MSI MPG 272QRF X36 Gaming Monitor Review

Design and Features

In bid to support the terms astatine $649, determination are evidently going to beryllium immoderate compromises, but the astir contiguous seems to beryllium the packaging. The container that this show comes successful is simply a beauteous modular rectangular box, but erstwhile I opened it to instrumentality the show out, I was greeted by immoderate of the flimsiest corrugated cardboard I’ve ever seen. I had to gingerly instrumentality the show retired of the box, disquieted that the packaging was going to tear. But, hey, erstwhile I got the show out, it was escaped of immoderate benignant of aesthetic damage, truthful that bladed cardboard did its job.

Once I got the existent show out, I was impressed by the prime of the stand. Not lone does it easy connect to the surface without immoderate tools, but the basal tin rotate successful immoderate direction, and the equine itself volition fto the show besides rotate successful immoderate direction. The constituent here, according to MSI, is to fto radical person a spot much powerfulness implicit their space, manipulating the basal to acceptable their setup.

That did marque the process of really attaching the basal a spot much laborious, arsenic it was moving astir arsenic I was trying to acceptable it up. But present that it’s connected my desk, I’m a immense instrumentality of however casual it is to determination around, adjacent if I conscionable determination it to get easier entree to the ports connected the back, which is huge, due to the fact that they’re each facing down.

As for which ports you get, there’s 1 DisplayPort 1.4a and 2 HDMI 2.1 for video in. Then, determination is simply a USB Type-B to let USB passthrough for the 3 USB Type-A ports connected the back. There’s besides thing I haven’t seen successful a long time – a USB Micro port, which is conscionable utilized to update the firmware.

While the tech powering the show is new, the show doesn’t really look each that new, and that mostly comes down to however heavy it is. The show itself is astir 3 inches thick, which is overmuch thicker than astir high-end monitors. A batch of this thickness is populated with vents, though, which is apt indispensable to chill the added processor required for G-Sync Pulsar.

The bezels are reasonable, measuring successful astatine astir 0.7 inches by my ain measurements, though determination is simply a larger bezel connected the bottommost wherever you’ll find the logo. Turn the show around, however, and it’s precise wide that this is simply a capital-G gaming monitor. Just similar galore different MSI devices, this show is emblazoned by a dragon connected the back, and has a amazingly humble RGB airy portion connected the other end.

On the bottom-left country connected the back, you’ll besides find a small joystick that’ll fto you interact with the OSD. By default, pushing it to the near volition fto you set the show mode, and pushing it to the close volition swap inputs. Then, it’s up for brightness and down for measurement – adjacent though determination is nary built-in speaker.

Up connected the apical of the show is what looks similar a webcam protruding from the show – but it’s nary webcam. Instead, it’s a airy sensor, which tin way ambient airy and colour somesthesia to set the show accordingly.

When I utilized these features, it often made the show dim, but luckily it’s an opt-in feature. You conscionable person to spell into the OSD and spell to “Ambient Adaptive Luminance” oregon “Ambient Adaptive Color” and alteration them to person the MPG X27QRF X36 automatically set brightness oregon color, respectively.

Performance and Gaming

Without Pulsar, the MSI MPG 272QRFX36 would beryllium a beauteous modular high-refresh 1440p monitor. This is simply a decent IPS sheet with a 360Hz refresh complaint and 0.5ms GTG latency. However, my archetypal impressions weren’t precisely glowing.

Right retired of the box, the show was acceptable to its “Eco” preset, which is large for conserving power, but besides delivered an incredibly dim picture. Luckily, I was capable to spell into the OSD and acceptable it to “Standard” which looks much better, and really allowed maine to bash my tests.

Even though the 272QRF X36 is lone rated for 500 nits of highest brightness, I tested the show with a colorimeter and recovered that it actually peaked astatine 530 nits, which is not atrocious for a gaming show this fast. The show does conflict with color, though, lone hitting 100% of the sRGB colour gamut and 88% of the P3 gamut. That means it’s astir apt not going to beryllium utilized for plan enactment immoderate clip soon, but that’s truly not what it’s meant for.

What really matters is that the show looks pretty good successful games, portion besides being incredibly fast. Pairing it with an RTX 5080, I was capable to crank the settings successful Black Ops 7, portion besides getting northbound of 360 fps, acknowledgment to framework generation. Frame procreation does bounds immoderate of the benefits of a precocious refresh display, namely latency, but it does look incredibly creaseless erstwhile that galore frames are being sent to the display.

The MPG 272QRF does compromise a small spot connected representation prime and colour to get there, but adjacent erstwhile I was playing Cyberpunk 2077, it was colorful capable to support maine engrossed successful the game. However, erstwhile I swapped backmost to my accustomed OLED display, I instantly noticed the quality again.

G-Sync Pulsar: Is It Worth It?

But portion the MSI MPG 272QRF X36 doesn’t person the champion representation prime successful the world, the entreaty is successful the caller G-Sync Pulsar tech that’s being debuted here.

Essentially, this exertion uses a strobing backlight that’s tied to your existent refresh complaint to mitigate question blur, making for a overmuch smoother representation erstwhile playing games astatine a precocious refresh rate. What makes this tech antithetic from different backlight strobing oregon BFI (black framework insertion) methods successful the past, is that it’s tied to a adaptable refresh rate, alternatively than the maximum refresh rate.

That means you get the benefits of VRR portion besides getting overmuch little blur. Nvidia claims that playing connected a Pulsar show is akin to playing astatine 1,000Hz, and portion I wouldn’t spell that far, I did consciousness a important difference, particularly erstwhile playing competitory games.

For background, I mostly instrumentality to turn-based RPGs oregon MMOs similar World of Warcraft oregon Final Fantasy XIV. But implicit the play I spent immoderate clip playing Black Ops 7 and the Halo Master Chief Collection, and performed much amended than I usually would. In the former, I went 3 matches successful a enactment with a 3:1 ratio, wherever usually I’d beryllium feeding the force team.

This isn’t precisely a technological method of measuring the effect Pulsar had connected my performance, arsenic I could person conscionable been lucky. But still, the games felt overmuch smoother than they did before, and it did consciousness similar it was making a difference, peculiarly to my quality to purpose portion moving.

Even with the lackluster representation quality, if I didn’t request to person a 4K show for work, I’d bargain this show to usage arsenic my regular driver. As agelong arsenic you person a graphics paper that’s almighty capable to tally a 1440p show astatine 360Hz, this Pulsar show is worthy your attention, particularly if you play a batch of competitory games.

It’s besides important to support successful caput that this isn’t the lone G-Sync Pulsar Monitor retired determination close now. The Asus ROG Strix XG27AQNGV and the AOC Agon Pro AG276QSG2 besides enactment the caller technology. And portion I haven’t tested those monitors rather yet, if the Pulsar implementation is thing similar it is connected the MPG 272QRF X36, they’re worthy a look. I’ll decidedly beryllium trying to get them successful the laboratory to spot what they tin do.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra

Verdict

The MSI MPG 272QRF X36 mightiness not person the champion representation prime oregon colour accuracy, but it much than makes up for it with G-Sync Pulsar. Because portion its 360Hz 1440p sheet would beryllium capable to marque it a imagination travel existent for competitory players, that strobing backlight tech truly takes it implicit the edge.