Alienware's 500Hz 1080p gaming monitor is yours for $829 because of course it's unfeasibly expensive
At some point, the returns on higher refresh rates must surely diminish. But not yet. Enter Alienware's 500Hz gaming monitor, yours for $829(opens in new tab).
The Alienware AW2524H was originally announced back in January at CES(opens in new tab). But now it's actually available to buy on the Dell Alienware website. The 500Hz bit isn't totally novel—Asus has been promising a 500Hz screen since Computex(opens in new tab)—but this is the first time anyone has managed to hit that refresh rate with an IPS rather than TN panel.
It's a 25-inch model and, inevitably given the refresh rate, runs 1920 by 1080 pixels. So, it's an out-and-out esports panel built for speed rather than pretty graphics.
On that note, Alienware is claiming 0.5ms gray-to-gray response, which is exceptional. The catch is that it is also claiming 1ms for gray-to-gray response. Confused? Us too.
More specifically, Alienware says the 1ms figure is for gray-to-gray «extreme» response, where the 0.5ms pertains to gray-to-gray «min» response. Whatever. No doubt this is a very quick panel by IPS standards. But it'll still be miles off the response of an OLED panel.
It's something of a niche tool, then, this new Alienware panel. It's 1080p on a 25-inch panel, so image clarity isn't a priority. And yet it bigs up the IPS thing, which implies image quality is important.
Best gaming monitor(opens in new tab): Pixel-perfect panels for your PCBest high refresh rate monitor(opens in new tab): Screaming quick screensBest 4K monitor for gaming(opens in new tab): When only high-res will doBest 4K TV for gaming(opens in new tab): Big-screen 4K PC gaming
Then it gives you 500Hz refresh, which is great for latency and beats out any OLED monitor(opens in new tab) by some
Read more on pcgamer.com
