MSI G273QF Review: 1440p 165Hz 1ms FreeSync IPS Gaming Monitor

The MSI Optix G273QF is a 27″ 1440p 165Hz IPS gaming monitor with a fast 1ms GtG response time speed!

Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Image Quality

Based on an AHVA (IPS-type) panel by AU Optronics, the MSI G273QF provides you with all the benefits you can expect from a modern IPS monitor, including wide viewing angles, fast response time and vibrant colors.

The 178° wide viewing angles ensure that the picture remains perfect with accurate and consistent colors regardless of the angle you’re looking at the screen.

With 93% DCI-P3 gamut coverage (~125% sRGB), you also get more saturated and vibrant colors than that of the standard sRGB monitors.

As there’s no sRGB emulation mode, some over-saturation can be detected when viewing SDR content, however, it’s not as excessive as it’s the case with LG’s Nano IPS (135% sRGB) or Adobe RGB (~150% sRGB) displays.

So, you just get a bit punchier colors and more shade variety, nothing over-the-top. Still, an sRGB mode would be welcome for those who prefer higher accuracy, but if you have an AMD or NVIDIA GPU, there’s a software workaround for this.

Further, the MSI G273QF has a peak brightness of 300-nits, which should suffice for all users planning to use the screen under normal lighting conditions or in moderately bright rooms.

The static contrast ratio amounts to 1,000:1, as expected from an IPS display. Black depth isn’t quite as good as that of VA panels with a contrast ratio usually in the 3,000:1 range, but these monitors have other flaws, such as narrower viewing angles and significantly slower response time speed, at least at this price range.

If you’re buying an IPS monitor, you should also familiarize yourself with IPS glow. It’s an expected drawback of this panel technology that’s characterized as visible glowing around the corners of the screen.

It’s mostly visible when viewing dark content in a dark room with a high brightness setting and its intensity can vary across different units of monitors, but in most cases, it’s completely manageable.

Next, the 2560×1440 QHD resolution of the MSI G273QF monitor results in a high pixel density of roughly 108 PPI (pixels per inch), meaning that you get plenty of screen space as well as sharp details and text, without any scaling necessary.

Performance

Moving on, the G273QF boasts a rapid 1ms GtG pixel response time speed.

There are three response time overdrive modes: Normal, Fast and Fastest.

The ‘Fastest’ mode pushes the pixels to transition from one color to another too aggressively, causing pixel overshoot or inverse ghosting.

The ‘Fast’ mode, on the other hand, effectively prevents ghosting behind fast-moving objects, without adding any overshoot, which results in a buttery-smooth performance in fast-paced games.

At lower refresh rates, or if you’re using variable refresh rate (VRR) at low frame rates, you should dial back the overdrive setting to ‘Normal’ in order to prevent overshoot.

Input lag is imperceptible at around 3ms, so you won’t be able to feel any delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

VRR is supported with both AMD’s FreeSync Premium and NVIDIA’s G-SYNC Compatible certification within the 48-165Hz range for tear-free gameplay.

Alternatively, you can enable MPRT, which uses backlight strobing in order to reduce perceived motion blur. It can’t be active at the same time as VRR and it reduces the maximum brightness while enabled, but it does improve motion clarity in fast-paced games as long as your frame rate matches the monitor’s refresh rate.

Features

To access the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu of the MSI G273QF, press the directional joystick placed at the rear of the monitor, while the power button is beneath the bottom bezel, on the right side of the screen.

Noteworthy gaming features include various picture presets, Night Vision (improves visibility in darker scenes), a refresh rate tracker, an on-screen timer and crosshair overlays.

The backlight of the monitor is flicker-free (unless MPRT is enabled) and there’s a low-blue light filter mode (Reader).

Besides the standard image adjustment tools, such as brightness, contrast and color temperature, you can adjust the sharpness, but you will not find any gamma or saturation settings.

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is sturdy, but it’s tilt-only by -5°/20°. The screen is VESA mount compatible via the 100x100mm pattern and it uses a light matte anti-glare coating that eliminates reflections without making the image grainy.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.2, two HDMI 2.0 ports (limited to 144Hz) and a headphone jack.

Note that DisplayPort 1.2 only supports 10-bit color depth up to 120Hz, but with chroma subsampling or 8-bit depth, you can go up to 165Hz. Given that the difference between 8-bit and 10-bit color with SDR content is really not noticeable, this is not an issue and you should just set the monitor to 2560×1440 165Hz with 8-bit color depth.

Price & Similar Monitors

The MSI G273QF goes for ~$275, which is too expensive. It’s also available with an ergonomic stand as the MSI Optix G273QPF for ~$20 – $50 more, depending on the sale.

However, both the G273QF and the G273QPF seem to have been discontinued and replaced with the MSI G272QPF, the MSI G274QPF-QD, and the MSI G274QRFW variants.

	MSI G272QPF	MSI G274QPF-QD	MSI G274QRFW
sRGB Color Gamut Volume	120%	150%	125%
Brightness	300-nits	400-nits	300-nits
USB-C	No	Yes	No

There’s also the MSI G274QPX model with a higher 240Hz refresh rate.

Other popular 27″ 1440p high refresh rate IPS gaming monitors we recommend include the Acer XV271U M3 and the KTC H27T22S.

The prices of all of these models often oscillate, so you’ll have to check the current price to determine the best value in addition to your preference for the design and specific features.

If you’re not sure which model to pick, let us know in the comments below and we’ll gladly help!

To learn more about monitors and ensure you’re getting the model most suited for your personal preference, visit our comprehensive and always up-to-date best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.

Conclusion

While the MSI G273QF was one of the best value 1440p high refresh rate IPS gaming monitors a year ago, there have been a lot of new models released in the meantime with better specifications and pricing.

Specifications

Screen Size	27-inch
Resolution	2560×1440 (QHD)
Panel Type	IPS
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	165Hz
Response Time (GtG)	1ms (GtG)
Motion Blur Reduction	1ms (MPRT)
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync (48-165Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.2, 2x HDMI 2.0
Other Ports	Headphone Jack
Brightness	300 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	1000:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 93% DCI-P3
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)