Samsung FCRG5 gaming monitor
A 27-inch, 240Hz, G-Sync curved gaming monitor that has competitive gamers in its crosshairs.
Back in the January issue of APC we took a look at how faster monitors have been shown to significantly improve response times in fast paced games like competitive first person shooters. In addition to displaying opponents faster, it also helps players track targets and reduces distracting artifacts like ghosting and screen tearing, in what adds up to a 90% better kill-to-death ratio for anyone using screens faster than 180fps.
Doubling your performance is a metric that any serious gamer is likely to take note of, so Samsung’s new 27inch curved gaming monitor is worth consideration from anyone looking to improve their gaming performance. Obviously the most notable feature of this screen is the 240Hz refresh rate – a speed that means there’s only a handful of monitors available locally that really compete with it. Generally you pay a premium for cutting edge gaming tech, so we’re not surprised the average lowest price for comparable monitors from Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and BenQ is $681. Samsung on the other hand, is selling its C27RG5 for a RRP of $429 and we’ve seen it going for as little as $389.
You might think that the 43% discount here means you’ll have to sacrifice in some areas, but Samsung’s 27-inch 240Hz monitor is bigger than most of the 24-inch competition, offers proprietary Nvidia G-Sync compatibility and has a considerably larger 3000:1 contrast ratio. The price and vibrancy are down to Samsung’s use of VA panels rather than TN technology, and while on most fronts it’s an improvement it does come with one downside; a 4ms response time. For most people the difference between 4ms and 1ms will be imperceivable and saving $300 by sacrificing here is a no-brainer, but for those that actually get paid to play games, this is potentially a hair worth splitting. Then again if you look at overall input lag the C27R5 was actually the fastest monitor that Tom’s Hardware had on file with a PC to screen rendering lag of just 18ms.
The C27RG5 runs at a max resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, which makes sense when you consider a Nvidia GTX 2080 Super will only get 144fps averages on 1080p Ultra graphical settings in Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019). So you’ll probably need to dial down the graphical quality a little in order to make the most of this display. Samsung reports a typical brightness of 300nits which is similar to the competition, but VA panels have much better viewing angles than anything you can get using a
TN screen.
The screen is nearly bezelless on the top three sides and has a conveniently placed menu control on the bottom centre edge. The display won’t need any colour calibration if you use the DisplayPort 1.2 input, however you may need to cycle through a few colour and black level preserts if you intend on using one of the two HDMI 2.0 inputs. We were a little disappointed that there was no Thunderbolt/ USB 3.1 input, but this was the only negative thing we really had to say about the C27RG5. .
JOEL BURGESS