MSI Optix MPG27CQ overview: an RGB gaming monitor that struggles to face out

MSI first introduced its Optix MPG27CQ monitor again at CES in January, however now we’ve acquired it within the flesh, and on the testbench, for a spherical of testing. This curved 1440p VA monitor touts a 144Hz refresh charge, entrance and rear RGB lighting with SteelSeries’ GameSense app, Freesync assist, and prime viewing angles. That’s all nice on paper, however does the true factor stay as much as the hype?

The Optix’s model is unequivocally MSI gamer vogue. That means it’s black and purple and really angular. The stand is an exceptionally sturdy and heavy-duty tripod model that provides the complete breadth of swivel, peak, and tilt changes for many setups. In truth, this monitor is very helpful for off-angles and obscured setups due to the extremely extensive viewing angle. Alongside the minimal bezel and slight 1800R curve, it’s a powerful contender for multi-monitor setups.

The panel is true to color irrespective of which approach you have a look at it. But, sadly, that’s the place the love affair ends. Aside from the extensive viewing angles, which actually are among the finest round, the panel’s efficiency isn’t a lot to put in writing dwelling about. The color is sweet, however your complete display is let down by poor white saturation and even worse black ranges.

Shades of deep gray are principally misplaced to the depths of pitch black, and, sadly, that implies that it tends miss out on among the finer particulars in darkish and dingy games. You may need to push the brightness up in-game now and again to compensate. White saturation too shouldn’t be nice, with the brightest whites tending to lack differentiation. It’s slightly odd for a VA to fall over on the distinction, and the black ranges may be rectified on the expense of blowing out white saturation, however, total, the Optix journeys at this hurdle.

Aside from the distinction points, the Optix is an in any other case very succesful gaming monitor. The 144Hz refresh charge is sufficient to preserve most players content material for a very good half decade, the 1ms response charge retains it feeling contemporary and speedy, and Freesync could be a fairly useful gizmo if you happen to favour a Radeon graphics card (otherwise you need to faff round and trick Nvidia’s drivers with an APU). But these options do little to separate the Optix from the competitors.

The function that MSI has carried out to attempt to assist the Optix stand among the many finest is entrance and rear Mystic Light RGB lighting zones. There’s 5 lighting zones on the entrance, and two on the rear of the unit that shine out from beneath a circuit design. The entrance RGB zones are fairly tame and on sufficient of a downward angle as to not blind you with RGB, and, in consequence, are fairly straightforward to overlook about when you’re engaged in a game.

The zones are managed via MSI’s Mystic Light software program, however if you would like slightly extra suggestions out of your games, the Optix is appropriate with the Steelseries GameSense software program, too. This app (which is much better than MSI’s personal Mystic Light software program) integrates with sure games and presents reactive lighting primarily based on in-game prompts. But there’s an issue: there are solely a handful of supported games.

Luckily, two of these titles are among the largest games on the planet: CS:GO and Dota 2, however nonetheless, slightly extra selection could be nice to make this function worthwhile. It is straightforward to overlook about this bar within the thick of an Overwatch match, making that game integration nearly a moot level. While you’ll be able to tweak customized lighting profiles for different games, the lighting is finest left as an aesthetic function somewhat than a sensible one.

The GamingOSD app, nonetheless, is definitely a somewhat good use of software program integration. While it’s decisively MSI software program – which means textual content is excessively big and it’s lower than instantly intuitive – altering brightness, distinction, picture-in-picture, or profiles on the fly for various media is definitely fairly useful performance to have on the desktop.

At $450 (£480), the Optix MPG27CQ can also be a somewhat costly monitor inside the 1440p 144Hz phase. While well-built and providing some distinctive performance, the monitor’s options aren’t groundbreaking sufficient to justify a mediocre panel selection. The color copy is sweet, and viewing angles excellent, however I anticipate a VA panel to carry out a lot better in relation to distinction.

MSI Optix MPG27CQ

MSI has put collectively a strong 1440p monitor with improbable viewing angles, however the Optix MPG27CQ’s lack of distinction, excessive value, and somewhat restricted in-game integrations maintain it again from being a must-buy.

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Jacob Ridley 5 minutes in the past