The search for a new gaming monitor is all about balance. You have a list of requirements, some nice to have features, and the unavoidable limitation: budget. It can be tough to find an affordable gaming monitor that still delivers the quality and dependability you need. I took a look at the Dell 27” Gaming Monitor to find out how it measures up as a good monitor at a good price.
Setup
I appreciate monitors that are quick to set up, and the Dell 27” gaming monitor meets my expectations. The stand attaches to the monitor easily, and connecting to your PC is plug and play. You can spend a little more time fine tuning the display settings to meet your personal preferences, but the default configuration works well.
Dell 27″ Gaming Monitor features
27” display
The size of the Dell 27” gaming monitor makes it a useful addition to your multipurpose living space. It can serve as screen for your movie nights, in addition to being your gaming display. I liked the size of the screen and it worked great as a second movie screen for our house.
VESA mount
If desk space is a limited resource for your gaming space, mounting your monitor on the wall or on an articulate stand might help. The Dell 27” gaming monitor is VESA compatible, so you can attach it to a VESA mount easily and quickly. I haven’t committed to a wall mount yet, but the option of doing so is appealing. Less clutter on the desk is always helpful.
IPS
The Dell 27” gaming monitor uses an In-Plane Switching (IPS) type of liquid crystal display panel. The liquid crystals in an IPS panel are aligned in parallel to the glass on either side of the liquid crystal layer. And what that means is that an IPS panel has better colour reproduction and viewing angle than other panel types. You might see a slight increase in motion blur under some circumstances, but the advantages of the IPS outweigh the minor possibility of blur. Personally, I didn’t see any additional blurring and the image colour was great.
FHD
The Dell 27” gaming monitor has a maximum resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, which means it is Full High Definition (FHD). This is a decent resolution for movie watching and gaming. You might see better picture quality if you had a more expensive monitor that has 4K resolution, but it’s likely you wouldn’t actually notice the difference. For me, it looked great.
GTG response time and refresh rate
Your gaming monitor’s performance can be best measured by how quickly it can adjust the image on the screen. And there are two standard metrics to use: GTG response time and refresh rate.
GTG response time
The grey-to-grey (GTG) response rate is how quickly a pixel on the monitor screen can change from one grey colour to another grey tone. The Dell 27” gaming monitor has a GTG response rate of 4 milliseconds, which is respectable.
Refresh Rate
Your refresh rate is how many times per second the monitor can update the image on the screen. This monitor has a refresh rate of 75Hz, which is above the standard 60Hz rate. Also, keep in mind that the refresh rate depends on all the involved components being able to support it. So if your CPU or video card can only do 60Hz, your monitor won’t be able to go any faster than that. I found the 75Hz refresh rate was sufficient to keep up with the graphics of the games.
AMD FreeSync
If you have an AMD video card, you’ll be able to take advantage of the AMD FreeSync technology built into the Dell 27” FreeSync gaming monitor. AMD FreeSync synchronizes the frame rate of the game being played, and the refresh rate of the monitor. And that will reduce the chance of screen tears. A screen tear is when the image on the monitor refreshes at a rate that doesn’t match the game’s frame rate, so part of the image changes before the rest of the image. It’s disconcerting when it happens, especially if it happens regularly. Luckily, I happen to have an AMD video card, so FreeSync kept my gaming images free from tearing.
ComfortView Plus
Your eyes get more than enough blue light in the day. In fact, blue light from your monitor screen significantly contributes to eye strain. This monitor uses ComfortView Plus technology to automatically reduce the amount of blue light your eyes are exposed to. I appreciated the reduction in eye strain, and long gaming sessions were indeed more comfortable. But don’t forget to take screen breaks, because reduced blue light does not mean a complete absence of blue light.
Dell 27” Gaming Monitor Ports
The Dell 27” gaming monitor has 2 HDMI 1.4 input ports. You’ll be able to have both your gaming PC and your gaming console like a PS5 connected to the monitor, which will reduce the amount of cable switching you’ll need to do. And the monitor has an audio line-out port, suitable for external speakers or headphones.
Ultra-thin bezel
Along 3 of the four sides, the Dell 27” gaming monitor has an ultra-thin bezel. You’ll effectively see the image all the way to the edge without a thick outline of the bezel in view. Of course, the bottom bezel is a little thicker, since it has the setting adjustment buttons. I am a fan of thin bezels like these. We’re not at the point of completely bezel-less monitors, but we’re getting closer every year.
Dell Display Manager
The Dell 27” gaming monitor is compatible with Dell’s Display Manager software. Display Manager allows you to customize the layout of your screen. You can use the Easy Arrange feature to divide your screen into sections and assign specific applications to those sections. This has the potential to increase your productivity when you’re taking a break from gaming to get some work done. Using the software was straightforward, and I liked having the multiple applications arranged automatically when I sat down at the computer to work.
Dell 27” gaming monitor gaming experience
So now that you’ve gotten an idea of what the features are, it’s time to answer the big question: is it good for gaming? I tested the Dell 27” gaming monitor with my PS5 and my PC, switching between the two systems. On the PS5, I alternated between Assassin’s Cree: Origins, and Cyberpunk:2027. And on the PC, I tested the Dell 27” gaming monitor with Stellaris and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. This gave me a good sense of the consistent visuals that the Dell 27” gaming monitor can provide. And it was up to the task of delivering good graphics. I found the images from each game were clear and smooth, and was overall a good viewing experience.
Dell 27” gaming monitor review- Final Thoughts
In my youth, I was the target market for a monitor like this. It’s a dependable, good quality monitor that is affordable. I would have found it the perfect fit for my university dorm room, where it could have been my gaming monitor, my movie screen, and my homework productivity monitor. I would have liked to have an additional HDMI port and a display port would have been a welcome added feature. But, in terms of value for money, you won’t be disappointed by the Dell 27” gaming monitor.
