MSI MAG274QRF-QD Review

The MSI MAG274QRF-QD is built for gaming and has a spec list that will appeal to anyone into their high performance graphics. This 1440p monitor is capable of outputting 165 frames every second with a 1ms repsonse time.  Throw in Free Sync compatibility and an IPS screen that can support a wide 99% Adobe RGB color gamut and you have a very attractive looking package.

I fell that 27″ is a good size for gaming, especially when sat at a desk.  You don’t want a huge screen where you can’t take in all the action at once and smaller tends to feel a bit inadequate these days.  At 1440p you’ll get a sharp image but without needing a beast of a PC to power it, like a 4K monitor does.

Build Quality

The MAG274QRF is designed to appeal to a gamer who doesn’t want to be stuck with the sort of bland monitor you’d find in your office.

The stand is sturdy and ergonomic with up to 100mm height adjustment, and +/- 75° swivel, -5°/20° tilt, 90° pivot.  If you don’t like the stand, you can always attached it to a monitor arm using the 100x100mm VESA mounting fixture.

Connectivity options include a DisplayPort 1.2, two HDMI 2.0 ports, a dual-USB 2.0 hub, a headphone jack and a USB type C port.

Performance

Fantastic image quality is helped by the wide 99% Adobe and 97% DCI-P3 RGB color gamut (equivalent to ~160% sRGB) which ensures you have vibrant colours that really ping on screen.  HDR is supported on this model but as is often the case, the brightness of the screen doesn’t give enough to provide a true experience.  With 300 nits and a contrast ratio of 1000:1 this is fairly typical for an IPS panel in this price range.  With correct calibration this monitor has the potential to handle professional media work.

The 2560×1440 QHD resolution helps to give a clear crisp display and works well at 27″.  At this screen size you won’t get the full benefit of 4K but traditional HD might be lacking.  1440p is a sweet spot for gaming at this size and a modern graphics card will be able to keep up.

The MSI MAG274QRF-QD has additional features built in to give gamers a better experience, whether you will find they make a big difference or not is up to you, but you’ll want to experiment with functionality such as Anti Motion Blur that gives you a clearer image in fast moving games,  overdrive mode that helps to remove ghosting and Night Vision mode can be enabled to help you pick out objects in dark games.

The monitor is FreeSync and G-Sync compatible enabling a variable refresh rate that matches the framerate output of your PC.  This helps to reduce stuttering and tearing when your compatible graphics card struggles to keep up in busy parts of a game.