Overlord Tempest X270OC, 27" 120 Hz IPS Gaming Monitor Review

[eklipz330]

but those ultra wide screen monitors look so damn good... 21:9 looks perfect for PC

 

[noobzilla771]

My 27" 1440p IPS broke (display would turn off randomly after 2-10 mins of use). I use the Asus VG248QE right now. Its TN panel is surprisingly comparable to the IPS, but I still put a slight edge on the IPS. After experiencing 120+Hz, I'm never going back to 60Hz. My KDR went .6 higher. If I didn't already have this Asus monitor, I would definitely get a 1440p 120hz IPS monitor. Though I may have trouble running 60+ fps on max settings on some games even with a 7970.

As far as 4K 120hz panels go... I'd say 5-7 years.

 

[MonsterCookie]

What I do not get is how is it possible that mobile phone manufacturers make mobile phone already two years ago with HD equivalent touchscreen displays, and the pixel density is insane compared to an LCD monitor we use every day.

So why on earth are the prices not dropping on LCD monitors, and resolution go up?
People want to also DO SOME WORK on their darn monitor not just watch movies,
and quite frankly for any work a wide-screen 16:9 sucks.
Best example is TomsHardware, which is still optimized for 1024x pixels, so on a widescreen I can barely see something from the text, and the two sides are just gray empty real-estate.

 

[Swiperd3]

5) The lack of displayport etc is what helps keeping input lag low.

A synchronous digital multiplexer operating at 1GHz adds maybe two nanoseconds to propagation delays. You would need a horribly poor design for the number of inputs to actually have any measurable effect on lag.

Where displays get most of their input lag from is image processing when they do things like dynamic contrast and power-saving backlighting.

All other 1440p displays that have multiple inputs suffer from much higher input lag than single-input 1440p displays. My guess is that it's not to have something with inputs themselves and rather with the scalar, that gets implemented along with them. It's never an issue with 1080p displays, but ALWAYS with 1440p.

 

[jossrik]

Is it just me or does it look like it says Overlorb on the monitor in that last picture of it?

 

[CaptainTom]

God just make a 4K version for under $500 and I could see A LOT of gamers upgrading soon...

 

[cwolf78]

Seems like too many compromises had to be made to reach this price point. Why doesn't it support 120 Hz natively instead of having to hack the drivers? And no OSD?? Really? Is it THAT hard to implement? I have the Asus VG248QE and I really like how they went above and beyond with the gamer specific OSD overlays (targeting reticles, timers, etc.) Wouldn't be a deal breaker if it didn't have those things, but nice to have

 

[rishiswaz]

God just make a 4K version for under $500 and I could see A LOT of gamers upgrading soon...

good luck on a sub 500 dollar monitor with 4K and 120Hz. I mean just 1440p 120Hz is 450 now, I would give it 3 or 4 years before you see those

 

[Bondfc11]

Seems like too many compromises had to be made to reach this price point. Why doesn't it support 120 Hz natively instead of having to hack the drivers? And no OSD?? Really? Is it THAT hard to implement? I have the Asus VG248QE and I really like how they went above and beyond with the gamer specific OSD overlays (targeting reticles, timers, etc.) Wouldn't be a deal breaker if it didn't have those things, but nice to have

We need to clear a few things up in your comments. Yes, I agree this is a stripped down unit, but like a Ferrari without AC in my opinion.

First, the patch is necessary since AMD and Nvidia have an artificial pixel clock limitation in their drivers. When you do the math the pixel clock required to push a screen this large to 120Hz is higher than the stock drivers allow - not Overlord's fault so not a comprimise.

Second, from what I have read from Scribby's posts over the years no OSD, no scalar, no other inputs lowers lag and that is why you see the Tempest performing so well in lag tests essentially killing other IPS panels.

Third, is an OSD worth X amount of money to you? The deal for me is I know I cant have my cake and eat it to. How can you expect a California-based company to produce such a killer monitor at this price point with bells and whistles? Of course some things need to be left behind - that is why this monitor isn't $600.

 

[ubercake]

...
4) Overclocking this is not luck of the draw. They all come at least 96Hz, and the great majority work 120Hz.
...

Definitely a crapshoot though the odds may be in you favor.

Here are some excerpts from the X270OC manual:

Overclock Warranty: Overlord Computer does not warranty that your panel will reach a specific refresh rate. Overclocking does not void your panel/component warranty.

However, it is important to note that we here at Overlord cannot and do not guarantee that your monitor will hit a particular rate.

If every one of these monitors was shipped capable of 120Hz, they would ship that way and it would be a choice when setting up the monitor without tweaking the driver.

Also, throughout the manual, and this may have something to do with pushing something beyond its native refresh rate, the manual discusses that your ability to overclock the monitor's refresh rate has a lot to do with the capability of your GPU. This does not make sense (again from the manual for this monitor):

However, since the ability to overclock your monitor is so dependent on your current graphics card many people may not see much benefit in trying to hit 96hz...

Currently, non-G-Sync monitors have static refresh rates. If you buy a true 120Hz monitor, you can set it to 120Hz no matter what frame rate your video card can pump out. Refresh rate is independent of video card capabilities and is a property of the monitor itself.

For example, if I'm running Crysis 3 and my frame rate is 30fps and I'm running on a true 120Hz monitor, the monitor still refreshes at 120Hz. It doesn't clock down to match my video cards fps. The monitor still refreshes at 120Hz.

The Overlord monitor specs are decent (especially the low input lag) and the review seems favorable, but unless Overlord can state the monitor will run at a native refresh of 120Hz and warranty it as such, I wouldn't buy it.

 

[Chris Droste]

at $450 for the monitor specs is awesome. personally i would've preferred a locking connector on the DC input, Displayport, and nix the built-in speakers. other than that for THAT price i think it would be worthwhile and even profitable to add another $30-40 to have a 120Hz guarantee!

 

[Traciatim]

God just make a 4K version for under $500 and I could see A LOT of gamers upgrading soon...

Why would gamers upgrade if the monitor was under 500 when you would need 1200-1800 in just graphics cards just to drive it? Even then I'm not even sure DisplayPort 1.2 can drive a 4k monitor at over 60Hz so even then you would need some kludgy solution for multiple connections acting like multiple monitors on the single display like you do currently for many 4K HDMI setups.

4K just isn't ready for mass adoption, try again to be an early adopter in 2 years, or about 4 years for more consumer friendly and accessible options.

 

[hahmed330]

Wow!!!! One word for it awesome! If you include with this g-sync then what we have is gaming nirvana or heaven or janah

 

[Black Octagon]

Fantastic to finally see a professional review of this monitor.

To those commenting about the lack of out-of-the-box 120Hz support: You need to understand that not everything here depends on the panel itself. When OC'd to approximately 120Hz, the GPU drivers, the DVI connection and the PCBs are all operating at levels that push the limits of what they were originally intended to do. You can easily have a panel that supports 120Hz fine, but experience artifacts due to the DVI connection. Different issues also pop up from time to time with the AMD and NV drivers. Overlord simply cannot guarentee 120Hz support out of the box. Doesn't make this monitor any less awesome, in my view.

Anyone OC-ing these monitors should also show some recognition to ToastyX, who developed both the pixel clock patchers and the custom version of CRU.exe needed to OC the monitors. He continues to make these tools available for free and provides tech support on his website: monitortests(dot)com. Consider sending him a fiver or more via Paypal donation as thanks for having made this OC-ing process so much easier than it used to be

 

[InvalidError]

Currently, non-G-Sync monitors have static refresh rates. If you buy a true 120Hz monitor, you can set it to 120Hz no matter what frame rate your video card can pump out.

Only if your video card's TMDS transceivers can handle the extra bitrate over your cables.

You need about 10Gbps to do 2560x1440p120 and you need HDMI 1.4 or UDP 1.2 to push that. DVI does not appear to have an official spec beyond 1920x1200p60.

Since this display only supports DVI input which is the only standard that does not have any official support for the bitrates required to support that resolution and refresh rate, it would not be so surprising that some card manufacturers or chips might not be able to achieve the required bandwidth on DVI.

 

[agentbb007]

Very interesting so would you guys recommend this monitor or the BenQ XL2720Z? I have an Asus GTX Titan video card.

 

[trogdor796]

Please review the Asus ROG Swift! Another large 1440p monitor that while TN instead of IPS, it's 144hz and has G-Sync.

 

[skit75]

The resolution wiki page has resolution usage statistics from the web and from Steam for the first 4 months of this year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

QHD is still only 00.93 of Steam users and only 00.58 of web users. There is still a long way to go before this resolution hits critical mass. Even though this display has won Tom's Smart buy, I will wait until it gets just a little bit, smarter.

 

[Bondfc11]

...
4) Overclocking this is not luck of the draw. They all come at least 96Hz, and the great majority work 120Hz.
...

Definitely a crapshoot though the odds may be in you favor.

Here are some excerpts from the X270OC manual:

Overclock Warranty: Overlord Computer does not warranty that your panel will reach a specific refresh rate. Overclocking does not void your panel/component warranty.

However, it is important to note that we here at Overlord cannot and do not guarantee that your monitor will hit a particular rate.

If every one of these monitors was shipped capable of 120Hz, they would ship that way and it would be a choice when setting up the monitor without tweaking the driver.

Also, throughout the manual, and this may have something to do with pushing something beyond its native refresh rate, the manual discusses that your ability to overclock the monitor's refresh rate has a lot to do with the capability of your GPU. This does not make sense (again from the manual for this monitor):

However, since the ability to overclock your monitor is so dependent on your current graphics card many people may not see much benefit in trying to hit 96hz...

Currently, non-G-Sync monitors have static refresh rates. If you buy a true 120Hz monitor, you can set it to 120Hz no matter what frame rate your video card can pump out. Refresh rate is independent of video card capabilities and is a property of the monitor itself.

For example, if I'm running Crysis 3 and my frame rate is 30fps and I'm running on a true 120Hz monitor, the monitor still refreshes at 120Hz. It doesn't clock down to match my video cards fps. The monitor still refreshes at 120Hz.

The Overlord monitor specs are decent (especially the low input lag) and the review seems favorable, but unless Overlord can state the monitor will run at a native refresh of 120Hz and warranty it as such, I wouldn't buy it.

I will respond to the last point on refresh rates - 120Hz and FPS. The point in the manual and Scribby's points made on Overlord's forums is simple - if you have a weak card trying to push 96Hz on the Tempest may be impossible. The comment is meant for gamers - if you are only getting a consistent FPS, say 40-60, in your games why pay more for 120Hz monitors - for the smooth mouse motion when you slide over to start Crysis? There is absolutely no benefit to pay $800 for the Swift if your rig cannot run games above 60Hz (or the Tempest OC for that matter - although at nearly half the price you could buy two - and kill your FPS even more).

What some people don't understand is that overclocking is due to much more than just the panels and too many people assume their rig can run any size panel at whatever settings they want and still max FPS. Pixel clocks people - don't forget the pixel clocks.

 

[Bondfc11]

The resolution wiki page has resolution usage statistics from the web and from Steam for the first 4 months of this year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

QHD is still only 00.93 of Steam users and only 00.58 of web users. There is still a long way to go before this resolution hits critical mass. Even though this display has won Tom's Smart buy, I will wait until it gets just a little bit, smarter.

Smarter meaning more people use it? How is that smarter? I have no idea your point, but I cannot fathom it. Only a few people drive Ferraris compared to all cars on the road - do you want to wait to get one because they haven't reached a critical mass? Gaming on large format screens with high refresh rates is so immersive you will kick yourself for not being smarter and buying one sooner. Just my opinion of course since you seem to think us 1440 and above junkies aren't that smart.

 

[skit75]

The resolution wiki page has resolution usage statistics from the web and from Steam for the first 4 months of this year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution

QHD is still only 00.93 of Steam users and only 00.58 of web users. There is still a long way to go before this resolution hits critical mass. Even though this display has won Tom's Smart buy, I will wait until it gets just a little bit, smarter.

Smarter meaning more people use it? How is that smarter? I have no idea your point, but I cannot fathom it. Only a few people drive Ferraris compared to all cars on the road - do you want to wait to get one because they haven't reached a critical mass? Gaming on large format screens with high refresh rates is so immersive you will kick yourself for not being smarter and buying one sooner. Just my opinion of course since you seem to think us 1440 and above junkies aren't that smart.

Smarter meaning easier on my wallet. Early adopters pay premiums through the nose. This price is still too high, for me. This display is a want, not a need.

Just like the article/reviewer eluded to... with LG supplying nearly 100% of these panels at this point, the price needs to fall more before my finances meet my wants for a 1440p monitor over 60Hz. This display would also require me buying a GPU more robust than my GTX 770 to see much above 60 FPS.

Reading enthusiast boards all day can jade one into thinking everybody has these already when usage statistics show it is less than 1%. Kind of like the people screaming for 4K displays. I wouldn't want a 4k display, especially for gaming, in anything less than 50-52"..... what's the point?

 

[Bondfc11]

I understand your point better now - thank you. Then maybe just say you think they cost too much? And I agree on teh 4K front - that is all advertising from the TV manufacturers trying to get us to drink the 3D koolaid leftover when we didn't buy that garbage (although 4K is great, but too pricey).

 

[Bondfc11]

I went back and re-read the Overclock Overview after Uber's post just to make sure I was reading it correctly. I think I am and Uber cuts off Scribby's sentence to make his own point rather than properly quoting him. The entire paragraph is important to read since it goes to the heart of why no IPS panel is currently guaranteed to hit a particular rate.

"However, since the ability to overclock your monitor is so dependent on your current graphics card many people may not see much benefit in trying to hit 96hz (if you don't have the latest and greatest card) since your rig will be unable to achieve 96FPS. Not to mention the fact that your current rig may wheeze like a 30-year old smoker at a chimney sweep convention in downtown Beijing during summertime if you try anything but mid-graphics settings at 1440. Why? Can you say 3.7 MILLION pixels? That is how many pixels your graphics card must push with a 27 inch 1440 display. So keep your rig ego in check when attempting to play BF3 at ultra settings with a GTS250 - that dog won't hunt. Of course, if you have the latest and greatest - then go for the refresh rate of the Gods and laugh all the way to kill nirvana as you get banned from server after server as a "cheater." "

 

[tryingmybest]

I demand AMOLED screens. why is Samsung waiting so much? They already have 3k AMOLED screens for 12 inch tablets. And at cheap dirt price, and I don't think they can't do 24 inch AMOLED screens.

 

[breakingadam]

... OR, you could just buy a Qnix qx2710 (single input model), for $270 and have basically the same monitor for almost $200 less. Same overclocking abality, same beautiful Samsung panel, same iputs/outputs, same case, etc. The stand is crappier, and you have to buy from a Korean seller, but just add a squaretrade warranty (if you are worried about warranty stuff) and you are good to go. Nothing against Tempest, but these are basically just rebranded Qnix/X-Star 2560x1440 Korean monitors at a hiked up price.