Product Review: The Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q Is Practically Perfect With An Amazing Price Tag.
This monitor was tested thoroughly as well as used PERSONALLY every day to complete this full in-depth review. Here is what I found after this process...
Pros:
Mini-LED Lit
576 Local Dimming Zones (Great Contrast Ratio)
Very Low Ghosting
High Brightness
Wide Color Gamut
Great Connectivity
Cons:
Okay Build Quality
Poor Local Dimming Tuning for Bright Scenes in SDR
Size, Resolution, & Panel Type
The Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q is a 27 inch gaming monitor with a resolution of 2560 by 1440p. This brings the PPI, or pixels per inch, how crisp and clear the image on screen is actually going to appear to your eye, to about 109. This is a good PPI where images, games, and movies will appear crisp and clear. Very small text will have some noticeable pixilation depending on your viewing distance.
Now for panel type, this is the big deal. This is an IPS, or in plane switching panel, but the big deal is that this is Mini-LED lit. This allows for full array local dimming, and on top of that, this also has a quantum dot layer.
Right off the bat I’m just going to say, this is one of the best monitors out right now. As well, Cooler Master also makes the GP27U which is almost identical to this one, but instead of a resolution of 1440p, it is 4K with some other differences.
Refresh Rate & Variable Refresh Rate
The GP27Q has a refresh rate of 165Hz and has Freesync. It does not have Nvidia certified G-Sync, however it is compatible with G-Sync and works well. However, the problem here is that this seems to not have Freesync Premium Pro. Which if you don’t know, is needed to have Freesync on during HDR usage. As well, in SDR with local dimming turn on, you also can't have Freesync on.
Now, the entire reason you would buy this monitor is for HDR and local dimming, so that’s a little weird. But even so, in HDR and SDR with local dimming on, I did not experience any screen tearing which is good!
Brightness & HDR
In SDR without local dimming on, this monitor is very bright with a rating of 600 nits, and after testing, this hits between 520 and 540 nits all day long, which is extremely good! As well, when in SDR and local dimming is switched to the high setting, this thing pushes out well over 1100 nits of brightness. Keep in mind, that is 100% window brightness. which is shockingly bright.
Now, this has 576 Mini-LED lit zones which are responsive and make this even better than a traditional VA panel contrast ratio. However, there is one flaw. When local dimming is on in SDR, it will blow out some brighter areas of the screen, so setting this in local dimming all the time and just leaving it isn't recommended. Is this a big problem? No, not at all. When gaming I turned it on, and when doing desktop usage or editing some pictures, I turned local dimming off.
Now, this is not the same story when in HDR with local dimming on. However, in a 100% window this will not achieve that crazy 1100nits in a 100% window like it did in SDR. This is hitting closer to 540 - 550 nits. This is still extremely good, so really no issues at all. As for the HDR, I mean it's great. It's bright, has great color coverage, and is contrasty when the local dimming is on. Overall a very cinematic experience without risk of burn-in like OLEDs.
Colors & ACCURACY
The Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q covers 99% of the Adobe RGB color gamut and 98% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Accuracy out of the box is pretty good, as this is factory calibrated. Although, the standard picture mode was not as good as the User1 picture mode on my unit.
If you are wanting to use this monitor for professional usage daily, I would definitely recommend calibrating this yourself. With that being said, this is still very good for 99% of people buying this. The colors are vibrant and beautiful and the white tones are pretty close to perfect. This is exactly what you want out of a gaming monitor.
As well, this can output 10 bits of color at full 165Hz, which is great!
Contrast Ratio & Backlight Bleed
Like all IPS panels, this has a native contrast ratio of 1000:1. However, with local dimming on, Cooler Master is claiming a 50,000:1 contrast ratio. That’s probably very close to what this is.
When comparing this to an average VA panel, which has a contrast ratio of around 3000:1 to 6000:1, this has way deeper blacks.
The overall user experience when comparing blacks to OLEDs is very subtle and really unnoticeable during usage. Plus, this won’t burn in and degrade over time like OLEDs are known for. That’s why Mini-LED lit IPS panels are the future. Also, as far as backlight bleed, mine had none.
Response Time, Ghosting, & Input Lag
Firstly, Cooler Master claims that the Tempest GP27Q hits a 2ms GTG response time. But who cares? How does this translate into ghosting? Well, it’s extremely low. This is practically crystal clear.
This also has the best implementation of ghosting tuning on any monitor ever. In the menu system, they let you tune the ghosting from 0 to 100 which is unbelievably awesome! Every monitor should have this. It would solve so many problems. Unbelievable.
As for input lag, it's extremely low like you would expect!
Menu System & Controls
The Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q is controlled with a single joystick on the left side, which I typically don't like, however it is accessible from underneath. This makes it usable even if you’re doing a dual monitor setup: that’s a win!
As for the menu system, there is no quick menu. I actually like this more. Once you press the joystick, you’re in the menu system. Everything is easy to find and change, and everything is well labeled. Now, this doesn’t have the awesome graphics like LG’s menu system, which literally looks like a Mercedes Benz infotainment, but it’s extremely functional. So full pass here!
Vesa Compatibility
Vesa compatibility is good being compatible with 100mmm by 100mm Vesa mounts.
Internal Speakers
As for internal speakers, the Tempest GP27Q actually does have dual 2 watt speakers. However, they are practically unusable. They do get loud-ish, but the quality is like turning the original Apple wired earbuds up to 100 and then listening to them like speakers. But it’s nice to have them, rather than not.
Connectivity & Ports
Ports Include: one DisplayPort (1.4 I believe), two HDMI 2.0, one USB Type-C with 90 Watts of charging (Display & Data), one USB type-B upstream, 2 USB type A downstreams, and a 3.5 mm audio out.
Cooler Master went above and beyond what I was expecting, especially for the price. This is absolutely fantastic!
Stand & Build Quality
The GP27Q stand is made of metal and the base looks nice and premium, but the overall adjustments of the stand do feel more budget. They are not on the level of the name brands like LG, Dell, or Corsair.
However, this does have a lot of adjustbility with height, tilt, swivel, and even full 90 degree rotation to both the left and the right. The panel itself has good build quality, but again doesn't look or feel like a high end panel. The middle part of the stand is fairly thin, which is fine and the cable management works well enough, but it's very hard to hide cables.
This does have RGB on the rear of the monitor, but it isn’t that bright. Overall, it looks cheap. As well, you can only turn the RGB on and off through the menu system. To change the colors and modes, you have to download Cooler Master’s software, which is a bit annoying.
Price & Value
I’m just going to say it: the Tempest GP27Q is so worth it in every way. For the price, the brightness, local dimming, gaming performance, and insanely good ports is an absolutely amazing deal.
Overall Verdict
So overall do I recommend the Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q? Abso-fricken-lutely! This is a beast if you want fantastic contrast ratio and gaming preformance without the worry of OLED burn in!