If you’re a pro player or just a hardcore gamer, and your eyes weren’t already elite and burning enough, then good news! NVIDIA just announced their new 360Hz gaming monitor at CES 2020. They are describing it as “the world’s fastest esports display,” and the metrics behind it are sure to attract the attention of FPS-obsessed FPS players.
The video announcement features an interview and gameplay by CSGO pro player Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert, showing off the capabilities of this new piece of hardware. NVIDIA also details their work towards gaming performance and their research into system latency in their announcement article.
Why more frames?
As you may know, most monitors will run at a standard of 60Hz. For gaming, you’re likely looking at anywhere from 100Hz-240Hz, with 144Hz being the most popular. 144Hz is more or less thought of as the standard for fast paced games. The general argument is that the higher the frame rate, the more you can see on the screen and the faster you can react to events in the game. The higher the frame rate, the smoother everything looks as well. This makes any perceived movement that much more pleasing to look at.
That being said, the higher the frame rate, the more your eyes have to adjust as well. If you’re looking at upgrading your monitor, be aware that moving from 60Hz to 144Hz is a little jarring at first. If you’re like me – running three monitors at three different frame rates – it’ll be hard on your eyes at times.
Impeccable timing
It makes sense for NVIDIA to be announcing the 360Hz “esports” monitor right now. They’re dominating the market at the moment with their RTX series and the RTX Supers. Rumors have also been floating around that their new Ampere GPU’s are just around the corner. New GPU’s alongside a new monitor to use them is perfect for NVIDIA, as esports players, gamers and performance freaks alike will be clamoring to pair them up.
Given the price drops of older GPU’s and 144Hz monitors in recent years, it’s likely the new pairing will come at a hefty price point. I seem to always be unlucky, buying things right before they drop in price. I spent nearly $1,500 CAD on my RTX 1080 and 144Hz screen, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the new GPU and monitor pairing will run over $2,500 CAD or so.
How will this stack up to its competitors?
That’s a bit of a trick question really, because there aren’t any direct competitors at the moment. I would like to see how this stacks up to regular gaming monitors though. Will the price difference be worth choosing this one over a 144Hz or 240Hz monitor? How much of a difference would it really make for the average player, anyway? Seeing as this monitor is designed to target esports professionals, probably not all that much.
These questions and more will likely be answered once they hit the market. In the meantime we’ll have to wait and hear from pro-players and NVIDIA themselves.
