Asus to launch 360Hz gaming monitor next month for $699

The Asus ROG Swift PG259QN gaming monitor, capable of superhuman screen refreshing speeds up to 360Hz, will be available from September for $699 (£629).

Announced back at CES 2020, the Asus monitor was announced in conjunction with Nvidia as "the world's fastest esports display". As such, it also comes equipped with a G-Sync module to keep your GPU as synced up with that extrme refresh rate as best it can.

It's a good thing we'll be hearing more about Nvidia Ampere graphics cards next month, as no doubt you'll be needing a powerful GPU to reach 360Hz in all but the least demanding games. At least you can be sure CS:GO will be making the most of the PG259QN's speedy panel technology.

The 24.5-inch IPS panel powering the PG259QN is manufactured by AU Optronics and features a 1920 x 1080 resolution. That means you will have to sacrifice high-res fidelity for speed, but for the intended use case that shouldn't be much of an issue.

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The IPS panel is certainly a sign of the times; all too often we'd find these super-speedy esports monitors leaning on TN panel technology in the past. The current panel is even HDR10 compatible with a 1ms GtG response time, which is a far cry from what we've experienced in the past with esports-grade monitors.

I took an early Asus 360Hz monitor for a whirl at the Las Vegas show in January—which feels like a strange dream at this point in 2020—and I can confirm the refresh rate is great in practice. This is definitely not your everyday panel, however, so stay tuned for our full Asus ROG Swift PG259QN review.

“ROG gaming monitors deliver the speed and features that gives me a competitive edge, and this new ROG Swift 360Hz PG259QN has created a noticeable improvement in my performance," says Bugha, the 2019 Fortnite World Cup champion. And he definitely wasn't coached into saying that by his sponsors.

But if you're not a current or aspiring esports champ, looking for a leg up in your next competition, then perhaps something a little more balanced, such as a 1440p 144Hz panel, or any one of the best gaming monitors we've tested, will be a more sensible choice for you.

Oh and I'll just leave this right here: How many frames per second can the human eye really see?

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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.