05/22/2020 UPDATE. The IPS 240hz monitor tier list.(I've measured/tried the all) and my honest explanation why.

[DukeDice929]

I have no issues with input lag using 280Hz VRR on while playing single player games such as Control (very demanding game). As for multiplayer games, I prefer every sync features to be off. (vg259qm)

[Stevie66]

Unfortunately this monitor suffers from high input lag at 60hz, wether you use it natively at this refresh rate or with Freesync at this refresh rate, I've never tried plugging a console since I strictly play with my computer.
I don't know if this increase in input lag scales linearly from 280hz down to 200-144-60hz (Since it has never been tested at intermediate refreshes) but I've never felt the necessity to use Adaptive Sync at all when setting the refresh rate to 280hz, even when I average 200fps in more demanding games like Apex (I generally get 320fps on R6 and 270fps with OW ).
I do notice tearing at 240hz with no Adaptive Sync but it's much harder to see it at 280hz even tho we are talking about just a +15% increase in refresh rate.
If we are strictly speaking about getting the best competitive experience I seriously doubt that other monitors can do better than the VG259QM but if we take out of the box color accuracy,VRR and HDR behaviour into the equation then the MSI definitely offers an all around better experience.

Just to clarify, you do know that high 60 Hz lag only applies to fixed 60 Hz and fixed 60 Hz VRR, right?

If you set VG259QM to 280 Hz, enable VRR, and you only have 60 fps, high input lag does not occur. Then yes, it's not the best monitor for locked 60 Hz gaming, if competitive, like fighting games.

Really? Isn't the purpose of VRR being a variable refresh rate so if you're at 60 fps you're at 60hz because of VRR on? Only the 280hz is to set your max hz?

You don't understand what I said, I think. Let me try again

Yes, VRR adjusts refresh rate to frame rate, however the high input lag on 60 Hz on VG259QM only happens when you play a game that is locked on 60 Hz or if you change refresh rate to fixed 60 Hz manually. If there is no refresh rate limitation and you leave it at 240/280 Hz, then 60 fps in VRR does not add that extra lag you'd get on fixed/locked 60 Hz.

I got what you said but this whole time I was under the impression that the high input lag happens exactly the same as locked to 60hz or VRR on and you hit 60 fps(so that's 60hz now) figured they acted the same, that's good to know then.

[speancer]

I have no issues with input lag using 280Hz VRR on while playing single player games such as Control (very demanding game). As for multiplayer games, I prefer every sync features to be off. (vg259qm)

I got what you said but this whole time I was under the impression that the high input lag happens exactly the same as locked to 60hz or VRR on and you hit 60 fps(so that's 60hz now) figured they acted the same, that's good to know then.

Yep, this is misleading, and no, they don't act the same People think that when you have your refresh rate set to 240/280 Hz and turn VRR on and drop to 60 fps you'd get that super-high input lag, but you don't. High input lag issue only applies to fixed/locked 60 Hz scenarios (with or without VRR). So yeah, if the game is not locked on 60 Hz and your monitor is set to 240/280 Hz, then you still have very low input lag if fps drops to 60 in VRR.

[axaro1]

Just to clarify, you do know that high 60 Hz lag only applies to fixed 60 Hz and fixed 60 Hz VRR, right?

If you set VG259QM to 280 Hz, enable VRR, and you only have 60 fps, high input lag does not occur.

It's not the best monitor for locked 60 Hz gaming, if competitive, like fighting games. For single player games at locked 60 Hz I don't really care. I play Sekiro quite often, it's locked on 60 Hz, it requires fast reactions, I have no trouble at all.

I thought that "Variable Refresh Rate @ 60Hz" from RTings review meant 280hz monitor with Adaptive Sync ON and getting 60fps while benefitting from the 280hz scan out.
I'm glad to know that RTings refers to just 60hz Native refresh rate + VRR.

[jimbus80]

Also, such super high refresh rate monitors are rather intended to be used for fast competitive gaming, such as CS:GO.

(I am only quoting what I want to comment) That's not true. Smoothness is not only for competitive gaming. I enjoy playing racing games (Project Cars 2, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Ride 3...) not competitively at the maximum fps at possible, for example.

[jimbus80]

Well, now I have at home both the AW2521HF and the XG270QG and the latter is just... disappointing compared to the Alienware. Of course, it's bigger, it has more resolution, it's crisper (more ppi) and for general use I could say it is better, but the price is not justified, the quality control is not good (my panel has huge bleeding and a dead pixel) and for gaming the AW2521HF is clearly better: smoother (more fps) and with a surprisingly good overdrive which can be set at "fast" and forget about it. I thought the NVIDIA Gsync physical module of the Viewsonic would make the difference between these two monitors with my 1080ti when playing games with oscillating fps, but not at all.

So, my conclusion (because I doubt I keep buying monitors for a while, but, perhaps, the 27GN950 if I find it available): from the experience of the monitors I've owned during a whole year, the best gaming monitors of 2020 (smoothness, motion clarity, etc.) are the Alienware AW2521HF/L and the MSI MAG251RX. Between them, just keep the one which has less bleeding, no dead pixels, etc., because a good panel can make the difference.

[karel88l]

I have no issues with input lag using 280Hz VRR on while playing single player games such as Control (very demanding game). As for multiplayer games, I prefer every sync features to be off. (vg259qm)

I got what you said but this whole time I was under the impression that the high input lag happens exactly the same as locked to 60hz or VRR on and you hit 60 fps(so that's 60hz now) figured they acted the same, that's good to know then.

Yep, this is misleading, and no, they don't act the same People think that when you have your refresh rate set to 240/280 Hz and turn VRR on and drop to 60 fps you'd get that super-high input lag, but you don't. High input lag issue only applies to fixed/locked 60 Hz scenarios (with or without VRR). So yeah, if the game is not locked on 60 Hz and your monitor is set to 240/280 Hz, then you still have very low input lag if fps drops to 60 in VRR.

And what if monitor is set to 240/280Hz and in game fps are say 30-60,will be input lag still "low" ?


Between AW2521 and VG259QM,have them both on desk now and really cant decide which to keep,but will probably go with ASUS because I can not stand buzzing from internal PSU on DELL especially at night.DELLs advantage over ASUS is that minimum brightness can go way lower,which also helps reducing blb at low lit conditions (I returned MAG251RX because of that) and it also have much more robust stand and better build quality overall.
DELL have stronger matte coating then ASUS,but I do not see any difference in image quality.
I think ASUS overdrive "40" acts pretty much the same like Dell overdrive "fast",according to rtings and I am using "40" for whole refresh rate range lol.Really can not tell difference between them in responsiveness but maybe ASUS feels better at 280Hz (placebo effect ?).

[PLUSPUNKT]

Reading all your Posts for weeks now and still can't decide between VG259QM and MAG251RX (since Acer is not available)

[speancer]

I have no issues with input lag using 280Hz VRR on while playing single player games such as Control (very demanding game). As for multiplayer games, I prefer every sync features to be off. (vg259qm)

I got what you said but this whole time I was under the impression that the high input lag happens exactly the same as locked to 60hz or VRR on and you hit 60 fps(so that's 60hz now) figured they acted the same, that's good to know then.

Yep, this is misleading, and no, they don't act the same People think that when you have your refresh rate set to 240/280 Hz and turn VRR on and drop to 60 fps you'd get that super-high input lag, but you don't. High input lag issue only applies to fixed/locked 60 Hz scenarios (with or without VRR). So yeah, if the game is not locked on 60 Hz and your monitor is set to 240/280 Hz, then you still have very low input lag if fps drops to 60 in VRR.

And what if monitor is set to 240/280Hz and in game fps are say 30-60,will be input lag still "low" ?

You're asking about a situation when you have 30-60 fps with no VRR and native refresh rate set to 240/280 Hz? Then yes, input lag of the monitor will still be very low. You use native refresh rate which has very low processing lag, regardless of frame rate, and you benefit from 240/280 Hz scanout which results in very low image refresh time. Only fixed 60 Hz (manually set) or forced (by game engine) 60 Hz scenarios suffer from very high input lag in VG259QM and VG279QM monitors.

Remember that 30 or 60 fps on 240/280 Hz display have MUCH less lag than 30 or 60 fps on 60 Hz display. The higher the refresh rate, the lower image refresh time gets. Refresh rate set to 240 Hz gives you new frame each 4.17 ms, 280 Hz gives you new frame each 3.57 ms, while 60 Hz gives you new frame each 16.66 ms, so that is a very big difference. Even if you have only 30 fps with refresh rate set to 280 Hz, each of these 30 frames are delivered in 3.57 ms.

In case of 30 fps on 240/280 Hz refresh rate most of the lag you feel is very likely GPU bottleneck. It's helpful to use Low Latency Mode if you use NVIDIA graphics card and your GPU load is maxed out. If I set very high settings in CONTROL (pretty cool game) my fps get pretty low and GPU usage is 99%, game feels laggy. Enabling Low Latency Mode in NVIDIA Control Panel significantly reduces GPU-induced input lag in such scenario and CONTROL feels more responsive on low framerate. Note that Low Latency Mode does not work with DirectX12 applications.

[RLCSContender*]

Reading all your Posts for weeks now and still can't decide between VG259QM and MAG251RX (since Acer is not available)

whichever is cheaper or readily available. Obviously if both are available, i would get the msi mag251rx since there are more playable games from 1-240hz compared to 241hz and above. Also, the MSI has better motion clarity from 240hz and below since since the MSI is literally at the border of when ghosting ends but before overshoot begins, this can also be said for the VG259QM; however, because of its contrast ratio being too high, there is slightly more asymmetrical blur on dark objects.(but not in the magnitude of the samsung odyssey g7 monitors, i would say it's 1/6 of the odyssey's black smear

if i was given a choice, here's what i will select first

#1 msi mag251rx (only use this for special occasions, i want to keep this in mint condition)
#2 Dell Alienware AW2521HFL (my current MAIN and workhorse monitor, my sponsorship also bought me a new one, i have THREE of these for some odd reason.
#3 Asus TUF VG259QM (#1 in motion clarity elmb-sync on or off)
#4 Acer Predator Xb253QGx (#1 in input lag, one of 2 monitors that got me that rare 2ms result on that Human benchmark website by pre clicking and guessing when the monitor will show green)
#last 27" Samsung Odyssey G7