The first 4K HDR monitor with G-Sync: Acer Predator X27
What do you get if you have $2000 burning a hole in your pocket? Well the new Predator X27 monitor from Acer should be on your radar due to it being the first 4K monitor with G-Sync.
Now, let’s not beat around the bush, $2000 is a huge chunk of change for most of us and many would never even consider spending this kind of money on a monitor as it’s an insane amount of cash for many gamers whose PCs barely scrape the $1000 mark.
However, the hefty price tag does come with some really cool features. For starters it has a 4K panel with HDR support, though we couldn’t tell yet if it supports HDR10 or not. You also get G-Sync, which will synchronize the monitor’s frame rates with the GPU’s frame rates. However, this feature is only available for NVIDIA cards, so if you are running the AMD Vega 64 or the Vega RX 56 cards then you won’t see any benefits here. Though, these cards only make up a fraction of the high-end cards that have been sold and the GTX 1080 and GTX 1080 Ti have substantial outsold these two AMD cards. So it is safe to say that if you have $2000 to spend on a monitor, then you are more than likely running a 1080 or Titan card from NVIDIA and you will get all of the benefits of the G-Sync feature. It also boasts a 144Hz refresh rate and let’s be honest, at $2000 we would be insulted if it came with a 75Hz or 120Hz panel.
The Predator X27 has a peak brightness of 1000 nits and a typical operating brightness of 600 nits. This is damn bright and you shouldn’t be looking at a display this bright for any extended period of time. However, the higher brightness level can improve the HDR experience and for its price tag we expect the HDR to offer only the finest HDR experience on the market.
The monitor features a quantum dot display and can replicate 99% of the sRGB color space. Which means that you could use this monitor for professional photography and graphics work, however, there are some cheaper monitors that offer far better sRGB and most probably NTSC scores (we don’t actually know the monitors NTSC score yet).
Another feature that you won’t find on other monitors is Tobii eye-tracking. While a whole lot of games don’t take advantage of this feature yet, Ubisoft seem to be the biggest game developer using this features. Great titles such as Far Cry 5 and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, Assassin’s Creed Origins and the The Division all support this feature.
So while you get quite a bit of monitor, it is still a huge amount of money and ASUS are working on a similar one which is rumored to have a much more palatable price tag. And don’t forget that you will need a hefty amount of power to run this monitor at 4K with a 144Hz refresh rate, meaning that your GTX 1080 will not be up to the task if you want to hit that 60fps target. Luckily for us, the next round of NVIDIA cards are rumored for release this July, though we have seen no real confirmation that they will be launching this year at all.
If you have a huge bankroll and want to pre-order the Acer Predator X27, then head over to Newegg where you can preorder this bad boy for a whopping $1999.99 and expect delivery after its scheduled release on June 1.
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The Beautiful $2000 PC Case From Xforma
When it comes to cases there are tons of options on the market, you can go ultra-budget and spend as little as $25 on a tin can or you can go over the top and spend $2000 on one of the finest cases ever created, the Xforma Limited Edition MBX MKII.
When I saw the Xforma MBX MKII on a video that Linus Tech Tips (great channel that you should definitely follow) did, I knew that I had to share it. It’s not just a housing for all of your PC hardware, it’s a beautiful piece of art that is worth its eye watering price tag. You might be thinking to yourself, “why is it so expensive, it’s just a case?” The same can be said about supercars, they are just cars at the end of the day. The truth is that the price is defined by the choice of materials and the elegant design and craftsmanship that goes into this case. Just like a supercar, every aspect of this case has been carefully and meticulously designed by Charles Harwood to flow and work together. Even the functional aspects of this case have been designed not to impede on the overall look of the case. The optional optical drive has been integrated into a design element of the case a, it’s so subtle that you could easily overlook it completely. Apple have created some good looking computers and laptops over the last few years, but they have nothing that even compares to this case and its sheer elegance.
So the title is a bit misleading as this beautiful case doesn’t actually cost $2000 out of the box, the chassis alone will set you back a crisp $1299. It’s all the extra bits and pieces that make this case what it is. And as expected these extras will cost you quite a bit to get it to the same level as the one shown by Linus. If you have the budget for one of these master pieces, then head over to the Mod-One website where you can order your limited edition MBX MKII case. However, it will take a few weeks for it to be shipped and delivered as this is not an off the shelf case from some factory in the Far East.
Battlefield V Revealed
We just watched the live reveal of Battlefield V and as many of us had expected, it’s a World War II theme. The whole event was live streamed and hosted by the sensational Trevor Noah from the Daily Show.
There’s no denying that Battlefield 1 was an outright success for EA and Dice and now they are ready to release the next chapter in the Battlefield franchise. Battlefield V will be returning to the franchise’s roots and from what we saw in the reveal trailer it looks like the guys at Dice are going to be pulling off another great title. Much like Battlefield 1, Battlefield V will be focusing on squad-based gameplay and will not be following COD with their Battle Royale mode and we kind of like it that Battlefield is staying just the way that Battlefield should be.
One of the biggest reveals was the fact that Battlefield V will not have a Premium Pass, yes you read that right, there will be no Premium Pass. No longer will you have to fork out around $50 more for a pass that will allow you to play the expansions. Battlefield V won’t even have expansions, there will just be new chapters that will roll out every few months. Finally, Dice has listened to the fans and have decided it was more important to keep the community together, rather than making a few extra bucks of passes and single expansions. Trevor also asked the question that many of us were thinking, “Will Battlefield V be play-to-win?” and the guys from Dice answered with a reassuring NO. Clearly EA have learnt from the disastrous Battlefront II scandal that pretty much killed the game in its infancy.
Up next, there is a game play change that might piss off some users, however, I think it will add an exciting new aspect to the game and a feature that has been lost over the years. You will no longer be healed automatically and will have to rely on medics more than ever before. Even reviving an ally will see a huge change from the Battlefield 1 experience. This should make for some exciting gameplay as currently many medics play the class to point-spam and not to play the game as it should be. Another big change up is the fact that the gas mask will be making its exit and in place there will be a toolbox. The guys from Dice said that the toolbox will allow players to setup fortifications such as machine-gun nests and foxholes. Though it’s not clear if only the support class will be able to use this feature.
There is a return of a co-op mode called Combined Arms and this will allow you to play online with up to three of your friends. This should be great for those who enjoy playing against AI with their friends. Operations will be making a comeback in the form of Grand Operations, which will be historically inspired, multimatch, multiplayer mode. But if you have played Battlefield 1 then you will know that it’s a great game mode that combines aspects of rush and conquest. An article on The Verge explained that the game mode will in essence cover four days of operation in game or about an hour in real time to play. If there is a stalemate on the third day of the operation then the game will see players getting one life, one primary weapon and limited ammo. How do you like dem apples, this will make the final push that much more important and should add some excitement to the final moments of each game. Either that or it could completely suck and people will flock back to the usual conquest and rush modes that have been so popular for year in Battlefield.
Weapons will also be changing, in Battlefield 1 we had the issue that many guns dealt similar damage and this meant that an LMG and a pistol did about the same amount of damage per shot. But in Battlefield V there will be a shift back to more destruction, which is something the community has been asking for again since Bad Company 2. In Battlefield V, the MG42 will do way more damage and will be able to shoot through certain materials where the pistol round will just get stuck.
Another great feature is the addition of The Company, which will be where you can customize your soldiers’ look and skills, and where you can create predefined characters of sort for your battles online. From what we saw in the live reveal it looks like you will even be able to set your characters’ face paint, and while it won’t affect your game play, it’s still a cool feature to have when making things really custom.
While watching the live stream on YouTube I once again noticed quite a bit of negativity from the live chat and it seems that many were disappointed that it was not another modern shooter like Battlefield 3 and 4. But I also managed to catch a few glimpses of players complaining that there was a British woman in the reveal trailer. And once again EA and Dice or maybe just Dice have decided for political correctness and equality in their game, but it’s not a train smash and most people will just not play the single player or use the female character.
The game is set to release on the 19 October if you are buying the standard edition and three days earlier on the 16 October for those who are buying the deluxe edition. So you know which one we will be getting. As always it will be releasing on PC, Xbox One and on PlayStation, so once again there is no release for the Nintendo Switch planned, which is a bit of a bummer. Regardless of the fact that the Switch has been excluded once again, we are still quite eager for this game to release. And on a final note we want to mention that Battlefield 1 had a way cooler reveal trailer than Battlefield V, and the fans seem to agree as at the time that we posted this article the reveal trailer had 14k likes and 11k dislike.