benq Zowie mice, they are awful to me. Worst sensor implementations, laggy buttons, cheap materials and very expensive.

[XanderBaatz]

XG248Q or XG258Q are your best options, input lag wise (I´ve tried almost every 240hz monitor).

Deciding between the 2 is tricky tho, because both have advantages and annoying disadvantages.

What I will do is highlight each model behaviour, the final decision is yours!

Asus XG258Q:

- Lowest inpug lag 240hz monitor you can find, if you connect it using DisplayPort. Using the HDMI 2.0 connection the lag will increase.
- Panel has a light coating (is not glossy tho, not even semi glossy, but way lighter than most TN matte panels) wich makes the colours pop more and some transitions are smoother because of that aswell
- 24,5 inches starts to be too big for 1080p imo. You can notice pixels if you play very close to the monitor
- 24,5 inches imo is the limit you want to go on monitors for competitive gaming. I have to put the monitor far from my eyes to avoid moving my eyes
- Strobing only at 144hz, if you are interested, and its strobing is totally crap, not even worth it


Asus XG248Q:

- Low input lag too, on both Displayport and HDMI 2.0 connectors
- Panel has a very aggressive coating, wich is really annoying. You will notice smearing because of this, at least I did
- 23,8 inches is nice for 1080p, it has good ppi and is way crisper than any other 240hz model, because of that
- 23,8 imo is an amazing size for competitive gaming, easy for your eyes to spot all the info (map/radar at the corners, Crosshair, health/ammo, enemies on the corners of the screen on some window or something)
- strobing at 240hz
- Some DisplayPort errors, for example, sometimes when you Alt+Tab on a game, everything will be distorted and you need to turn the monitor OFF for 1 minute and connect it again or just reboot the PC. This is VERY annoying as I alt Tab a lot. Didn´t happen using HDMI 2.0, but with HDMI 2.0 you can´t have Gsync, only FreeSync (depends on your GPU)
- This monitor is cheaper, at least here in Europe we can find it for 380€, mine was even 339€

Wich one is better? Idk. For now I have a 144hz model and XG258Q 240hz. I still kept my XG258Q because I´m beating every personal record, aiming wise, with it. Mainly due to its ultra low input lag. I still prefer smaller screens and Idk how long I will keep this model, but for now I´m using it on games where I can sustain 200-220fps+, mainly Quake Live, Aim Hero.

On a brief note, I tried AlienWare AW2518HF, it has awful overdrive, the panel coating is the lightest, so the colours pop and the contrast is superb. Its input lag is noticeable higher than the Asus models I mentioned.

I would stay away from every Benq models because Benq overdrive to me is one of the worst on the industry, and also doesn´t offer you many options to tweak.

You can ignore my opinion about benq tho, I believe I´m a benq "hater", because I´m yet to find a benq product that I can say is amazing. Same with their mice (I´m mice enthusiast too and tried almost everything). I will NEVER get the hype with Benq Zowie mice, they are awful to me. Worst sensor implementations, laggy buttons, cheap materials and very expensive.

Thank you so much for taking your time to write all that.
I know you're a very respected guy here on Blur Busters, and you pretty much convinced me not to buy the BenQ monitor.

Within the next few days I am going to buy one of the ASUS XG ones that you mentioned, but I still can't decide between them.

Coming from an LG Ultrawide with no ULMB, 144 Hz, IPS, 5 ms response time so the transition is gonna be very noticeable.

I am a mouse-freak like you, and am currently using a Logitech G Pro Wireless. I am obsessed with aim improvement, and I train it daily (even though I'm bad but I often won't admit that).

Also are you sure that the XG248Q has worse input lag than the XG258Q? Read on DisplayNinja that the XG248Q is the 'ultimate' low input lag/response time king.

Which one of the ASUS ones would you personally chose if you were in my position?

[shekel]

XG248Q or XG258Q are your best options, input lag wise (I´ve tried almost every 240hz monitor).

Deciding between the 2 is tricky tho, because both have advantages and annoying disadvantages.

What I will do is highlight each model behaviour, the final decision is yours!

Asus XG258Q:

- Lowest inpug lag 240hz monitor you can find, if you connect it using DisplayPort. Using the HDMI 2.0 connection the lag will increase.
- Panel has a light coating (is not glossy tho, not even semi glossy, but way lighter than most TN matte panels) wich makes the colours pop more and some transitions are smoother because of that aswell
- 24,5 inches starts to be too big for 1080p imo. You can notice pixels if you play very close to the monitor
- 24,5 inches imo is the limit you want to go on monitors for competitive gaming. I have to put the monitor far from my eyes to avoid moving my eyes
- Strobing only at 144hz, if you are interested, and its strobing is totally crap, not even worth it


Asus XG248Q:

- Low input lag too, on both Displayport and HDMI 2.0 connectors
- Panel has a very aggressive coating, wich is really annoying. You will notice smearing because of this, at least I did
- 23,8 inches is nice for 1080p, it has good ppi and is way crisper than any other 240hz model, because of that
- 23,8 imo is an amazing size for competitive gaming, easy for your eyes to spot all the info (map/radar at the corners, Crosshair, health/ammo, enemies on the corners of the screen on some window or something)
- strobing at 240hz
- Some DisplayPort errors, for example, sometimes when you Alt+Tab on a game, everything will be distorted and you need to turn the monitor OFF for 1 minute and connect it again or just reboot the PC. This is VERY annoying as I alt Tab a lot. Didn´t happen using HDMI 2.0, but with HDMI 2.0 you can´t have Gsync, only FreeSync (depends on your GPU)
- This monitor is cheaper, at least here in Europe we can find it for 380€, mine was even 339€

Wich one is better? Idk. For now I have a 144hz model and XG258Q 240hz. I still kept my XG258Q because I´m beating every personal record, aiming wise, with it. Mainly due to its ultra low input lag. I still prefer smaller screens and Idk how long I will keep this model, but for now I´m using it on games where I can sustain 200-220fps+, mainly Quake Live, Aim Hero.

On a brief note, I tried AlienWare AW2518HF, it has awful overdrive, the panel coating is the lightest, so the colours pop and the contrast is superb. Its input lag is noticeable higher than the Asus models I mentioned.

I would stay away from every Benq models because Benq overdrive to me is one of the worst on the industry, and also doesn´t offer you many options to tweak.

You can ignore my opinion about benq tho, I believe I´m a benq "hater", because I´m yet to find a benq product that I can say is amazing. Same with their mice (I´m mice enthusiast too and tried almost everything). I will NEVER get the hype with Benq Zowie mice, they are awful to me. Worst sensor implementations, laggy buttons, cheap materials and very expensive.

Did you test the input lag or are you just going by feel?

[pox02]

to fix displayport issues on xg248q use reduced timings/cru

[XanderBaatz]

to fix displayport issues on xg248q use reduced timings/cru

Can you please elaborate, what issues are there?
What can one expect from this monitor, and how'd you compare it to other 240 Hz monitors?
Any info regarding the input lag and blur?

[pox02]

to fix displayport issues on xg248q use reduced timings/cru

Can you please elaborate, what issues are there?
What can one expect from this monitor, and how'd you compare it to other 240 Hz monitors?
Any info regarding the input lag and blur?

Some DisplayPort errors, for example, sometimes when you Alt+Tab on a game, everything will be distorted and you need to turn the monitor OFF for 1 minute and connect it again or just reboot the PC

thats cause of VT higher that come with monitor to fix it use reducing timings on cru its good monitor the aggressive coating not noticeable to me its have very low input lag overdrive is bad thats all aw2518hf beat xg248q when both running on 240hz 60hz is very bad (aw2518hf)

[Notty_PT]

I don´t like to reduce timings on CRU because that breaks the monitor overdrive and also makes your GPU not idle as much if you are using a nvidia GPU. I would not advise to do that, altho it solves a lot of problems sometimes.

Imo the XG248Q is superior to AlienWare in almost everything, except panel coating. On the ALienWare model I can notice the awful overdrive even on web sites, with always an annoying greenish/purple (depends on the colours) trail behind everything. Once again, with reduced timings it solves it, but then my GPU doesn´t idle more than 1100mhz anymore and the pixel response time is way worse.

@XanderBaatz XG248Q has worse input lag than XG258Q but you might not notice it and it is just a bit bigger, nothing to be concerned about. XG258Q is the snappiest I tried until today. First time I had 63% LG on Quake and I could never replicate that on any other monitor I tried. This is the main reason I kept it, also broke my aim hero record with this model by killing 58 targets in 30 seconds with a 100% accuracy on the "simple" test scenario, wich is a crazy high record.

The XG248Q is so superior on image defition tho, 23,8 is way better size imo. If you want strobing XG248Q is way to go.

[Lorentzen1337]

Hi Notty_PT

I posted this in another thread but i don't think you noticed so I will try again here

Would you mind sharing your monitor settings for the XG258Q?

I have found the following mentions in some of your posts:
User or FPS Profile
OD Level 3 (Don't go higher introduces artifacts)
Avoid vividpixel (Input delay)
Warm/normal colour mode
Contrast 70
However a more complete list would be wonderful
This might be a bit off-topic but if OP decides on this monitor it could prove helpful to him as well!

Thanks!