MSI MAG251RX or VG259QM or Dell S2522HG?

[peixotao]

I am about to buy a monitor to play competitive FPS games (Fortnite and Valorant)...

In my initial shortlist of monitors had the Zowie xl2546k and xl2540k and Omen X27 but all of these are TN panels and have been told that the new IPS can replace easily those TN monitors... so they are not in my shortlist anymore.

The VierwSonic XG2431 (i would have to import it from the US) and the Acer 390hz (100 euros more than both of the contenders here in dispute) were also in my shortlist but because of the reasons were taken away.

So my actual short list has been narrowed these three models...

I heard that the Asus has many issues and that the MSI is better performer like the Zowie xl2546K.. Apparently Dell is the fastest because it has a different panel from LG...

I now need an advice here to which to choose...

[axaro1]

The 3 monitors you named are all good, you should also consider the 24G2ZU (there's also a ZE variant, idk the difference), it has the same panel as the XG2431 and a decent strobing implementation.

The MAG has a nicely balanced overdrive, supposedly even with scaling voltage with VRR without having a Gsync module.
The VG259QM doesn't have any issue aside from ELMB+VRR not being usable (ELMB is fine) and has a good amount of overdrive granularity but it's not 100% compliant with 280hz.
The Dell is surely the top performer strictly in terms of sample and hold (aka unstrobed) performance, if you don't care about motion blur reduction it surely is a top pick.

The ViewSonic XG2431 (i would have to import it from the US) and the Acer 390hz (100 euros more than both of the contenders here in dispute) were also in my shortlist but because of the reasons were taken away.

The XG2431 would normally be a no brainer but depending on your location shipping + custom fees can end up making it way too expensive.

Also, you can save like 85euro (-15%) from the 390hz XV252QF from Acer official site if you happen to be a student (with Studentbeans program https://help.studentbeans.com/hc/en-us/ ... y-country-) basically making it less expensive than something like the 2546K.

[wired41]

The 3 monitors you named are all good, you should also consider the 24G2ZU (there's also a ZE variant, idk the difference), it has the same panel as the XG2431 and a decent strobing implementation.

The MAG has a nicely balanced overdrive, supposedly even with scaling voltage with VRR without having a Gsync module.
The VG259QM doesn't have any issue aside from ELMB+VRR not being usable (ELMB is fine) and has a good amount of overdrive granularity but it's not 100% compliant with 280hz.
The Dell is surely the top performer strictly in terms of sample and hold (aka unstrobed) performance, if you don't care about motion blur reduction it surely is a top pick.

The ViewSonic XG2431 (i would have to import it from the US) and the Acer 390hz (100 euros more than both of the contenders here in dispute) were also in my shortlist but because of the reasons were taken away.

The XG2431 would normally be a no brainer but depending on your location shipping + custom fees can end up making it way too expensive.

Also, you can save like 85euro (-15%) from the 390hz XV252QF from Acer official site if you happen to be a student (with Studentbeans program https://help.studentbeans.com/hc/en-us/ ... y-country-) basically making it less expensive than something like the 2546K.

Is the 24G2ZU available in the states? I've been looking for this monitor everywhere and cannot seem to find it.

[axaro1]

Is the 24G2ZU available in the states? I've been looking for this monitor everywhere and cannot seem to find it.

I don't think so but why would you choose it over the XG2431 if it's available in the US?

The Viewsonic is arguably the best 240hz monitor on the market.

[wired41]

Is the 24G2ZU available in the states? I've been looking for this monitor everywhere and cannot seem to find it.

I don't think so but why would you choose it over the XG2431 if it's available in the US?

The Viewsonic is arguably the best 240hz monitor on the market.

I tried the XG2431 and had a bad experience with it. For some reason I kept getting intense eye strain and no matter what settings I used. After three days of owning the monitor a black horizontal line appeared and I could not get it to go away. Changed cables, GPU's, settings and it was still there thus I concluded it was a faulty unit. I ended up returning it. What I will say is that monitor is amazing, it was so smooth and the colors are beautiful. I just wish I had a better experience with it. I was thinking to give it another try and having the monitor for longer than three days.

[axaro1]

I tried the XG2431 and had a bad experience with it. For some reason I kept getting intense eye strain and no matter what settings I used. After three days of owning the monitor a black horizontal line appeared and I could not get it to go away. Changed cables, GPU's, settings and it was still there thus I concluded it was a faulty unit. I ended up returning it. What I will say is that monitor is amazing, it was so smooth and the colors are beautiful. I just wish I had a better experience with it. I was thinking to give it another try and having the monitor for longer than three days.

Yeah strobing can be cause eye strains or headaches, from my experience your eyes get used to it after some time and these kind of downsides eventually disappear (strobing brightness also plays a huge role in this).

[wired41]

I tried the XG2431 and had a bad experience with it. For some reason I kept getting intense eye strain and no matter what settings I used. After three days of owning the monitor a black horizontal line appeared and I could not get it to go away. Changed cables, GPU's, settings and it was still there thus I concluded it was a faulty unit. I ended up returning it. What I will say is that monitor is amazing, it was so smooth and the colors are beautiful. I just wish I had a better experience with it. I was thinking to give it another try and having the monitor for longer than three days.

Yeah strobing can be cause eye strains or headaches, from my experience your eyes get used to it after some time and these kind of downsides eventually disappear (strobing brightness also plays a huge role in this).

Yep, that's what I was thinking. Another monitor that I had my eye on is the XV252QF. My local Microcenter has in stock and it's super tempting. I see that you're using it based on your signature, how is the motion blur?

[axaro1]

Yep, that's what I was thinking. Another monitor that I had my eye on is the XV252QF. My local Microcenter has in stock and it's super tempting. I see that you're using it based on your signature, how is the motion blur?

It's definitely more clear than the VG259QM but a little bit worse than the 2546K strictly during strobed motion clarity testings (unstrobed clarity is better on the XV252QF because of 390hz persistence)

The bump in refresh rate from 240hz is not a big improvement, it does feel smoother and latency feels about the same if not slightly better compared to the Asus that has the same input lag as the Acer according to Rtings.

What truly makes the XV252QF shine is strobing at 390hz, especially with OD Extreme (I tested in SmoothFrog with custom user images with Apex/CSGO/Overwatch Screenshot and VRB Extreme+OD Extreme is the clearest even though some reviewers recommend OD Normal, which is okayish from a "0 overshoot" perspective but arguably provides worse results).

I never lose tracks of the enemies when shooting, the smoothness is unreal and I can't perceive any latency penalty when strobing at 390hz, which was something that I could surely notice on the 2546K when enabling Dyac.


I would have never bought a 360hz monitor with a Gsync module strictly because of the price point but the Acer can be very cheap depending on your location and local deals.

Since I already had in mind to upgrade to Zen4/Raptor Lake by the end of this year choosing a 390hz monitor was a little bit more future proof but if you aren't looking for crazy framerates then monitors like the XG2431 will achieve better clarity results during strobing.

[wired41]

Yep, that's what I was thinking. Another monitor that I had my eye on is the XV252QF. My local Microcenter has in stock and it's super tempting. I see that you're using it based on your signature, how is the motion blur?

It's definitely more clear than the VG259QM but a little bit worse than the 2546K strictly during strobed motion clarity testings (unstrobed clarity is better on the XV252QF because of 390hz persistence)

The bump in refresh rate from 240hz is not a big improvement, it does feel smoother and latency feels about the same if not slightly better compared to the Asus that has the same input lag as the Acer according to Rtings.

What truly makes the XV252QF shine is strobing at 390hz, especially with OD Extreme (I tested in SmoothFrog with custom user images with Apex/CSGO/Overwatch Screenshot and VRB Extreme+OD Extreme is the clearest even though some reviewers recommend OD Normal, which is okayish from a "0 overshoot" perspective but arguably provides worse results).

I never lose tracks of the enemies when shooting, the smoothness is unreal and I can't perceive any latency penalty when strobing at 390hz, which was something that I could surely notice on the 2546K when enabling Dyac.


I would have never bought a 360hz monitor with a Gsync module strictly because of the price point but the Acer can be very cheap depending on your location and local deals.

Since I already had in mind to upgrade to Zen4/Raptor Lake by the end of this year choosing a 390hz monitor was a little bit more future proof but if you aren't looking for crazy framerates then monitors like the XG2431 will achieve better clarity results during strobing.

That's actually incredible. The smoothness sounds like a dream. I recently upgraded to a 3060TI from a 980TI and my old TN monitor (XL2411Z) doesn't have a HDMI or DP output. I tried an active adapter and unfortunately that didn't work either so now I am on the hunt for a new monitor. I was reading that upgrading from 144hz to 360-390hz is more worth it than going from 144hz to 240hz, but I don't know how true that is because when the XG2431 did work for those few days, it was honestly the most incredible thing I've seen. Zero motion blur and so smooth!

One issue I have is that if I cannot generate the necessary FPS for a 390hz monitor is it still worth getting? I know this depends on the game, but in general, what would you say?

[axaro1]

One issue I have is that if I cannot generate the necessary FPS for a 390hz monitor is it still worth getting? I know this depends on the game, but in general, what would you say?

The fact is that with strobing you most likely want to reach fps=refresh rate scenarios (or overkill fps) because of this:



... so it's hard to recommend 390hz if you don't plan to achieve 390fps.

Technically the closer you get to that refresh rate in terms of fps the less you notice it but I wouldn't consider this monitor if you can't even reach 300+ fps in a specific game.

I'd say that you get better results with 240hz strobing than with 390hz strobing if your fps is lower than 300.

I'm testing right now with Smoothfrog at 100fps while strobing at 390hz and it is completely unusable, 200fps is better than 100fps but not better than strobing off (these kind of double images look similar to severe ghosting), 300fps is where VRB Extreme starts to match unstrobed motion clarity, 390fps is where VRB beats unstrobed.




For reference, I'm using ^this^ image as a custom UserPattern by renaming it User1.png in SmoothFrog0.94b\WindowsNoEditor\SmoothFrog\Content\UserPatterns

I'm testing at 1950px/s (1950/390 = 5)