ROG Swift PG278Q - power consumption and overheating ?

[mello]

I want this monitor, but apart from performance, i am also interested in power consumption and potential overheating problem. There have been rumors that this monitor was not released up until recently, because they needed to come up with better ventilation system. Early reviews and monitor spec also show that power consumption for this beast is quite high in comparison to other monitors. I do not want to have two monitors, and my preference would be only one that is used for everything, gaming, desktop, inet browsing and movies. And in my case it would mean that my PC would be running basically 24h/day, and monitor being switched off when not used. I am worried that ROG Swift might increase temperature in the room even further, and i would very much like to avoid that.

People should start receiving their monitors in next 3 weeks, so it would be nice to hear some feedback on both these aspects. Also, maybe Mark could shed some light on these two things while writing the review.

[Chief Blur Buster]

Also, maybe Mark could shed some light on these two things while writing the review.

Thanks for the tip. I will do some analysis.

However, here's background information: Scientifically, I think it's much ado about nothing.

Your computer will emit more heat than the monitor. If you're planning on driving a ROG PG278Q, you're already using a GPU that peaks more than 200 watts of electricity during gaming. What's 45 watts for this monitor, compared to the 25 watts a cheap 27" monitor may output? Only 20 watt difference. That's less power than a typical GPU at idle. That's not much extra heat the ROG PG278Q emits compared to an average 27" LED-backlit LCD. So choosing this monitor will only add less than 10% extra heat to your room to a typical average gaming computer that this gaming monitor is worthy for. If you're a GTX Titan SLI user with a 1200W+ power supply, then the monitor is going to be a pretty insignificant blip to the total heat output of your whole computer system.

Yesterday's CCFL monitors consumed far more power at low brightness. My old 24" Samsung 245BW measures more than 50 watts on a Kill-A-Watt. It heated up quite a bit, too. Still works today. As long as the monitor is designed properly, a monitor consuming 50 watts is not a problem, and is a minor heat source compared to a 300 watt gaming computer, or even a power-efficient 100 watt gaming computer. Also, according to the guru3d power tests, even the ROG PG278Q falls to under 1W standby after a while, about 15 minutes after it goes to sleep, so it ceases to be a heater then. The ROG PG278Q is quite power-efficient compared to yesterday's CRTs and CCFL monitors, even if it's a small step backwards power-wise (for good motion-quality cause) compared to a brand new 27" cheap LED monitor.

(NOTE: Based on existing power data I've read on guru3d's review, so this post is based on publicly available information.)

[Alamar]

Chief congratulations on your 2000 post
Keep up the great work with site and your goal

[Chief Blur Buster]

Chief congratulations on your 2000 post
Keep up the great work with site and your goal

Oh wow, I hadn't noticed. 2000 posts!

Thanks for the call-out.

[IwantGSYNC]

Also, maybe Mark could shed some light on these two things while writing the review.

Thanks for the tip. I will do some analysis.

Please, test this monitor with games locked at 30 fps (LA Noire, Need for Speed Rivals, etc). Minimal G-Sync refresh rate is 30hz so it is unclear if G-Sync works with such games.

Also, there is one more problem that is actual for 1080p G-Sync monitors, I've mentioned it here (http://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=870): NV GPUs send out limited color range when using DP at 1080p60hz so I think it will be interesting to test games locked at 60hz as well (MGS Rising). As far as I understand, GPU will send out full color range if game is launched at 1080p>60hz resolutions and limited color range in 60hz-locked games, such as MGS Rising.

[mello]

So, now i can shed a little light about power consumption and overheating.

I am using 120Hz for desktop and 144Hz for gaming. On desktop, monitor is very cool but during gaming sides and corners can become quite hot, i wonder how it will feel in the summer. And power consumption, my UPS LCD panel shows that ROG Swift is using ~20 watts more on avarage then my previous monitor (BENQ 24" 144hz), so no big deal here.

[sharknice]

Also, maybe Mark could shed some light on these two things while writing the review.

Thanks for the tip. I will do some analysis.

Please, test this monitor with games locked at 30 fps (LA Noire, Need for Speed Rivals, etc). Minimal G-Sync refresh rate is 30hz so it is unclear if G-Sync works with such games.

Also, there is one more problem that is actual for 1080p G-Sync monitors, I've mentioned it here (http://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=870): NV GPUs send out limited color range when using DP at 1080p60hz so I think it will be interesting to test games locked at 60hz as well (MGS Rising). As far as I understand, GPU will send out full color range if game is launched at 1080p>60hz resolutions and limited color range in 60hz-locked games, such as MGS Rising.

You can still have the monitor set to GSYNC 1080p@144Hz even if the game only runs at 60 fps. They games don't force you into 60hz do they?

[mello]

You can still have the monitor set to GSYNC 1080p@144Hz even if the game only runs at 60 fps. They games don't force you into 60hz do they?

Scaling to 1080p looks terrible on the ROG Swift, at least on desktop, not sure about gaming, haven't tried it yet.

[RealNC]

You can still have the monitor set to GSYNC 1080p@144Hz even if the game only runs at 60 fps. They games don't force you into 60hz do they?

Scaling to 1080p looks terrible on the ROG Swift, at least on desktop, not sure about gaming, haven't tried it yet.

What does this have to do with scaling?

[Alamar]

You can still have the monitor set to GSYNC 1080p@144Hz even if the game only runs at 60 fps. They games don't force you into 60hz do they?

Scaling to 1080p looks terrible on the ROG Swift, at least on desktop, not sure about gaming, haven't tried it yet.

Try 1:1 scaling: 720p and tell here if it looks good or better.