The Gigabyte M27Q rev. 2.0 is a budget-friendly gaming monitor. With a 27-inch screen and 1440p resolution, it's mainly focused on gaming as it has a max refresh rate of 170Hz. It also features FreeSync variable refresh rate (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing, and it has other gaming perks like crosshairs and vision modes to give you a competitive advantage. While it's focused on gaming, it also has features for other uses, like a USB-C port and a KVM switch, making it easy to switch between two devices and use the same keyboard and mouse connected to the monitor.
This monitor is the second version of the M27Q, as it's newer than the Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0). The main difference is that the first version comes with a BGR panel, while the second version has an RGB panel. It's unclear which version you'll get when buying from retailers, but there are differences on the boxes of the two versions to tell them apart, which you can read more about here.
Our Verdict
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 is good for most uses. Focused on gaming, it provides great performance as it has a 170Hz refresh rate, VRR support, low input lag, and a fast response time at high refresh rates, but there's more blur at lower refresh rates. However, because it's limited to HDMI 2.0 bandwidth, it can't take full advantage of current-gen gaming consoles or modern graphics cards. Despite being focused on gaming, it's still good for the office and great for content creation because it displays sharp text and accurate colors, has wide viewing angles, and gets bright enough to fight glare. It even has some office features like a KVM switch that's ideal for productivity, but while it offers decent ergonomics, it doesn't have any swivel adjustments. Unfortunately, it's mediocre for HDR because it has a low contrast ratio and limited HDR brightness, so colors and highlights aren't bright and vivid.
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Good for bright rooms.
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Sharp text and image clarity.
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Wide viewing angles.
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Productivity features like USB-C port and KVM switch.
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No swivel adjustment.
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Low contrast ratio.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 is good for office use. It has good text clarity, and its 27-inch screen is big enough to open two windows side-by-side. It's also good if you want to use it in a well-lit office space, as it has high peak brightness and decent reflection handling. It even includes dedicated office features like a KVM switch that makes multitasking easy. Lastly, its wide viewing angles are useful if you need to share your screen with a coworker or client, but it lacks swivel adjustment to turn the display.
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Good for bright rooms.
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Sharp text and image clarity.
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Wide viewing angles.
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Productivity features like USB-C port and KVM switch.
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No swivel adjustment.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 is great for gaming. It has a 170Hz refresh rate and VRR support to reduce screen tearing. Motion looks smooth at high refresh rates as it has a good response time, and it also has a backlight strobing feature to reduce persistence blur. However, the response time is slower at low refresh rates, leading to motion blur. On the plus side, it has low input lag at any refresh rate. While it's great for PC gaming and works with gaming consoles, it can't take full advantage of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S or even modern graphics cards, as it lacks HDMI 2.1 bandwidth.
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170Hz refresh rate.
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FreeSync VRR and G-SYNC compatibility.
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Fast response time at high refresh rates.
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Low input lag.
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More blur at lower refresh rates.
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Limited to HDMI 2.0 bandwidth.
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Low contrast ratio.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 is good for media consumption. It performs best for watching content in bright rooms as it has decent reflection handling and also gets bright enough to fight glare. The same can't be said about watching content in dark rooms, though, as it has a low contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray, and it lacks a local dimming feature to further improve it. Lastly, it has wide viewing angles that are ideal for sharing your screen with a friend next to you, but it doesn't offer swivel adjustment, so you can easily turn the display.
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Good for bright rooms.
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Sharp text and image clarity.
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Wide viewing angles.
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No swivel adjustment.
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Low contrast ratio.
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No local dimming feature.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 is great for content creators. It comes with a remarkably accurate sRGB mode that displays accurate colors without needing full calibration, ideal for even professional content creators. It has a big enough screen to open two windows side-by-side, and its 1440p resolution helps display sharp images. It's good enough to use in a well-lit workspace thanks to its high peak brightness and decent reflection handling. It also has wide viewing angles that are ideal if you often need to share your screen with a coworker or client, but it doesn't offer swivel adjustment that makes it easy to turn the screen.
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Good for bright rooms.
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Wide viewing angles.
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Productivity features like USB-C port and KVM switch.
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Remarkable accuracy in sRGB mode.
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No swivel adjustment.
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Low contrast ratio.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 is mediocre for HDR. It has a low contrast ratio that makes blacks look gray and lacks a local dimming feature to further improve the black levels. Its low HDR peak brightness is also limited, so highlights don't pop. While it displays a wide range of colors, because it can't get very bright, most colors aren't vivid.
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Displays wide range of colors.
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Low contrast ratio.
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No local dimming feature.
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Limited HDR peak brightness.
- 7.7 Mixed Usage
- 7.7 Office
- 8.1 Gaming
- 7.5 Media Consumption
- 8.1 Media Creation
- 6.5 HDR
- Updated Nov 30, 2023: Clarified that the Gigabyte GS27QC has a better Contrast.
- Updated Oct 26, 2023: Review published.
- Updated Oct 24, 2023: Early access published.
- Updated Oct 13, 2023: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Sep 20, 2023: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Sep 15, 2023: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 27-inch Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0, which is part of Gigabyte's M Series lineup and is separate from the Gigabyte M27Q P, which has a few extra features. It's the second, and newer, version of the M27Q, as it uses a different panel than the older Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0). The second version has an RGB panel, while the first variant has a BGR panel. It's unclear which version you'll get when buying from retailers, as they don't specify if it's Rev. 1.0 or Rev. 2.0, but we purchased two units of the M27Q from Amazon and Newegg in September 2023, and both units were the second version.
The two versions have slightly different designs on the boxes they come with. You can see the box we got with Rev. 1.0 here and the box we got with Rev. 2.0 here. The biggest difference is that Rev. 1.0 is labeled as '170Hz' on the box, while Rev. 2.0 is labeled as '165Hz', but they each have a max refresh rate of 170Hz.
| Model | Size | Panel Type | Resolution | Refresh Rate | Subpixel Layout | DisplayPort Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M27Q (Rev. 1.0) | 27" | IPS | 1440p | 170Hz | BGR | 1.2 |
| M27Q (Rev. 2.0) | 27" | IPS | 1440p | 170Hz | RGB | 1.2 |
| M27Q P | 27" | IPS | 1440p | 170Hz | RGB | 1.4 |
Our unit was manufactured in April 2023; you can see the label for it here. We tested this monitor with firmware F07, which is also the latest firmware with Rev. 1.0.
Compared To Other Monitors
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 is a great budget gaming monitor that offers a fast response time at high refresh rates and low input lag for a responsive feel. Its USB-C port and KVM switch are also useful for productivity. However, it's fairly different from the Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0), as it has a slower response time and lower peak brightness. It's closer in performance to the Gigabyte M27Q P, but that monitor has a few extra features like DisplayPort 1.4 bandwidth and built-in speakers. Considering it's unclear which version of the M27Q you'll get when buying it, and because the second version performs worse than the first version if you want one of the M27Q monitors, the M27Q P is the most reliable option. If you don't need the office features of the Gigabyte monitors and want a budget monitor mainly for gaming, you can also consider the Dell G2724D, which has a faster response time.
See our recommendations for the best 1440p gaming monitors, the best 27-inch gaming monitors, and the best budget and cheap gaming monitors.
The LG 27GP850-B/27GP83B-B and the Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 2.0) are both 1440p gaming monitors, but there are a few differences. The LG has an advantage in gaming because of its faster response time at any refresh rate and better reflection handling, which is ideal if you want to use it in a well-lit room. On the other hand, the Gigabyte has a few extra features for office use as it has a USB-C port and KVM switch, making it ideal for multitasking.
The Gigabyte M27Q is available in two versions: the Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0) and Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 2.0). The main difference is that the first version has a BGR subpixel layout, while the second version has an RGB subpixel layout. This results in better text clarity on the second version because computer programs render text better with the RGB subpixel layout. However, besides that, the first version has an advantage in most areas, as it gets brighter and has a faster response time, leading to less motion blur.
The Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 2.0) and the Dell G2724D are both budget-friendly gaming monitors, with a few differences. The Dell is better for gaming because it has a faster response time at any refresh rate, and it also supports HDMI Forum VRR, so its VRR support works with the PS5, which the Gigabyte doesn't support. The Dell also gets brighter and has better reflection handling, making it the better choice for use in well-lit rooms. On the other hand, the Gigabyte has a few more productivity features, like a KVM switch and USB-C port, making it easier to multitask.
The Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 2.0) is a higher-end monitor than the Gigabyte G27Q, so it has a few more features. The main difference is that the M27Q has a USB-C port and KVM switch, making it easier to multitask, which the G27Q doesn't have. The M27Q also has Picture-by-Picture and Picture-in-Picture modes, which is something else that the G27Q doesn't have. Besides those differences, the G27Q has a bit better reflection handling and gets slightly brighter, so it's the better choice for well-lit rooms. The M27Q has better accuracy before calibration, but besides that, both monitors perform similarly.
The Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 2.0) and the Gigabyte M27Q P are both budget-friendly 1440p monitors with similar features, but there are differences in performance. The P model has better motion handling thanks to its faster response time, and it also supports DisplayPort 1.4 bandwidth, while the M27Q is limited to DisplayPort 1.2 bandwidth, so the P version supports higher refresh rates with 10-bit signals. One added feature of the P version is its built-in speakers, which the M27Q doesn't have.
The Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 2.0) and the MSI G274QPF-QD are 27-inch gaming monitors. Both have very similar performance. The Gigabyte is the better choice for local co-op gaming, as it has a wider viewing angle. However, if you're gaming at a 60Hz refresh rate, the MSI is the better choice, as it has far better motion handling at 60Hz, so fast-moving objects look substantially crisper.
The Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 2.0) is a higher-end monitor than the Gigabyte GS27QC, so it has extra features. The main difference is that the M27Q has a USB hub and KVM switch, making it the better choice for productivity. It's also better for office use as it has wider viewing angles, higher peak brightness, and much better color accuracy. The monitors are similar for gaming, but the GS27QC has a faster overall response time. Also, the GS27QC is better for use in dark rooms thanks to its higher peak brightness.
Video
Test Results
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has a simple design with an all-black body that features both matte and glossy plastic. It isn't too heavy on a gaming aesthetic, so you can use it even in an office environment, and it won't stick out.
The build quality is good. The plastic materials are well-made, and while there's a bit of flex on the back, it isn't too concerning. The monitor is well put together, with no obvious issues, and the stand holds the display well, too.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has decent ergonomics, as you can easily adjust it for yourself. However, without any swivel adjustments, it's hard to turn the screen to show it to someone else. At the lowest height adjustment, the top of the screen is 16.1" (40.9 cm) from the desk. There's also a cutout in the stand for cable management.
The base of the stand is slightly smaller than the stand on the Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0), but it still holds the screen well. As the stand is slanted, the thickness of the monitor from the display to the back of the stand is a bit different at its max height than at its minimum height. The measured thickness is at the max height, and at the minimum height, the thickness is 4.9" (12.5 cm).
There's a joystick to control the on-screen display, and the KVM switch is above it.
- DisplayPort cable
- HDMI cable
- USB-A to USB-B cable
- 3x power cords (Types B, I, and J)
- User guides
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has a mediocre contrast ratio. Blacks look gray next to bright highlights in dark rooms, and it doesn't have a local dimming feature to further improve the contrast. If you care about the contrast and want something with deeper blacks, then look into the Gigabyte GS27QC.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 doesn't have a local dimming feature. We still film these videos on the monitor so you can compare the backlight performance with a monitor that has local dimming.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has great SDR peak brightness. It gets bright enough to fight glare, and it maintains its brightness consistently across different content. Its minimum brightness is okay, but it may be too bright if you want to use it in a dark room and are very sensitive to bright lights. These results are from after calibration in the 'Custom 1' Picture Mode with the Brightness at its max.
The HDR brightness is okay. While it gets fairly bright, small highlights don't pop against the rest of the image. The EOTF is mediocre as well, as there's a slow roll-off before the peak brightness, meaning it doesn't let highlights get the brightest they can. Unfortunately, there aren't any picture settings in HDR, so you can't do anything to improve the EOTF tracking for a brighter image. The Gigabyte M27Q P has a similar issue, but unlike that monitor, the EOTF tracking on this monitor doesn't get better with dimmer signals or after using Windows HDR calibration.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has an impressive horizontal viewing angle. The image remains consistent from the sides, which is ideal if you need to share your screen with someone else.
The vertical viewing angle isn't bad. It isn't as good as the horizontal viewing angle as there's color shift from wide angles, but this is only noticeable if you're really standing above the monitor and looking down on it.
The gray uniformity is good. Although the edges of the screen are a bit darker than the rest of the image, there's minimal dirty screen effect in the center, which is great.
The black uniformity is alright. While it doesn't have a local dimming feature to help it display deep blacks, there's minimal blooming or backlight bleed in dark scenes with bright objects.
The accuracy in the sRGB mode is remarkable before calibration. There are minimal accuracies with colors and the white balance, and the color temperature is close to the 6500K target. Gamma also follows the target sRGB curve well, but really dark and really bright scenes are slightly overbrightened. Using the sRGB mode locks you out of many settings, including Overdrive and other picture settings. If you want access to those settings, you'd have to use another, less accurate mode, as you can see here.
The accuracy after calibration is fantastic. While the accuracy before calibration is already remarkable, the main advantage of calibrating it is that you have access to more picture settings, and it gets brighter.
The SDR color gamut is incredible. It has near-perfect coverage of the common sRGB color space and great coverage of the wider Adobe RGB color space. However, it oversaturates red and magenta and undersaturates green and cyan in Adobe RGB.
The SDR color volume is remarkable. It displays colors at a wide range of luminance levels but struggles to display dark colors due to its low contrast.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has an excellent color gamut. It displays a wide range of colors in both the DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020 color spaces, but there are tone mapping issues with each, so most colors are off, but it isn't significantly bad either.
The HDR color volume is decent, but it's limited by its incomplete color gamut. Also, because of its relatively low HDR brightness, it can't display bright colors well.
The reflection handling is decent. While it struggles with really bright light sources, like if you place it opposite a bright window, it gets bright enough to fight glare in most well-lit rooms.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has good text clarity. It has high enough pixel density to produce sharp text, especially with Windows ClearType (top photo) enabled. It has an RGB subpixel layout, which is different from the BGR subpixel layout on the Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0), which has worse text clarity because programs don't render text well with the BGR subpixel layout. These photos are in Windows 10, and you can also see them in Windows 11 with ClearType on and with ClearType off.
The gradient handling is outstanding, and you won't see any banding with most content.
Although the Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 is advertised to have a 165Hz native refresh rate, the refresh rate is 170Hz out of the box, and the overclock setting is only available through the OSD Sidekick program, or you can switch it to 165Hz in the NVIDIA Control Panel. Also, because of bandwidth limitations, you can only reach the max refresh rate over a DisplayPort connection with 8-bit signals.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 supports FreeSync over DisplayPort and HDMI, but G-SYNC compatibility only works over DisplayPort.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Smart OD | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Picture Quality | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Balance | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Speed | Chart | Table | Photo |
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has a very good response time at its max refresh rate of 170Hz. The recommended Overdrive setting of 'Balance' results in minimal blur, but there's some smearing with dark objects. This setting has a faster response time than the 'Picture Quality' and 'Off' settings and less overshoot than 'Speed'. The 'Smart OD' setting is meant to adjust the overdrive based on the refresh rate, and at its max refresh rate, it performs like 'Speed'.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Smart OD | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Picture Quality | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Balance | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Speed | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 120Hz is good. It performs similarly to its max refresh rate, and the recommended Overdrive setting of 'Balance' actually has a slower total response time than 'Picture Quality', but it still has a faster rise/fall time, and there's less blur trail behind fast-moving objects. The 'Smart OD' setting performs like the 'Balance' setting at 120Hz.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Off | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Smart OD | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Picture Quality | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Balance | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Speed | Chart | Table | Photo |
The response time at 60Hz isn't bad, but there's more motion blur than at higher refresh rates. Unlike at the max refresh rate and at 120Hz, the recommended overdrive setting is 'Picture Quality' because 'Balance' and 'Speed' have too much overshoot. This means you may have to change the setting if the frame rate of your game drops or if you change games, but the 'Picture Quality' setting is still good enough to use at any refresh rate if you want a set-and-forget mode. At 60Hz, the 'Smart OD' setting performs like 'Picture Quality'.
| Refresh Rate | VRR - On | VRR - Off |
| 170Hz |  |  |
| 120Hz |  |  |
| 80Hz |  | N/A |
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has an optional backlight strobing feature, also known as black frame insertion. You can only enable it between 120Hz to 170Hz, but if you have VRR enabled, the feature continues working as low as 80Hz, and it stops working below that. However, the backlight flicker is different with VRR and BFI enabled at the same time, as you can see with the oscilloscope here. This additional flicker doesn't help improve the appearance of motion much, and there's also image duplication.
Unless you have Aim Stabilizer Sync enabled, which is the setting for backlight strobing, the backlight remains flicker-free at all brightness levels, which helps reduce eye strain if you're sensitive to it.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has low input lag for a responsive feel, and it doesn't increase at lower refresh rates.
This monitor works as expected with the PS5, but without HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, it doesn't support VRR or 4k @ 120Hz. It still displays a 4k signal by downscaling it to 1440p, which results in a more detailed image than native 1440p.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 works well with the Xbox Series X|S, and there aren't any issues. Due to a lack of HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, it doesn't support 4k @ 120Hz, but everything else works. It still displays a 4k signal by downscaling it to 1440p, resulting in a more detailed image than native 1440p.
The DisplayPort Alt Mode support on the USB-C port allows you to connect a compatible laptop, but with only 10W of power delivery, it isn't enough to charge it.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 works well with macOS. You can get a max refresh rate of 165Hz over USB-C, and VRR and HDR work simultaneously without issues. The KVM switch also works well, and if you connect a MacBook, you can close the lid and continue working on the monitor. Windows also return to their original position when reopening the lid or waking the laptop up from sleep. The same also occurs when using a DisplayPort to USB-C cable, and you can get the max refresh rate of 170Hz.
The Gigabyte M27Q Rev. 2.0 has a few extra features to improve your gaming experience, like:
- Black Equalizer: Adjusts the gamma so that it's easier to see opponents in dark areas of games.
- Dashboard: Shows information from your PC like CPU and GPU temperatures.
- Game Assist: This includes gaming-oriented features like a timer, frame rate counter, and virtual crosshair. It also has a display alignment grid so that it's easier to place the monitor next to another display.
- KVM Switch: Lets you control two computers with the same keyboard and mouse connected to the monitor. One computer needs to be connected via USB-C using DisplayPort Alt Mode, while you can connect the other over HDMI or DisplayPort, with the USB-B to USB-A cable going to the computer.
- OSD Sidekick: You can control some settings through the downloadable OSD Sidekick program, including enabling the overclock setting.
