ASUS PG279Q ROG Swift Monitor Review

Conclusion

Much of our thoughts on the PG279Q echo those we have had about previous ASUS ROG Swift displays. 

The most obvious thing is how good this looks even when it’s turned off. The combination of a thin bezel that has been subtly rounded gives the whole monitor a gentle curved aesthetic which makes you want to stroke it. It’s not the harsh edges of professional artist displays, but instead the softness of a gaming option. Any monitor that looks good when it’s just sitting on your desk can enhance the look of your entire rig, and the PG279Q definitely does that. When it’s powered you also have the lovely red glow around the base of the stand and ROG logo that lends a classy, but also “hey look at me”,  air to proceedings. It’s not all about how good it looks when you’re sitting front on either.

Round the back you have the angular rear of the display which carefully offsets the smoothness of the front. This is further accentuated by the triangular stand with the proud ROG logo embossed at the top. As well as providing full ergonomic adjustment in all dimensions the stand doubles up as a cable holder to ensure the rear of your display is as neat and tidy as the inside of your case.

Enough about the looks though, what is it like in action?

Wonderful. The ROG Swift range has always been fantastically capable and the PG279Q is no exception. Colours are vivid without lacking subtlety, brightness is good enough to let you pick out details in shadows yet neither so bright that blacks become grey nor highlights get blown out. The benefits of a good quality IPS panel cannot be overlooked. Indeed it constantly surprises us that people are willing to spend £500+ on a GPU only to run it through the cheapest display they can find. Speaking of which the ROG Swift has twin benefits when it comes to making your GPU look good. Firstly the panel is capable of overclocking up to 165Hz. This is a simple procedure but does manually require ‘overclocking the monitor in the screen settings, letting both the monitor and your system reboot and then enabling 165hz in the Nvidia control panel. Should you have an AMD card then this is something you can take advantage of but if you have an nVidia GPU then you get the twin benefits of the high refresh rate married up to the GSYNC technology that eliminates screen tearing regardless of how high or low your frame rate is.

Your graphics card is only as good as your monitor, and the ASUS PG279Q ROG Swift is very good indeed. Class-leading usability and an array of extra features are the cherries upon the delicious cake of outstanding picture quality. The 1440P resolution is the current sweet spot and the ROG Swift is the perfect foil for your graphics card, and thus wins our OC3D Enthusiast Grade Award. 

  

You can discuss the ASUS PG279Q ROG Swift Monitor Review in the OC3D Forums.