Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Best G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitors 2021: FreeSync Displays for Nvidia GPUs

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If you’re willing to buy a new monitor, variable refresh rate is one of the best upgrades features you can get. Known as G-Sync on the Nvidia side and FreeSync on the AMD side, they reduce screen tearing and sync your monitor’s refresh rate with your video card’s output for a smoother experience. While FreeSync are easy to come by and affordable, monitors with NVIDIA’s G-Sync are always more expensive, leaving budget-minded GTX users out in the cold, until just recently.At CES 2019, Nvidia announced that it was bringing G-Sync compatibility to some FreeSync monitors with a new driver update. Since then, they’ve officially validated numerous monitors as “G-Sync compatible,” but anyone can enable variable refresh rate (VRR) if they have the latest Nvidia drivers and a FreeSync-enabled display—and many have found certain uncertified monitors to work just fine.

We’ve researched many G-Sync compatible monitors—both certified and uncertified—to round up the best ones you can buy. There may be others that work beyond the ones on this list that folks haven’t discovered yet, and it seems likely that NVIDIA’s supported list will continue to grow. But for now, there’s still a pretty decent selection.

TL;DR – These are the Best G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitors:

1. Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQL1A

Best G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor

Our Pick

Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQL1A

On Amazon

The amount you can save by going with a G-Sync compatible monitor instead of an official model means you can get a lot more in terms of other specs. The Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQL1A is a testament to that, as this reasonably priced monitor comes with some impressive capabilities. It all starts with a 27-inch display offering the oh-so-satisfying 1440p resolution. Asus puts it on a stand that can adjust its height, swivel, tilt, and pivot. With three inputs, the monitor is also ready for a computer and a pair of game consoles. It even offers USB passthrough for tidy cable management at your desk.

The monitor uses a colorful IPS panel that can display a 10-bit color depth. Asus tops that color off with HDR support backed by a 470-nit peak brightness. Naturally, a quality gaming monitor needs some speed behind it, and this display can cruise with a refresh rate of up to 170Hz, and you get all the smoothing capabilities of either FreeSync or G-Sync compatibility.

2. Pixio PX248 Prime

Best Budget G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor

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Pixio PX248 Prime

On Amazon

A gaming monitor under $200 is a rare enough thing, and any that come at that price point might lack some of the features that make for an actual game-worthy monitor. That’s not so with the Pixio PX248 Prime. This monitor is one of the most affordable ways to get up to speed in your gaming life, as it delivers a Full HD panel that can run at up to 144Hz for under $200. That panel also supports FreeSync Premium and can work with G-Sync as well.

What Pixio has on offer here is made all the more surprising by the features of its display panel. For one, it’s an IPS panel, so it can offer quality colors and wide viewing angles. On top of that, it’s bright, with a peak brightness of 400 nits. Given that brightness is one of the areas where budget displays can really skimp, it’s impressive to see the Pixio PX248 Prime turn up the dial. And, even though it comes on a fairly basic stand, it has VESA mounting holes to let you use your preferred monitor arm.

3. LG UltraGear 27GN950-B

Best HDR FreeSync Gaming Monitor for Nvidia GPUs

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LG UltraGear 27GN950-B

On Amazon

One great thing about grabbing a G-Sync Compatible monitor is that you can take the money you’re saving by skipping a proper G-Sync module and throw it into other technology, like HDR. The LG UltraGear 27GN950-B (read our review) is a great option for that, delivering a 4K HDR gaming experience for just $800. This monitor uses an IPS panel with support for 10-bit color and a 600-nit peak brightness, giving you you plenty of color and luminance to enjoy HDR content, whether it be movies, TV, or games.

This monitor even borrows some tricks from TVs by using 16 local dimming zones to achieve more contrast across the display than a traditional IPS panel would muster. And all the while, the LG UltraGear 27GN950-B will let you enjoy those visuals alongside a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time, giving you an excellent blend of visual and motion clarity. LG even tops off the package with a nifty backlighting feature that glows to match what’s on screen, giving your room a bit of ambiance.

4. Acer Predator CG437K

Best 4K G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor

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Acer Predator CG437K

On Amazon

You can go fully premium on your quest for a FreeSync monitor that supports G-Sync. The Acer Predator CG437K is a champion. This 43-inch display is a monster in more ways than one. On top of its massive size, it has a pair of 10W speakers to pump out audio. It also packs a 4K 144Hz panel, so you’ll want to pair it with a beast of a computer. Given you’ll almost surely have a hard time hitting 144fps at 4K in recent titles, the support for G-Sync will help keep your games looking great.

There’s plenty more on offer here to make your games look stellar. The Acer Predator CG437K has an incredibly bright display, earning VESA’s DisplayHDR 1000 certification. It also supports 10-bit color while covering 90% of the DCI-P3 color space. This is a monitor that will offer a high bar of quality for a while.

5. Asus ROG Strix XG279Q

Best 1440p G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor

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Asus ROG Strix XG279Q

On Amazon

Give yourself a break from trying to figure out if those little pixels on your screen are an enemy player. With a bigger, 27″ 1440p monitor, you’ll hit a sweet spot where enemies are bigger, sharper, and easier to see. The Asus ROG Strix XG279Q is ready to help you out on that front, and it can do so with excellent performance to boot.

The Asus ROG Strix XG279Q can display up to 170fps when it’s overclocked, giving you even smoother gaming. And, when you don’t hit those high frame rates, it can smooth your games out with G-Sync. It’s not just sharp and smooth, though. With 400 nits of brightness, it’s also going to be clear in brighter settings.

6. Asus TUF Gaming VG259Q

Best 1080p G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor

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Asus TUF Gaming VG259Q

On Amazon

If you’re getting into esports, you’ll probably want to aim for a 1080p, 144Hz monitor. And, the Asus TUF Gaming VG259Q is our pick when you want G-Sync to help you keep your visuals clear. The fast refresh rate will help you track your enemies, and the display’s 1ms response time will ensure ghosting doesn’t imapct your view.

Making matters better, this monitor uses an IPS panel that can offer wider viewing angles than the TN panels you’ll often find in high-refresh-rate displays. The monitor has one built-in technology to also help you see more clearly, and that’s Shadow Boost, which can brighten up dark sections of the screen to bring details out of the dark.

7. LG UltraGear 34GN850-B

Best Ultrawide G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor

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LG UltraGear 34GN850-B

On Amazon

You don’t need to limit yourself to 16:9 when you’re getting a G-Sync Compatible monitor. LG’s UltraGear 34GN850-B serves up a massive, 34-inch display that will curve around your field of view. You’ll get a sharp, 3,440 x 1,440 picture that can run at up to 144Hz as well, so your games will look clean and smooth.

LG didn’t stop there, either. This monitor musters some extra brightness and color to deliver 10-bit color and earn DisplayHDR 400 certification. If you want to really feel like you’re in your games, this monitor can help.

8. Samsung Odyssey G9

Best Superwide G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor

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Samsung Odyssey G9

On Amazon

Samsung has taken its curved monitors to the next level with the Odyssey G9. This massive, wide monitor has a sprawling 32:9 aspect ratio that will wrap up your vision in a tight, 1000R curvature. Where many curved monitors have a subtle curvature, this monitor’s curve is dramatic.

The tight curve isn’t all, as Samsung is delivering a 5,120 x 1,440 resolution that can zoom at up to 240Hz with proper G-Sync Compatibility. Then there’s the stunning level of brightness achieved by this monitor’s 1,000-nit QLED panel, which combines with 10-bit color for some truly stunning visuals.

What to Look For in a G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor

Luckily for you it’s pretty easy to start your search for a G-Sync compatible gaming monitor because Nvidia keeps a constantly updating list of them on its website. You can pretty much refer to this list as a starting point. While they’re are 50 of them currently on the list, you can whiddle down your options pretty quickly just by thinking about what screen size, refresh rate, and panel type you want.

One important thing to note about Nvidia’s list of G-Sync compatible displays is they only include models that have been officially certified. There are plenty of gaming monitors out there that haven’t gone through the process—or really paid to be certified.

Gigabyte has told us that pretty much every one of its Freesync gaming monitors has been designed to work with Nvidia GPUs and G-Sync. From the ones we’ve tested, we can confirm this is true.

There are plenty of other gaming monitors out there will also G-Sync even if they haven’t been certified—heck you can technically turn it on with any monitor that supports adaptive sync. Be aware, though, that your results may vary, and in some cases turning on G-Sync on an untested montior could introduce stutters and other graphical glitches.

If you want to skip all that experimentation, you can just look to our list as we’ve included only officially certified G-Sync Compatible gaming monitors or those we’ve tested ourselves.

Looking for more monitor info? Be sure to check out our list of the best 240Hz monitors, or check out the best 4K gaming monitors, if you’re looking to spend your tax refund. Don’t forget to check out our guide to the best computer desks, so you have somewhere to rest your new display.

Kevin Lee is IGN’s Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam

Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark



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