Acer's new Predator gaming monitor brings 275Hz to a 1440p IPS. Absolute monster

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If this panel looks as good as it lets on, I may have found a new gold standard.

Acer Predator XB273U NX gaming monitor from the front
(Image credit: Acer)

If you can stop drooling over this one for just a second then we can get into the details of the new Acer Predator XB273U NX gaming monitor. With a 2560 x 1440, 275Hz IPS panel, built with Acer's 'Agile-Splendor' IPS technology and featuring a 0.5ms response time, our expectations are through the roof for this one.

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(Image credit: Future)

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Announced a touch ahead of CES 2021, where we're sure to hear about heaps of other monitors, the new Predator screen has quite the alluring specs list for those of us that aren't quite yet willing to sacrifice mighty framerates for the fidelity of 4K.

That 275Hz refresh rate is definitely something of overkill for even the highest graphics cards going today: even the RTX 3090 struggles to hit that performance grade at 1440p in anything but the least demanding competitive titles. But not hitting the refresh rate shouldn't be a huge issue thanks to Nvidia G-Sync, and we're still pretty enthused about taking the high refresh rates usually relegated to 1080p panels on something with a little more real estate.

And on an IPS, no less. We were half expecting a VA at this grade, but an IPS will do nicely. Acer's Agile-Splendor IPS aims to reduce native response times, and I'd guess that the 0.5ms response time on the XB273U NX will be with Overdrive enabled.

Something we expect to see on a few new arrivals this CES, and found on the Predator, is Nvidia's Reflex Latency Analyzer. You can read all about the benefits of this tech over in Alan's extensive deep dive, including the software side of things and where it'll get you, but essentially this monitor will aid you in measuring system latency so you can go about slashing it.

Acer Predator XB273U NX gaming monitor from the back

(Image credit: Acer)
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Acer Predator XB273U NX
Header Cell - Column 0 Specs
PanelIPS
Size27-inch
Resolution1440p
Refresh rate275Hz (overclocked)
Response time0.5ms (Overdrive enabled)
Colour95% DCI-P3
Variable refresh rateNvidia G-Sync
Price$1,100 (£999, €1,179)

As with any new and exciting panel, we're looking at a bit of a pricing premium. The Acer Predator XB273U NX will be priced at $1,100 (£999, €1,179), and will be available from May.

Acer's also just announced a brand new 4K, 31.5-inch Nvidia G-Sync Compatible monitor, the Predator XB323QK NV. That'll also arrive in May, coming in at $1,200. 

So we're looking at two very high-end PC monitors out of Acer ahead of CES 2021. But the tech show taking place next week is a broad church, and we're sure to see plenty of gaming monitors announced and running the gambit from pricey to price-conscious.

Jacob Ridley
Jacob Ridley
Managing Editor, Hardware

Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog, before graduating into breaking things professionally at PCGamesN. Now he's managing editor of the hardware team at PC Gamer, and you'll usually find him testing the latest components or building a gaming PC.