BenQ XL2730Z Freesync Owners Thread

GoogalyMoogaly · 26 Nov 2015 at 21:04

BS Dave said:
Would it be madness to get this monitor with a 980ti?

Depends really. If you're ever planning or open to getting an AMD card (while you have this monitor) then why not?
It's decent enough for now and then you get Freesync if you move to AMD.
If you're not planning to use the Freesync then it's probably no better or worse than a number of other similar monitors.

I'm regretting my decision right now, but at least part of that is because of the fault mine's developed. Now I'm at the mercy of BenQ's RMA service I guess. Guess I could've used the etailers return service but I'm never confident enough they'll notice the error (it's not glaringly obvious, but once you've seen it or it's been pointed out...).

SkankwOn · 27 Nov 2015 at 11:47

overd0se said:
Hi all, I picked up this monitor a few days ago and for the most part it's great. However, with the newest crimson drivers that came out I get weird flickering on the desktop when I alt tab out of games. I also get the same kind of flickering when playing heroes of the storm but I haven't seen it in any other games I have tried out. It looks kind of like the backlight is flickering or something like that. It's definitely freesync related because if I turn off freesync it goes away. Also I rolled back my drivers and the desktop flickering went away, but not the flickering in heroes of the storm.

I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this problem? I'm using a sapphire tri x 290xx to drive the display, I've thought about removing the overclocking from the card even though it's a factory overclocking but haven't tried that yet.

I'd liek to figure out if this is a problem with my particular display or a driver problem so I can get a replacement for the monitor before the time is up on that.

Hi there, look up a few posts, I'm experiencing this issue too, although I only noticed it after alt-tabbing out of games a couple of days ago.

Games menus and load screens flicker quite badly sometimes, especially SWBF, also using 290x but not o'cd (but CPU 2500K is o'cd)

@GoogalyMoogaly - Blurred how, half the screens text, icons?

GoogalyMoogaly · 27 Nov 2015 at 13:16

@SkankwOn it's most noticeable on text, even the OSD stuff (so it's not PC related). To me it looks like it's being displayed at the wrong resolution. It seems like it's trying to downscale it and because there aren't enough pixels some bits come out thinner than it should be and then other bits look like they're in bold. It's quite subtle but definitely noticeable.

Dave2150 · 27 Nov 2015 at 16:40

Pulled the trigger on one of these just now - looking forward to upgrading from my 60Hz 1200P screen to a 1440P Freesync 144Hz screen

Hopefully my 390X will be enough to drive it in the games I play, if not I'll get AMD's next gen card whenever it's released, not keen on the 4GB fury range.

SkankwOn · 27 Nov 2015 at 19:26

GoogalyMoogaly said:
@SkankwOn it's most noticeable on text, even the OSD stuff (so it's not PC related). To me it looks like it's being displayed at the wrong resolution. It seems like it's trying to downscale it and because there aren't enough pixels some bits come out thinner than it should be and then other bits look like they're in bold. It's quite subtle but definitely noticeable.

Is this problem in all areas of the screen or most noticeable on one side of the screen to the other? I'm asking because this sounds very similar to my issues with 2 previous XL2730Z's, both required RMA and I ended up with a new screen - third time lucky! Another poster here also had a similar issue (nails666), but credit to BenQ they did all they could, but it was a PITA!

Dave2150 said:
Pulled the trigger on one of these just now - looking forward to upgrading from my 60Hz 1200P screen to a 1440P Freesync 144Hz screen

Hopefully my 390X will be enough to drive it in the games I play, if not I'll get AMD's next gen card whenever it's released, not keen on the 4GB fury range.

390X will be more than ample mate, I'm on a 290X and run most games @ Ultra 1440p with decent frames.

GoogalyMoogaly · 27 Nov 2015 at 20:38

SkankwOn said:
Is this problem in all areas of the screen or most noticeable on one side of the screen to the other? I'm asking because this sounds very similar to my issues with 2 previous XL2730Z's, both required RMA and I ended up with a new screen - third time lucky! Another poster here also had a similar issue (nails666), but credit to BenQ they did all they could, but it was a PITA!

390X will be more than ample mate, I'm on a 290X and run most games @ Ultra 1440p with decent frames.

More noticeable on the right hand side, left looks fine. Can't really tell if top or bottom is worse, think it's about the same. If anything top is worse than the bottom.

I'm worried that I'll just get another screen with the same issue and then I'll have to RMA it all over again. As you say it's a real PITA plus you have to spend the time without the monitor.

Been over 24 hours so far and they've not replied to my RMA request, which is just annoying me more. Not impressed BenQ, not impressed.

My first and quite possibly last BenQ monitor.

Falkentyne · 27 Nov 2015 at 21:37

GoogalyMoogaly said:
More noticeable on the right hand side, left looks fine. Can't really tell if top or bottom is worse, think it's about the same. If anything top is worse than the bottom.

I'm worried that I'll just get another screen with the same issue and then I'll have to RMA it all over again. As you say it's a real PITA plus you have to spend the time without the monitor.

Been over 24 hours so far and they've not replied to my RMA request, which is just annoying me more. Not impressed BenQ, not impressed.

My first and quite possibly last BenQ monitor.

You know it's a holiday weekend, right?

GoogalyMoogaly · 27 Nov 2015 at 21:58

Falkentyne said:
You know it's a holiday weekend, right?

On Thursday?

Falkentyne · 27 Nov 2015 at 23:59

Yes, one of the biggest holidays of the year. (Thanksgiving). And a lot of places are closed Friday also.

GoogalyMoogaly · 28 Nov 2015 at 00:06

Falkentyne said:
Yes, one of the biggest holidays of the year. (Thanksgiving). And a lot of places are closed Friday also.

I thought that was a US holiday?
I'm in the UK so using the UK RMA. Do places really close up for Black Friday in the US?
I was asking pre-sales questions on this forum and OcUK staff were answering me same day on Thursday/Friday.

maonayze · 28 Nov 2015 at 15:25

Googaly your in Cornwall, shops only open Mon - Wed in Cornwall. Saying that they only open Tuesdays in Wales. Obviously gets a bit busy here on a Tuesday.

Hope you sort out your issues with your BenQ though. I had to RMA my first one as it was DOA and the guys at BenQ were brilliant in all fairness. They got my monitor RMA'd while I was on holiday (Goonhavern, Cornwall LOL ) and delivered to my Mother-in-laws with a few emails and a phone call.

The second one has been brilliant.

GoogalyMoogaly · 28 Nov 2015 at 15:59

maonayze said:
Googaly your in Cornwall, shops only open Mon - Wed in Cornwall. Saying that they only open Tuesdays in Wales. Obviously gets a bit busy here on a Tuesday.

Hope you sort out your issues with your BenQ though. I had to RMA my first one as it was DOA and the guys at BenQ were brilliant in all fairness. They got my monitor RMA'd while I was on holiday (Goonhavern, Cornwall LOL ) and delivered to my Mother-in-laws with a few emails and a phone call.

The second one has been brilliant.

I hope that if/when they finally get around to it that it'll all go smoothly.
I wasn't overly fond of the monitor before the fault, with the fault I'm disliking it more and more by the day.
Unless they come out with something ridiculously good in the future I think it's safe to say that this monitor/experience has put me off BenQ as a brand.

Already started looking around at 4K Freesync screens as a replacement, but I had 4K before and moved down to this monitor for a reason. Worried that 4K is still a little ahead of its time at the minute. Longer the RMA takes the more appealing buying a different monitor and selling the RMA'd BenQ on is looking.

Dave2150 · 28 Nov 2015 at 16:00

SkankwOn said:
390X will be more than ample mate, I'm on a 290X and run most games @ Ultra 1440p with decent frames.

Nice, good to hear. Can't wait for Monday to play with it now, freesync here we come!

Out of curiosity, I looked up the power consumption of my old monitor (NEC 24WMGX3, 1920x1200) and it uses over double the power compared to this, larger, BenQ panel. I guess there have been big advances in monitor power tech since 2008 (LED backlights I assume?)

SkankwOn · 29 Nov 2015 at 18:33

GoogalyMoogaly said:
More noticeable on the right hand side, left looks fine. Can't really tell if top or bottom is worse, think it's about the same. If anything top is worse than the bottom.

I'm worried that I'll just get another screen with the same issue and then I'll have to RMA it all over again. As you say it's a real PITA plus you have to spend the time without the monitor.

Been over 24 hours so far and they've not replied to my RMA request, which is just annoying me more. Not impressed BenQ, not impressed.

My first and quite possibly last BenQ monitor.

Yep, you have the same issues I and nails666 had, except mirrored! It was more noticeable on the left for us (see page 49 of this thread). It's an RMA for sure, in which case I advise you to keep chasing it up. Once BenQ actually replies the process should move fairly quickly, but I've heard that initial response can be 2 or 3 days.

Dave2150 · 30 Nov 2015 at 21:08

Got my XL2730Z setup and running - absolutely loving it so far! No dead pixels, no backlight bleed, v002 firmware, February build date. Box had been retaped with BenQ tape.

Freesync enabled, 144Hz enabled.

I've got one problem though - I randomly get a black screen which lasts for around 1 second. This has happened in games and on the desktop, it goes straight back to normal after this 1 second has passed etc, quite strange. Is this a known problem that's easy to fix?

Also, I've no monitor profile/driver setup yet, it's listed as a Generic PNP monitor in device manager etc. Is there a monitor driver/profile available for download that's worth getting?

GoogalyMoogaly · 30 Nov 2015 at 22:18

SkankwOn said:
Yep, you have the same issues I and nails666 had, except mirrored! It was more noticeable on the left for us (see page 49 of this thread). It's an RMA for sure, in which case I advise you to keep chasing it up. Once BenQ actually replies the process should move fairly quickly, but I've heard that initial response can be 2 or 3 days.

They've replied asking for more photos. I get the feeling they're not going to make this process easy.
Annoyingly in the photo's it doesn't appear as bad as it does in person. I think the fact I'm taking the picture close to the screen and directly in front of it rather than at the slight angle.
I did say it was a subtle difference, but when you're paying this sort of money for a monitor and it's 5 months old I don't expect any defect even a subtle one.

EDIT: Out of interest, could anyone take and post a picture of the OSD you get (that displays "Black eQualizer", "Blur Reduction", etc. please? I just want to see if it's as obvious on mine as I think it is.

Dave2150 said:
Got my XL2730Z setup and running - absolutely loving it so far! No dead pixels, no backlight bleed, v002 firmware, February build date. Box had been retaped with BenQ tape.

Freesync enabled, 144Hz enabled.

I've got one problem though - I randomly get a black screen which lasts for around 1 second. This has happened in games and on the desktop, it goes straight back to normal after this 1 second has passed etc, quite strange. Is this a known problem that's easy to fix?

Also, I've no monitor profile/driver setup yet, it's listed as a Generic PNP monitor in device manager etc. Is there a monitor driver/profile available for download that's worth getting?

I'd suspect the DisplayPort cable.

Dave2150 · 1 Dec 2015 at 00:40

GoogalyMoogaly said:
I'd suspect the DisplayPort cable.

Update - seems all I had to do to fix it was restart my PC.

When I connected the new monitor, I unplugged my old one (HDMI cable) while the PC was on, then connected the DP for the new monitor. I guess something got mixed up due to switching between HDMI and DP - though all has been fine for the last few hours.

Touch wood this is a permanent fix, will keep an eye on it.

Fantastic display though, I'm really shocked how much of a difference Freesync and 144Hz really makes :eek:

SkankwOn · 1 Dec 2015 at 23:16

GoogalyMoogaly said:
They've replied asking for more photos. I get the feeling they're not going to make this process easy.
Annoyingly in the photo's it doesn't appear as bad as it does in person. I think the fact I'm taking the picture close to the screen and directly in front of it rather than at the slight angle.
I did say it was a subtle difference, but when you're paying this sort of money for a monitor and it's 5 months old I don't expect any defect even a subtle one.

EDIT: Out of interest, could anyone take and post a picture of the OSD you get (that displays "Black eQualizer", "Blur Reduction", etc. please? I just want to see if it's as obvious on mine as I think it is...

They asked me for photos and videos mate! So I took plenty as best as I could showing the fault. This one shows it in the OSD and the older AMD Catalyst CC. The text is blockier on the left getting gradually better until it's normal on the far right.

Ah ha 'spoiler' that's a better way to post images, thanks GoogalyMoogaly.

DM8104 · 1 Dec 2015 at 23:33

Has anyone had random flickering issues after installing the latest AMD Crimson drivers?

I've rolled back to 15.7.1 and the flickering is gone.

I have just bought the monitor but I'm a bit concerned if the monitor has a hardware fault or not.

Difficult to get a screenshot, but a inch thick of errored lines flicker on the screen from time to time.

Dave2150 · 1 Dec 2015 at 23:45

Dave2150 said:
Update - seems all I had to do to fix it was restart my PC.

When I connected the new monitor, I unplugged my old one (HDMI cable) while the PC was on, then connected the DP for the new monitor. I guess something got mixed up due to switching between HDMI and DP - though all has been fine for the last few hours.

Touch wood this is a permanent fix, will keep an eye on it.

Fantastic display though, I'm really shocked how much of a difference Freesync and 144Hz really makes

Seems I spoke too soon - today I'm yet again getting black screens that last 1-2 seconds. This mainly occurs in games, though as they can be hours apart, it makes it very hard to diagnose