ASUS announces 24″ G-Sync VG248QE Monitor

G-Sync, NVIDIA’s answer to lag, stutter and tearing while gaming, is essentially an add-in board to a monitor that allows the GPU and monitor to talk to each other about processing frames and what to display on the screen when. This new technology is initially going to be limited – first to NVIDIA GPUs (in contrast to AMD’s Mantle technology for BF4 that requires an AMD GPU), and G-Sync enabled monitors. The latter of the two is being announced, and first comes ASUS with a G-Sync enabled VG248QE.

The VG248QE is a monitor currently on the market – 24″, 1080p resolution, but can run up to 144 Hz. In the US this monitor currently sells for $280. The new G-Sync enabled version, for sale nearer the end of the year, will hit $400, meaning $120 for G-Sync capability.

In another setback, G-Sync is only available via DisplayPort, and thus investing in this requires a DP graphics card and cable, although most modern 7xx NVIDIA cards have a DP port by default.

With this monitor, the refresh rate will adjust dynamically between 30 Hz and 144 Hz, allowing for smoother gameplay and none of the annoying features, described by NVIDIA’s CEO, as ‘foot fungus’.

The downside this technology has will be against those who have not tested it. A 27″ model should be around the corner, although at these prices the 1440p models hitting the market become the main competitors – do gamers want refresh rates or resolutions? Ideally I want to see G-Sync in the flesh.