Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q - Buy or not to buy

chiller15 · 25 May 2023 at 08:47

I want to replace my 24" Dell S2417DG with something newer, though I've recently been playing games connected to my LG C1 OLED and been spoilt by the brilliant image of OLED, with it's deep blacks and HDR. However, couch gaming doesn't offer my the same level of immersion that desk gaming does, even if I use my keyboard/mouse. Therefore I'd like to get the best of both worlds, having a somewhat HDR gaming experience on my desk. While I won't be playing at 4K anymore (I have a 3080, though likely won't be upgrading until the 50 series comes out), the Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q seems to tick all the right boxes, fast enough refresh rate, actual HDR with 576 full array local dimming, good colour accuracy and response times. It's also within my ~£500 price bracket I've allocated myself. However, a couple of things are bugging me and it's delayed me purchasing it so far:

I know that the monitor has had bugs and firmware has fixed most of these. I've watched Hardware/Monitors Unboxed's videos, though I think another new firmware has been released since they released their updated video. Has anyone got any updates?
What is the main competitor in terms of image quality/HDR and price?
While 576 zones provides a true HDR experience, obiously more zones = better. However, I can't seem to find more information about upcoming higher refresh rate, high FALD zone count, 1440p monitors.
A monitor is what tends to last the longest on my system, though I've never used any Cooler Master products and I don't know what their quality is like. Can anyone expand on their experience if they own this monitor, or other Cooler Master products?
Does anyone know what Cooler Master's warranty experience is like?
If I'm likely to have this monitor for at least the next five years, am I shooting myself in the foot by it only being 1440p?

I probably have more questions, I just can't think of them at the moment.

mark43 · 25 May 2023 at 11:31

I was very interested in the monitor until I read about the issues. I've not seen anything beyond the monitors unboxed video, I think I'd want to know it was definitely fixed, and certainly wouldn't purchase it in the hope that further updates will fix it. If they haven't managed it yet I'd he sceptical that they can fix it.

JediFragger · 25 May 2023 at 11:41

Agreed, buy a monitor as it is *now* and not by any promised future updates.

chiller15 · 25 May 2023 at 11:43

mark43 said:
I was very interested in the monitor until I read about the issues. I've not seen anything beyond the monitors unboxed video, I think I'd want to know it was definitely fixed, and certainly wouldn't purchase it in the hope that further updates will fix it. If they haven't managed it yet I'd he sceptical that they can fix it.

JediFragger said:
Agreed, buy a monitor as it is *now* and not by any promised future updates.

That's the thing I want to check - further firmware has been released since the Monitors Unboxed update video in December 2022, though I'm not finding reliable information as to whether the issues have actually been resolved. If this latest firmware does fix it, I'm likely to buy it.

Mcnumpty2323 · 27 May 2023 at 16:18

just got it delivered today
in the process of setting it up right now
windows hdr still seems hit and miss
not actually tested hdr beyond some youtube videos so far
side by side with my ad27qd gigabyte
am not seeing the sort of difference i expected
that may be some sort of user error on my part
once i am certain the content is actually hdr
my opinion may change
though to be fair i am using a preview version windows 11
so hdr may be even more buggy
its showing firmware version 1.2 out of the box
which as far as i know is newer than on hardware unboxed

gjbf1 · 2 Jun 2023 at 08:41

Mcnumpty2323 said:
just got it delivered today
in the process of setting it up right now
windows hdr still seems hit and miss
not actually tested hdr beyond some youtube videos so far
side by side with my ad27qd gigabyte
am not seeing the sort of difference i expected
that may be some sort of user error on my part
once i am certain the content is actually hdr
my opinion may change
though to be fair i am using a preview version windows 11
so hdr may be even more buggy
its showing firmware version 1.2 out of the box
which as far as i know is newer than on hardware unboxed

How are you getting on with it now?

Mcnumpty2323 · 2 Jun 2023 at 10:25

gjbf1 said:
How are you getting on with it now?

Tried a couple of games
Blacks are definitely blacker
Not sure if that's good or not lol
Last of us part 1 is set in dark areas a lot
So it being even darker gives more effect yes
But makes it harder to see outside the area of your torch
Still finding windows hdr buggy
Sometimes auto hdr works when I open the game
Sometimes it doesn't
Sometimes it makes the screen go blank
And I have to turn monitor off and back on
Some of that's windows issue and not the monitor
I would say it's better than my gigabyte ad27qd
But not to the point I am blown away by the difference

gjbf1 · 2 Jun 2023 at 10:58

Mcnumpty2323 said:
Tried a couple of games
Blacks are definitely blacker
Not sure if that's good or not lol
Last of us part 1 is set in dark areas a lot
So it being even darker gives more effect yes
But makes it harder to see outside the area of your torch
Still finding windows hdr buggy
Sometimes auto hdr works when I open the game
Sometimes it doesn't
Sometimes it makes the screen go blank
And I have to turn monitor off and back on
Some of that's windows issue and not the monitor
I would say it's better than my gigabyte ad27qd
But not to the point I am blown away by the difference

Sorry to hear. Thanks.

Mcnumpty2323 · 2 Jun 2023 at 11:15

gjbf1 said:
Sorry to hear. Thanks.

Hopefully windows will eventually be better
With hdr
And it was basically half the price of an oled
Still not cheap
But not the same experience as going from a tn panel
To an ips panel was
And everyone has different views on what they like
Some people prefer over saturated colours for example
So it's just my opinion/experience of it
Not a scientific approach by any means

Mcnumpty2323 · 3 Jun 2023 at 22:09

Just to update
There's a version 1.21 firmware
That was a PITA
Their instructions aren't very clear
To upgrade firmware
The flash drive has to be fat32
This means not over 32gb on modern versions of Windows
Otherwise it will format it as exfat instead

Not sure if they were there before and I just missed them
But the menu now has HDR user mode
HDR game mode and HDR movie mode
This seems to address things being just so dark
That I was struggling to see properly
Though only just updated firmware so will have to
Check out some more stuff to double check

Dervious · 25 Jun 2023 at 22:02

Mcnumpty2323 said:
Just to update
There's a version 1.21 firmware

Though only just updated firmware so will have to
Check out some more stuff to double check

I`ve been considering upgrading from a Dell S2716DG (TN Panel) to a newer IPS monitor. The Alienware AW2723DF seemed to be a good choice, but a review that I read today mentioned the GP27Q as possibly a better alternative. I was very tempted to order one until I read about the firmware issues (flickering in certain scenarios with VRR enabled ?). I`ve read that there have been one or two firmware updates, but as previously mentioned, it isn't clear if the latest firmware has solved the issues. If you wouldn't mind, could you give us some info on how your monitor is performing now ?

Mcnumpty2323 · 25 Jun 2023 at 22:18

Dervious said:
I`ve been considering upgrading from a Dell S2716DG (TN Panel) to a newer IPS monitor. The Alienware AW2723DF seemed to be a good choice, but a review that I read today mentioned the GP27Q as possibly a better alternative. I was very tempted to order one until I read about the firmware issues (flickering in certain scenarios with VRR enabled ?). I`ve read that there have been one or two firmware updates, but as previously mentioned, it isn't clear if the latest firmware has solved the issues. If you wouldn't mind, could you give us some info on how your monitor is performing now ?

No flickering with vrr enabled on mine
To be honest only issues I seem to be having
Are to do with HDR which windows isn't great with
Though as previously mentioned
I am using a windows 11 preview version
But if a game has hdr and or post fx settings
Then it's possible to play around with those to alter stuff
With hdr enabled some parts of games were just too dark for me
That's a bit of a personal preference perhaps
Rather than a fault of the monitor
Not on pc now or would link the reddit post for the monitor

If you're coming from a tn panel
The difference should be a huge one
I already have a very good ips second monitor
Partly the reason why I wasn't overwhelmed I guess
I paid 500 for the gp27q from ocuk competitor
It's basically half the price of an oled
Even if the cost of oled wasn't a problem
Far as I have seen only dell offers a burn in warranty on them