Dell S2716DG 1440 144 Hz G-Sync Owners Thread

abcsoup · Oct 20, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedM00N

I Wouldave added this to my compare list for what I'll upgrade too next month, but the lack of ULMB has me passing, unless they just arent announcing it.
I'm sure it will be a good monitor, and I may end up hating ulmb, but I at least wanna have it to try it out ya know

Funny you mention that; I've been reading through the manual before heading home, and it does have ULMB support for 85, 100, and 120 Hz. This is with G-SYNC disabled, according to the manual.

http://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_display_projector/esuprt_Display/dell-s2716dg-monitor_User%27s%20Guide_en-us.pdf

RedM00N · Oct 20, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by abcsoup

Funny you mention that; I've been reading through the manual before heading home, and it does have ULMB support for 85, 100, and 120 Hz. This is with G-SYNC disabled, according to the manual.

http://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_display_projector/esuprt_Display/dell-s2716dg-monitor_User%27s%20Guide_en-us.pdf

+rep for that. Dunno why I didn't bother to look in the manual.
Wonder why they don't say it supports ULMB on the product page or in the announcements.

abcsoup · Oct 21, 2015

So, I finally got a chance to unpack and try out the monitor, and things are looking promising so far. The box arrived in great shape, and I like the understated, professional look of the monitor a lot. You wouldn't be able to tell that it's a gaming monitor, except for the (removable) NVIDIA G-Sync sticker on the monitor stand's base.

Also, most importantly, there are no dead or stuck pixels on my screen. Panel uniformity seems decent for a TN, but there is the obvious TN gradient where the top and bottom have differing brightness. This is not really noticeable in-game, however. I've attached some images of the panel for gray/red/blue/green/black backgrounds so you can judge yourselves.

The AG coating is on the aggressive side, and I would say it's on-par with my LG 34UM95. On solid whties, you get a little of the AG sparkle. Here's a panel reflection shot to get an idea of the AG strength.

As far as using the monitor, G-Sync works great in 144 Hz. There was no problem connecting it and getting it up and running with my 980 Ti. I also tried out ULMB in 120 Hz (G-Sync disabled), and it also works fine, although it of course dims the screen significantly. It allows you to vary the pulse width of the ULMB mode as well, but I kept it at the default setting of 100.

There does seem to be a slight difference between 144 Hz G-Sync and 120 Hz ULMB modes, which is most visible to me when I move the Windows cursor against a dark background. In-game (CSGO), I can't really tell if there's much benefit, but I honestly haven't used either mode long enough to say for sure. Any difference in smoothness between 120 and 144 Hz isn't immediately noticeable to me.

The HDMI port also works perfectly, so anyone holding out on the PG278Q for an HDMI port will be happy. It recognizes my PS4 without any issues.

Overall, the monitor seems to be working really well thus far, and hopefully it's a sign that the QC problems with the PG278Q are not going to resurface with Dell.

The only issue I've encountered is not even with the monitor, but the 980 Ti, which seems to run at high clock speeds when the refresh rate is set to 144 Hz, even on the Windows desktop. When I reduce the refresh rate to 120 Hz, it goes back down to normal, idle clocks. For now, I've just left it at 120 Hz to avoid chewing up energy in desktop mode and boost it to 144 Hz before I'm about to game. If anyone has a solution to this, I'd love to hear it!

Robilar · Oct 21, 2015

Thanks for the review. Looks very promising. Looks like Dell has released a solid competitor to the swift.

boredgunner · Oct 21, 2015

Hmm... based on your pictures I think I'm glad I went with IPS instead, to avoid that gradient. Sucks that if you want 2560 x 1440 with variable refresh rate, you have to choose between TN gradient and IPS glow.

abcsoup · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by boredgunner

Hmm... based on your pictures I think I'm glad I went with IPS instead, to avoid that gradient. Sucks that if you want 2560 x 1440 with variable refresh rate, you have to choose between TN gradient and IPS glow.

Yeah, I can't go back to using TN for general desktop work after using VA and IPS for so many years. When gaming, I'm lucky that I'm not sensitive to the gradient at all, so this monitor pairs very nicely for me with an IPS for desktop work. I would say that if you can only have one monitor for everything, TN is a tough choice to live with, and it could be worth trying the IPS lottery with ASUS and Acer given the equivalent pricing.

Edit: Actually, something interesting is the pricing for the Dell in the UK is only 600 GBP, which is the same as the TN PG278Q there. That seems more reasonable compared to the US pricing of $800 for the Dell and $670 for the PG278Q.

Nukemaster · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by abcsoup

Yeah, I can't go back to using TN for general desktop work after using VA and IPS for so many years. When gaming, I'm lucky that I'm not sensitive to the gradient at all, so this monitor pairs very nicely for me with an IPS for desktop work. I would say that if you can only have one monitor for everything, TN is a tough choice to live with, and it could be worth trying the IPS lottery with ASUS and Acer given the equivalent pricing.

Edit: Actually, something interesting is the pricing for the Dell in the UK is only 600 GBP, which is the same as the TN PG278Q there. That seems more reasonable compared to the US pricing of $800 for the Dell and $670 for the PG278Q.

The transition from VA back to TN was quite jarring for sure. I think your brain just starts to adjust. I still have those times that I look at it and say damn you look darker on top and it sucks. On the other hand, I look at my VA and say damn you are slow.

I sure hope some faster VA panels that do not get fast with excessive overdrive come out soon. I was shocked that on some color transitions a BL3200PT was slower than a 245T from Samsung(just because of how old it is). Even the lightening of color while in motion(scrolling text or moving winamp over) was kind of distracting at times(the 245 rarely had that[so lets say skyrim look better on it than the 3200PT], but it still had its fair share of overdrive artifacts).

On the IPS side. it is very hard to get used to the glow(and how noticeable it is on dark images or games). Why did they ever get rid of that TW polarizer on these things. Ohh right price(and profit margin). I would gladly pay an extra 50-100 just for less glow.

Malinkadink · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nukemaster

The transition from VA back to TN was quite jarring for sure. I think your brain just starts to adjust. I still have those times that I look at it and say damn you look darker on top and it sucks. On the other hand, I look at my VA and say damn you are slow.

I just had a stint with a VA for the first time. Blacks were awesome, but as you said its so slow, especially when im used to 144hz 1ms TN. I couldn't in no way get used to it, the smearing of darker shades was so painful to look at. I'm sure if i had the 120hz Eizo VA i would be able to use that comfortably enough, but its pricey, and isn't the greatest when it comes to getting a good sample or a bad one.

Really wish they had a 1440p 144hz VA out, even if it only has 2000:1 contrast, i'll have no problem with it.

brucethemoose · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malinkadink

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nukemaster

The transition from VA back to TN was quite jarring for sure. I think your brain just starts to adjust. I still have those times that I look at it and say damn you look darker on top and it sucks. On the other hand, I look at my VA and say damn you are slow.

Click to expand...

I just had a stint with a VA for the first time. Blacks were awesome, but as you said its so slow, especially when im used to 144hz 1ms TN. I couldn't in no way get used to it, the smearing of darker shades was so painful to look at. I'm sure if i had the 120hz Eizo VA i would be able to use that comfortably enough, but its pricey, and isn't the greatest when it comes to getting a good sample or a bad one.

Really wish they had a 1440p 144hz VA out, even if it only has 2000:1 contrast, i'll have no problem with it.

Ya, my dream (LCD) monitor is a 1440p 96hz+ VA monitor with an RGB backlight and Eizo's backlight strobing + overdrive tech... for $400

dreamcaster · Oct 21, 2015

Thanks a lot for the info and pics abcsoup, looks great. This monitor is definitely at the top of the list for my PC upgrade next year, won't be touching the IPS screens with all the issues they've been having. Hopefully your sample is a good indication of Dell's quality control on these. Will be nice to have a good responsive screen again for gaming, i'm still using a 2707WFP but haven't been gaming as much as I would have liked the last few years so it has been fine for desktop use.

medgart · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by abcsoup

So, I finally got a chance to unpack and try out the monitor, and things are looking promising so far. The box arrived in great shape, and I like the understated, professional look of the monitor a lot. You wouldn't be able to tell that it's a gaming monitor, except for the (removable) NVIDIA G-Sync sticker on the monitor stand's base.

Also, most importantly, there are no dead or stuck pixels on my screen. Panel uniformity seems decent for a TN, but there is the obvious TN gradient where the top and bottom have differing brightness. This is not really noticeable in-game, however. I've attached some images of the panel for gray/red/blue/green/black backgrounds so you can judge yourselves.

The AG coating is on the aggressive side, and I would say it's on-par with my LG 34UM95. On solid whties, you get a little of the AG sparkle. Here's a panel reflection shot to get an idea of the AG strength.

As far as using the monitor, G-Sync works great in 144 Hz. There was no problem connecting it and getting it up and running with my 980 Ti. I also tried out ULMB in 120 Hz (G-Sync disabled), and it also works fine, although it of course dims the screen significantly. It allows you to vary the pulse width of the ULMB mode as well, but I kept it at the default setting of 100.

There does seem to be a slight difference between 144 Hz G-Sync and 120 Hz ULMB modes, which is most visible to me when I move the Windows cursor against a dark background. In-game (CSGO), I can't really tell if there's much benefit, but I honestly haven't used either mode long enough to say for sure. Any difference in smoothness between 120 and 144 Hz isn't immediately noticeable to me.

The HDMI port also works perfectly, so anyone holding out on the PG278Q for an HDMI port will be happy. It recognizes my PS4 without any issues.

Overall, the monitor seems to be working really well thus far, and hopefully it's a sign that the QC problems with the PG278Q are not going to resurface with Dell.

The only issue I've encountered is not even with the monitor, but the 980 Ti, which seems to run at high clock speeds when the refresh rate is set to 144 Hz, even on the Windows desktop. When I reduce the refresh rate to 120 Hz, it goes back down to normal, idle clocks. For now, I've just left it at 120 Hz to avoid chewing up energy in desktop mode and boost it to 144 Hz before I'm about to game. If anyone has a solution to this, I'd love to hear it!

The monitor looks great. I have a few questions.

Does it have 3d vision?
Did you test it for pixel inversion?
Do you know if it uses the same panel as Asus PG278Q?

LunaTiC123 · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by medgart

The monitor looks great. I have a few questions.

Does it have 3d vision?
Did you test it for pixel inversion?
Do you know if it uses the same panel as Asus PG278Q?

there's no mention of 3d on Dell's website or the manual for the monitor so probably not and and afaik there are 2 TN panels that can do 27" 1440p 144hz and that's the M270DTN01.0 used in the Benq xl2730z and the M270Q002 V0 used in the PG278q to find out what panel the Dell is using abcsoup would need to go into the service menu or wait for tftcentral to review it (there's no need really since it's probably using one of the 2 which are basically the same just one of them has less issues apparently) but hopefully it's using what the benq is since the M270DTN01.0 doesn't seem to have all the issues (or atleast less since you don't hear the benq xl2730z have a lot of issues) that the M270Q002 V0 has.

boredgunner · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucethemoose

Ya, my dream (LCD) monitor is a 1440p 96hz+ VA monitor with an RGB backlight and Eizo's backlight strobing + overdrive tech... for $400

I'm willing to drop $900 on a 2560 x 1440 96+ Hz MVA monitor without serious gamma shift, typical W-LED edge lighting, a mere 2000:1 contrast, but very good motion performance and G-SYNC. That's how desperate I am. If a VRR monitor using the upcoming Samsung 3440 x 1440 100 Hz VA panel comes out in 2016 or 2017, I'd be willing to drop at least $1200 on it. Anything to get away from IPS and TN.

brucethemoose · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by boredgunner

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucethemoose

Ya, my dream (LCD) monitor is a 1440p 96hz+ VA monitor with an RGB backlight and Eizo's backlight strobing + overdrive tech... for $400

Click to expand...

I'm willing to drop $900 on a 2560 x 1440 96+ Hz MVA monitor without serious gamma shift, typical W-LED edge lighting, a mere 2000:1 contrast, but very good motion performance and G-SYNC. That's how desperate I am. If a VRR monitor using the upcoming Samsung 3440 x 1440 100 Hz VA panel comes out in 2016 or 2017, I'd be willing to drop at least $1200 on it. Anything to get away from IPS and TN.

You should get an Occulus Rift in 2016. While technically not a "monitor", a high refresh-rate, high-res strobed OLED for $400 is a pretty good deal.

boredgunner · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucethemoose

You should get an Occulus Rift in 2016. While technically not a "monitor", a high refresh-rate, high-res strobed OLED for $400 is a pretty good deal.

I'll get one at some point for sure, probably for racing games and some horror games. Although I need a good monitor too.

mootpoint · Oct 21, 2015

Hey Just wanted to let you guys know; im also kind of a long-time lurker to overclock.net. Just received the S2716DG last night and I couldn't be happier. Its my first entry into the 144hz/gsync world, but Ive been a pc gamer since I was a kid. I have to say experiencing gsync for the first time was one of those rare jaw drop moments for me.

I'm coming from a 30 inch IPS dell and I just couldn't believe how much smoother everything looked and played, im officially ruined when it comes to 60hz forever.

I did see the brightness shift photos from the previous poster in this thread - but honestly it did not look nearly as severe on my screen (if I do have these brightness shifts I could not notice it, and certainly not when gaming). It is quite possible that I did not look closely enough for this brightness shift or it just didn't jump out at me since I am not familiar with this type of panel.

Build quality is great, and in terms of design i'm pleased that it looks like a modern piece of hardware, not some weird "gaming l33t pwn newbs" red plastic nonsense design covered in leds -

No dead/stuck pixels and as mentioned before the warranty and dells customer service (which I have been happy with in the past) is a huge bonus

Overall very pleased!

abcsoup · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by mootpoint

I did see the brightness shift photos from the previous poster in this thread - but honestly it did not look nearly as severe on my screen (if I do have these brightness shifts I could not notice it, and certainly not when gaming). It is quite possible that I did not look closely enough for this brightness shift or it just didn't jump out at me since I am not familiar with this type of panel.

Yeah, the TN gradient is much more noticeable in the photos than in person (just like panel clouding/flashlighting usually is). It's still obvious to me in a plain white background, but in game I don't notice it at all.

I can try testing for pixel inversion later. Also, I don't believe it supports 3D as a previous poster indicated. I don't know what panel is being used (probably would have to take it apart), but it's a good sign another person hasn't had any issues. Overall, I'd summarize the Dell as a sleeker, subtler PG278Q with HDMI and better build quality/QC. Hopefully future samples are good as well.

Robilar · Oct 21, 2015

Canada finally has them up for order! Not shipping until November 11 however...

Dell confirmed to me that they cover stuck and dead pixels in the standard 3 year advanced warranty and shipping is free.

abcsoup · Oct 21, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robilar

Canada finally has them up for order! Not shipping until November 11 however...

Dell confirmed to me that they cover stuck and dead pixels in the standard 3 year advanced warranty and shipping is free.

That's great that they cover stuck and dead pixels, even though it's not an UltraSharp. Hopefully, there won't be any panels getting through QC with those defects at all.

Also, my original estimated ship date on Friday 10/16 was for Friday 11/6, so there's a pretty good chance that they are just setting the estimate as today + 3 weeks. I'd bet that new orders could ship as early as this week.

Xeby · Oct 21, 2015

I purchased one of these from Dell's US site yesterday ago and even though it said that the expected ship date was Nov. 10th, it shipped today.

Dell S2716DG 1440 144 Hz G-Sync Owners Thread

abcsoup

RedM00N

abcsoup

Robilar

boredgunner

abcsoup

Nukemaster

Malinkadink

brucethemoose

dreamcaster

medgart

LunaTiC123

boredgunner

brucethemoose

boredgunner

mootpoint

abcsoup

Robilar

abcsoup

Xeby

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