BenQ XL2730Z Freesync Owners Thread

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 12:13

Hi guys.

As this is the first Freesync monitor to be released and a direct competitor to the Asus G-Sync ROG Swift both sporting 1440p at 144hz, I believe it deserves its own thread.

It would be a great idea to share user experiences and picture settings to get the most out of this monitor.

As we know Freesync is due to be let loose in the next AMD driver update on the 19th March 2015 which was a bit disappointing to hear but hopefully it will be running flawless from the get go.

So far I have been very impressed with the monitor and more so with the colours considering I have come from a IPS monitor.

I will post my settings soon and will upload some pictures.

There does not seem to be any reviews currently released which is most likely held back because of the lack of Freesync at the moment but I will be sure to post them here.

Link to the monitor: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-113-BQ&groupid=17&catid=948

***144hz Screen flicker temporary fix***

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 14:13

I wish my desk would fit the stand as it is lovely, for now I have it on one of my monitor arms.

I have had a play with the settings and finding some good results but I am rubbish at calibrating monitors so more than likely this could be much better.

The picture is very good, don't get me wrong it is no 1440p IPS picture but it is not far off it, with lovely 144hz (Well 120hz atm)

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 14:39

Ayahuasca said:
At the moment I'm using the standard picture setting with gamma set to 5 and blur reduction enabled. This probably isn't anywhere near calibrated for good colour reproduction but it looks alright to me.

Standard user with gamma 5 looks nice.

I dont have a CD drive, is the drivers on the CD for the USB ports?

Picture of the screen now https://i.imgur.com/Qi7ApGV.jpg

The only way to currently fix the 144hz flicker is with ToasterX

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 15:34

andyr said:
Hi I don't have one yet but needs must and wondered what its like for gaming, and is anyone using a single R290X to drive this, just wondered what the frame rate would be like ?

Depends on which games. I am rocking a single 290 and my frames are perfectly fine.

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 16:14

I will take some with a decent camera today.

This is shankly1985's photo he posted https://6kdb4a-dm2305.files.1drv.com/y2pRBLBK-RJBWi8D7Bzk_3I8pkY33Y32RrrVhaBYY5mzKqjmxs7FhZ2kO9Snihm9Spd8FUtySWMS01lslVGBCZBrP8kBLW4a6IVLo1NcawcHq_6UrxmzXaW9gMG-RIuv7FnfGCQp5UzQrcrCuNEnft14Q/IMAG0686.jpg?psid=1

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=27735096&postcount=89

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 16:48

Depends if you want 144hz or 60hz.

If you want 144hz ISP then this will be released soon. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-077-AC&groupid=17&catid=948

The 2 144hz TN panel freesync are:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-078-AC&groupid=17&catid=948
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-113-BQ&groupid=17&catid=948

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 17:25

The really difference will be moving to 1440p and 120-144hz.

I am not sure how much of a difference you will see going to 1440p from the Dell, there is will be difference but how much I am not sure but you will for sure see a difference with the 60hz to 144hz.

TBH coming from the Dell to this you may be underwhelmed by the picture quality as high res ISP looks better compared to high res TN because you are spending £500 but the TN still looks very good. The real advantage for you will be the extra res and double the hertz and freesync if you have a compatible GPU.

Your GPU does not support gaming with freesync but it support video play back with freesync. http://support.amd.com/en-us/search/faq/219

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 21:28

CaptainRAVE said:
Fantastic picture quality on this now that I have dialled in the settings. Huge upgrade from my dell2408. AMD just need to sort out their drivers so that dying light doesn't flicker at 1440p on my 295x2 and 144hz on the desktop.

Can you share your settings please.

Scramz · 7 Mar 2015 at 21:37

Cheers mate.

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 15:03

Thanks Captain.

I heard this panel was basically the ROG Swift but with some improvements.

Gamma 4-5 does improve the picture massively over 1-3.

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 15:22

This worked for me.

I have got the monitor to run at 144hz without flickering AND it also fixed all my games that flickered at 1440p too!

I used the ATI patch, download and install from here http://www.monitortests.com/forum/Thread-AMD-ATI-Pixel-Clock-Patcher

and

Download and install CRU Toastyx from here http://www.monitortests.com/atikmdag-patcher-1.3.2.zip

and a new Detail Res and Set to to 143.95Hz. Save and restart the PC. On restart for to your monitor properties and select 144hz from the drop down.

Arma 3 full screen https://i.imgur.com/uuhIrHs.jpg

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 16:11

Also, I was getting poor performance overall on Arma 3 and I come to realise that I never set my game parameters to use more Vram as I have gone up to 1440p so it is silky smooth now.

-cpuCount=8 -maxMem=8192 -maxVRAM=4096 -noSplash -skipIntro -world=Altis -noPause

I will add the fix on the first post.

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 16:17

Ayahuasca said:
I've just posted in the AMD thread about poor GPU usage.

I'll try those parameters.

It is not a AMD's problem, it is the game's default settings. Just the way Arma 3 is.

If any of you fancy a game soon add me to steam.

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 20:22

easyrider said:
If it was to hang on a wall how far would it come out roughly ?

Depends on the size of your bracket, the dimensions are here

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 20:36

From 1080p to 1440p, i didnt a Thief benchmark on very high mantle settings and it was using 3.8gb Vram!

@Ayahuasca, did you try the parameters on Arma 3, it helped the game run smoother as before the game was limiting it to 2gb which was causing stuttering. After I change it to use 4gb the FPS was about the same but no more stuttering.

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 20:42

easyrider said:
245cm seems mega thick?

This is the monitor with a 10p piece on it.

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 20:48

melmac said:
Doing some great work on this thread Scramz I don't have the BenQ yet, but it's on my shortlist, so I am following developments here closely and it seems like you are finding simple solutions for every problem so far. Good job!!

Hopefully there will be fixes in the next driver updates. Glad I can help however little it is.

easyrider said:
Ahh cheers for the pic mate...I was reading it wrong its actually 61 mm cheers

Keep in mind that the monitor is on my own monitor arm and not the stand it come with. I would love to have use the stand that come with the monitor as it is lovely. I cant use it as my desk is too small.

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 21:11

It will most likely sit just like your one is now.

Scramz · 8 Mar 2015 at 21:39

I am 100% happy with the purchase, as Ayahuasca said, I cant see it dropping that much in price, when you look at the monitor market I don't see much room for it to drop.

I was playing some games today and some was averaging 40-70 FPS on max settings which was getting me very excited for Freesync. If Freesync is going to live up to expectation then this monitor will be a fantastic buy.

£500 is a lot of money for a monitor, but its either buy it now or wait 4-5 months to drop to save £50-60 (That's if it even drops). I rather front the £50-60 and get more use out of it.

Scramz · 9 Mar 2015 at 09:09

Because of the extra desktop space I am not using my other monitors, might as well sell them up and keep the one.