The new Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor utilizes HDMI 2.1 tech: 4K 120/144Hz for next-gen GPUs and next-gen consoles.
The Bottom Line
Asus goes for gold, well I guess I mean white.- with its new ROG Strix XG43UQ.- which now has HDMI 2.1 connectivity and is ready for next-gen consoles and next-gen GPUs.
Introduction
Asus has been going from 43-inch gaming monitor to 43-inch gaming monitor, improving things along the way right through to the introduction of the new flagship.- and world’s first HDMI 2.1 gaming monitor.- the ROG Strix XG43UQ.- that I’ve been using for around a month now. and it is their best yet.
The big selling point here is that the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ rocks the very latest HDMI 2.1 connectivity, which means you can use a HDMI 2.1 cable to connect the monitor to your new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series or AMD Radeon RX 6000 series GPU.
Not just that, but the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 means you can use the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ for Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox Series X/S and Sony’s next-gen Playstation 5 console.
I was coming in off the Asus ROG Swift PG43UQ, which is also a 43-inch 4K 120/144Hz gaming monitor.- but driven by DisplayPort 1.4 connectors and not HDMI 2.1.- where as the new ROG Strix (not Swift) PG43UQ rocks the new HDMI 2.1 connector.
Asus has not just one but two HDMI 2.1 ports on the monitor, so you could have your PC and next-gen console plugged into it.- which is exactly what I did. I ran
GPUs used with HDMI 2.1 on the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ: NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, GeForce RTX 3070, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, GeForce RTX 3080, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and GeForce RTX 3090.- as well as AMD’s Radeon RX 6700 XT, Radeon RX 6800, Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics cards using HDMI 2.1 on the ROG Strix XG43UQ.
On the other HDMI 2.1 port, I had a new Playstation 5 that I just purchased.- solely for Ratchet Clank: Rift Apart. and it is incredible. The game is super-fun, and is an absolute blast to play on the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ.
43 inches of 4K goodness at the super-smooth 120Hz refresh rate PS5 Ratchet Clank: Rift Apart in “Performance RT” mode. 60FPS of action on the monitor on the PS5 is fantastic. It doesn’t beat my LG OLED. but if you’re using a 27-inch monitor and wanted an upgrade that would handle a beefier gaming PC and next-gen console then you will find a great home with the ROG Strix XG43UQ.
Asus has DisplayHDR 1000 certification on its flagship ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor, meaning not only is it huge.- but it’s also super bright, too.
Asus ROG Strix XG438Q 43″ Large Gaming Monitor with 4K 120Hz
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Detailed Look
From the front you wouldn’t know this was a new monitor from Asus, as it looks like its other 43-inch ROG gaming monitors. It’s stylish, with no RGB lighting blinging out your eye sockets while you’re trying to game through the day and night.- or the entire time.
But when the monitor is turned around, oh man does it look different.- Asus has shifted gears and used a white theme with the ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor. It’s one of those love-it-or-hate-it designs, but I love it.- the white design is different and I like that. It’s just a pity it’s on the back of the monitor and not looked at more, but if it’s in a lounge room setting then the back of the monitor might be seen much more (and that’s a great thing).
Display connectivity on the bottom of the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ we have 2 x HDMI 2.1 connections, and a single DisplayPort 1.4 connector. There’s an Aura Sync connector here for the RGB lighting that comes included (a little projector at the bottom of the monitor) and finally the power connector on the end.
Each of these ports can handle up to 4K 144Hz for ultra high-end gaming.
On the side we have some 3.5mm audio jacks, 2 x USB 3.0 ports, and then 2 x HDMI 2.0 (but not HDMI 2.1 to be specific here. so 4K 60Hz maximum on the HDMI 2.0 ports on the side of the monitor).
There’s also dual 10W stereo speakers built into the monitor, too.- good enough for some YouTube or Netflix consumption. If you wanted to game on the couch, the speakers aren’t that great and don’t match what you’d get from something in this price range with let’s say an LG OLED 48-inch TV.
Connectivity, Specs Marketing
Asus right out of the gate lets you know that the new ROG Strix XG43UQ has HDMI 2.1 connectivity, as that is the main FOCUS of this monitor. HDMI 2.1 enables 4K 120Hz over HDMI if you’ve got one of the latest Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series or RDNA 2-based Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards.
You’ve been able to do 4K 120Hz and even 4K 144Hz (through DSC, or Display Stream Compression) for a while now. The ability of 4K 120Hz over HDMI 2.1 is cool and all, but it’s nothing new for PC gamers apart from being able to do that res refresh rate over HDMI.
Asus has proudly pushed HDMI 2.1 on the ROG Strix XG43UQ because of the next-gen Sony Playstation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X/S consoles, as they support up to 4K 120FPS.- and more specifically 120FPS gaming.
But if you’re on the PC and want the very best, you can use the DisplayPort 1.4 connector and crank up that 4K resolution and join it with 144FPS. up from the 120FPS on the HDMI 2.1 connector.
Asus really does include a great combination of technology, features, and function into the ROG Strix XG43UQ. We have an included remote control which is super useful, and makes the monitor feel like a TV.- while the 10W stereo speakers do a great job at providing audio good enough for YouTube videos, Netflix streaming, and casual gaming.
The super-fast 144Hz refresh rate has been fantastic for me so far, with a chunk of my time spent gaming on the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor inside of Call of Duty: Warzone at 4K 144Hz and it has been absolutely glorious.
If you’ve got the PC hardware horsepower, you won’t be able to game on anything else once you’re playing on the ROG Strix XG43UQ. There’s also AMD FreeSync Premium Pro here, too.
Asus meets the VESA DisplayHDR 1000 standard with its ROG Strix XG43UQ, offering fantastic colors, HDR modes, and brightness. There’s DCI-P3 90% color gamut and color contrast on the monitor, so your eyeballs will definitely be loving it.
If you’re someone who uses picture-in-picture mode, then Asus includes that for you.
Meanwhile, connectivity is great.- we have 2 x HDMI 2.1 connectors, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 connector, 2 x HDMI 2.0 connectors, 2 x USB 3.0 ports, as well as audio input and a 3.5mm headphone jack. You’re not missing out on I/O connectivity on the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor, that’s for sure.
Test System Specs
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X processor:
Latest upgrade:
Asus provided a rather large upgrade to my GPU testing lab.- or rather, I kept the Asus ROG Swift PG43UQ gaming monitor after my review on it. The 43-inch 4K 144Hz panel is just glorious to look at.- it’s huge, the DPI for Windows 10 when set perfect for your viewing distance is kiss-fingers-emoji good. It’s just amazing.- for work, and gaming.
Sabrent sent over their huge Rocket Q 8TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD, which will be my new Games install SSD inside of my main test bed.
I’ll be making some changes over the coming months to the GPU test bed here for TweakTown, to both the Ryzen 9 5900X and then Intel’s new Core i9-11900K to do some proper PCIe 4.0 testing between the chipsets for GPUs super-fast load times into games on these new super-fast Sabrent SSDs.
Sabrent helped out with some new storage for my GPU test beds, sending over a slew of crazy-fast Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSDs. I’ve got this installed into my GPU test bed as the new Games Storage drive, since games are so damn big now. Thanks to Sabrent, I’ve got 2TB of super-fast M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD storage now.
Anthony’s GPU Test System Specifications
I’ve recently upgraded my GPU test bed.- at least for now, until AMD’s new Ryzen 9 5950X processor is unleashed then the final update for 2020 will happen and we’ll be all good for RDNA 2 and future Ampere GPU releases. You can read my article here: TweakTown GPU Test Bed Upgrade for 2021, But Then Zen 3 Was Announced.
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (buy from Amazon)
- Motherboard: Asus ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Hero (buy from Amazon)
- Cooler: CoolerMaster MasterLiquid ML360R RGB (buy from Amazon)
- RAM: G.SKILL Trident Z NEO RGB 32GB (4x8GB) (F4-3600C18Q-32GTZN) (buy from Amazon)
- SSD: Sabrent 2TB Rocket NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 (buy from Amazon)
- PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 1200W (buy from Amazon)
- Case: InWin X-Frame 2.0
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional x64 (buy from Amazon)
- Monitor: Asus ROG Swift PG43UQ (buy from Amazon)
Workstation Gaming Use
Workstation Use
For my initial impressions on the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ, there was around 4-5 days of full use put into the monitor with both gaming and working. But I have spent the last month on this monitor now, which gives me a great perspective on how it runs over a longer period of time with different games and even the Playstation 5.
First off, for my workstation use on the monitor I think I would’ve easily put 200 hours of time into it between working and gaming with maybe a 70/30 split between work and gaming. On the work side of things, I’m using the monitor for my day-to-day duties with TweakTown which is writing around 35-50 news stories a week, and around 1-2 full-length reviews per week.
This takes around 70-80 hours of my time, but then I’ve had multiple GPU launches.- more so than any other period in my 11 years here with TweakTown. This meant I needed to sit in front of my monitor(s) for an insane amount of time benchmarking, writing, taking photos and editing them, and everything in between.
During all of this time I did a bulk of the work on the new ROG Strix XG43UQ of course, while to the left of the new monitor I have the previous ROG Swift PG43UQ. This gives me a great side-by-side comparison between the two across that time for both work and gaming purposes.
For all of my time with it in “work mode” it looked just as good as the ROG Swift PG43UQ and that’s not a bad thing.- the new ROG Strix XG43UQ isn’t this huge upgrade over the PG43UQ. We still have the 43-inch 4K 120/144Hz goodness here, with DisplayHDR 1000 certification.- but now, with HDMI 2.1 connectivity and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.
It’s fantastic to work with.- writing for countless hours doesn’t put strain on my eyes, which is obviously important if you’re sitting in front of a monitor for long periods of time day in, day out.
I use all 3 of my Asus ROG 43-inch 4K 120/144Hz monitors on these mobile TV stands on Amazon which cost 125, they’re the North Bayou heavy duty TV stand that is on wheels (oh man does that make my work flow easier). The 43-inch Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ has VESA mounting, taking minutes to remove its own stand, and attach it to the TV stand.
That way I can keep the monitor a little further away from me, as I don’t believe (nor do I recommend) using this monitor (or any other 43-inch monitor for that matter) on your desk. It’s far too big, and ruins the experience of the 43-inch monitor.
For a console gamer, a 43-inch TV isn’t that big in the world of 55/65-inch and beyond. but to PC gamers that for the most part have been using monitors between 24-inch and 27-inch, topping out at maybe 32-inch. That’s fine for your desk, but a 43-inch monitor is far bigger and far too big to be inches away from your keyboard.
I find using the mobile TV stand gives me perfect adjustment, as I can have it up off my desk with super-easy height adjustment. Once you’ve found the right height, and the right distance.- the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ will become the centerpiece of your workstation or gaming setup.
If you are a professional who is reading or writing on a computer monitor all day, and wanted that sweet 4K 120Hz smoothness.- which is worth it for desktop use, trust me.- then this is a monitor worth looking at. There’s great color reproduction, oodles of brightness with DisplayHDR 1000 certification, and the native 4K resolution.
Content creators will have a huge 43-inch panel in front of them, with the 4K resolution and the right DPI scaling (depending on your personal liking of DPI settings in Windows 10, the distance between you and the monitor, and other factors) being another gigantic win for the ROG Strix XG43UQ.
It’s just clearer, and much better on your eyes to be looking at a larger display with the text and UI bigger.- versus a smaller 27-inch monitor that is either a little too far away (so you’ll have eyestrain) or it’s too close to your eyes. The 43-inch monitor (ideally, on a TV stand or at least off and away from your desk) is a great alternative if you didn’t want an UltraWide (21:9) or an even wider 32:9 aspect ratio panel.
Now the work side is out of the way: let’s talk gaming.
Gaming Use
Call of Duty: Warzone received its new NVIDIA DLSS upgrade just as the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor arrived, and so did a handful of new GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards. I’m a big fan of Warzone, so I pumped a considerable amount of hours into it trying it at different resolutions, graphics settings, and of course GPUs.
With AMD FreeSync Premium Pro support, you can feel safe buying an AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT or Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card with this monitor.- both can handle 4K 120FPS in plenty of games.
The new RDNA 2-based GPUs offer the same levels of performance that NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3080, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards do.- except of course, if the games you play have DLSS support.
DLSS was set to Quality mode, with some detail settings tweaked down to Medium to better maintain 120FPS minimum in Call of Duty: Warzone. Setting DLSS to Quality provides you with a better image than native 4K, but then I get a large performance boost out of DLSS so there’s more frames per second to enjoy.
DisplayHDR 1000 ensures the image is nice and bright, the better-than-4K graphics thanks to DLSS, and super-smooth 120FPS with 1ms response. all on a huge 43-inch panel? Delightful. Absolutely delightful. Pulling off headshots with a sniper rifle from a large distance never felt so good.
Neither did bursting into a house and taking out a guy at the bottom of the stairs, taking a few hits, putting on more shields while walking up the stairs and flicking around to nail another guy with insta-precision. Matching the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ with a powerful GPU is necessary, but when you do you get some great gaming moments out of it.
HDMI 2.1
I used HDMI 2.1 connectivity for most of my time with the monitor, with the stock HDMI 2.1 cable and another high quality HDMI 2.1 cable that I purchased separately. Both of them worked first shot out of the box, powering all of my Radeon RX 6000 and GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards flawlessly.
It actually worked well, because during particular times through my review on the ROG Strix XG43UQ, I had the other 2 x Asus ROG 43-inch 4K monitors plugged in. They were both using DisplayPort 1.4 ports, so I used the HDMI 2.1 port and could have all 3 plugged in with room to spare.
The monitor itself has 2 x HDMI 2.1 ports, so I used the other one and plugged in Sony’s next-gen Playstation 5 console into it. This gave me a good mix of PC gaming on the ROG Strix XG43UQ, as well as what Asus is really making this for: next-gen console owners with Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S support.
The new Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ is also going to be one of the “Designed for Xbox” TVs and monitors, with Microsoft unveiling the new Designed for Xbox family of displays in the final 24 hours of me finishing this review.
What’s Hot What’s Not
What’s Hot
- 43-inch size: Great size for PC gaming if the monitor isn’t on your desk, with 125% DPI scaling in Windows 10 you’ll find your experience will vary with the DPI settings, but once you’ve got it tweaked the 43-inch size goes from ‘oh my, that’s huge to how did I live without the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ in my life?!’
- 4K resolution: A large 43-inch panel with native 4K is perfect, if it were 1440p then I don’t think it would match as well.- but 43 inches of 4K at the right distance from you is great. Windows gamers can play games or use their desktop PC for productivity, but the 4K side of things is a key part of the next-gen consoles, too.
- 120-144Hz refresh rate: Of course this is a highlight.- 120FPS through to 144FPS at 4K (and any resolution under that) is incrtedible. Once you use 120FPS you’ll never go back, and now you can do that with the next-gen consoles and you can do it over HDMI 2.1 to your new GeForce RTX 30 or Radeon RX 6000 series GPU.
- Perfect for RTX 3080 Ti or RX 6800/6900 XT: If you’ve been lucky enough to get yourself NVIDIA’s new GeForce RTX 3080 Ti then I think that’s the perfect GPU for this monitor.- but AMD has some damn good offerings with their Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6900 XT.- also perfect for the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor.
- HDMI 2.1 connectivity: AMD’s new RDNA 2 architecture and NVIDIA’s new Ampere GPU architectures both have HDMI 2.1 connectivity across all of the Radeon RX 6000 and GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards, so too do the next-gen Xbox Series X/S and Playstation 5 consoles.
- ROG Strix style, but in white: I didn’t think I’d like the white style on the back, but I loved it.- unfortunately, you don’t get to see the white ROG Strix aesthetic all the time as the ROG Strix XG43UQ monitor is only white on the back. From the front, you wouldn’t tell the difference between any of the 43-inch ROG gaming monitors.
- It’s so damn bright, thanks to DisplayHDR 1000: This is another part of the monitor that remains unchanged over its HDMI 2.1-less predecessor, but it doesn’t make it any less impressive. Explosions are super-bright, running up a mountain in Call of Duty: Warzone and having the sunlight pierce the trees and hit your eyes, looks fantastically bright.
- Remote control: Another nice touch from Asus, since this isn’t really a gaming monitor because it’s a large 43-inch in size and more like a TV. that would come with a remote. This gives you easy access to tuning the volume, or changing between the inputs.- especially handy if you’ve got a PC and a console hooked up to the ROG Strix XG43UQ.
- Perfect for Xbox Series X/S and Playstation 5: Seriously, if you aren’t buying an OLED TV and you do buy the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ then this is the perfect monitor for you. Microsoft recently unveiled its new Designed for Xbox series of monitors and TVs and the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ even has an Xbox Edition for the Xbox Series X/S consoles.
- so the Playstation 5: It’ll work with both consoles with HDMI 2.1 and up to 4K 120Hz, but the white design theme of the ROG Strix XG43UQ matches perfectly with the Playstation 5.
What’s Not
- Expensive, and it’s not an OLED: 1300 and you’re not getting an OLED. while a 48-inch LG OLED with 4K 120Hz is going to cost you 1300-1500. That decision is up to you, but an OLED panel is superior to the VA-based LED panel inside of this monitor. 48-inches might be too big, as there is a large difference between 43-inch and 48-inch when it’s in front of you. so there’s that.
- High-end GPU required: You could get away with gaming with a lower-end GPU, but you wouldn’t want to do that. 4K 120FPS gaming is where it’s at, and it’s what the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor is all about.
Final Thoughts
48-inch 4K 120Hz OLED TV from LG for under 1500, with listings on Amazon between 1300 to 1500 meaning the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ monitor is in the same ballpark in terms of price.- but LG offers a better deal with its 48-inch CX series 4K 120Hz OLED.
If you didn’t want the additional size of the 48-inch TV then the 43-inch Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor is a great alternative, especially as it does include DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity in case you wanted to use your gaming PC.- with a GPU that doesn’t have HDMI 2.1.- as well as your next-gen Xbox Series X/S or Playstation 5 console.
Then you’ve got the upgrade path to use HDMI 2.1 on a future GPU you purchase, or alternatively you could buy 3 x flagship Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitors and the first one with HDMI 2.1 and the other two through the DisplayPort 1.4 connectors. perfect. 3 x 4K 120/144Hz displays side-by-side would be glorious.
You can’t do that with the LG OLED TVs as they are only offering 4K 120Hz through HDMI 2.1 and you’re not going to find a GPU with 3 x HDMI 2.1 ports (none that I know of). Asus however, do offer their flagship ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card with dual HDMI 2.1 ports.
Asus is positioning the new flagship ROG Strix XG43UQ at gamers who have either already purchased, or will be purchasing a next-gen console.- or an upgrade to their monitor for their current PC or a new monitor for a new GPU. Whichever way you look at it, Asus has one of the best HDMI 2.1 gaming monitors.- and one of the best large gaming monitors (at under 48 inches) you can buy.
There’s not much better than this until you move to an OLED.- which I’m looking forward to seeing what Asus does next as a new concept monitor. Asus is playing with Mini LED technology now, so I’m keen to take the Asus ROG Strix PG32UQX out.- a 32-inch 4K 144Hz monitor using Mini-LED technology but also HDMI 2.1 connectivity.
Asus now need to get that beautiful Mini-LED panel into the larger 43-inch ROG Strix monitor, and you’d have the ultimate choice: a large 43-inch Mini-LED version, and a 43-inch VA-based LED panel. I wouldn’t want to see what parts of my body I’d have to sell to afford a 43-inch Mini-LED 4K 144Hz HDMI 2.1 gaming monitor. but man I’d love to slay some people in games on it.
Asus has the BFF gaming monitor to a GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3080 Ti, or RTX 3090.- as well as the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6900 XT.- offering super-bright, super-fast, super-sharp, super-smooth 4K 144FPS gaming if your PC (or console) can handle it.
Buying a next-gen console and didn’t want to have a monitor and a TV? That’s where the world’s first HDMI 2.1 gaming monitor, and one of the very best.- the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ comes into the picture. You won’t regret this purchase, in fact you’ll have to tell your loved ones you’ll be gone for a while because once you sit in front of it and start using it.- and more so gaming on it.- you’ll be addicted.
Asus.- the boundaries have been pushed.
HDMI 2.1 is here, your flagship ROG Strix 43-inch monitor is based on a LED panel while we have smaller 4K 144Hz gaming monitors with next-gen Mini-LED technology. Where to from here? Larger Mini-LED monitors? OLED? A new UltraWide gaming monitor with Mini-LED technology to better compete against LG and Samsung with their new 21:9 and 32:9 gaming monitors?
Asus doesn’t stop, and they never will.- it should be interesting to see where the company goes from here.
Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ review: “Very bright with great detail, but not quite the full ticket
The Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ packs a massive HDR punch. and price tag. but is also seriously short on speed.
Cons
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Huge 43-inch 4K panel. 144Hz refresh. 1ms response. Eye-popping 1,000 nit peak brightness. Do contenders for the best gaming monitor get any bigger, any bolder, or any better? The new Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ certainly looks like a winner, on paper.
If anything, it could be too much of a good thing given how much desk space you’ll need to accommodate those epic 43-inch proportions. That depends on exactly what you have planned for this beast, of course. As a pure PC monitor, the size of this 4K gaming monitor could be an issue. If console gaming is in the mix, things could be different. And, yes, if you’re wondering, the XG43UQ does support HDMI 2.1, so it will do the full 120Hz job at 4K to be a potential winner as best PS5 monitor or best PlayStation 4 monitor, as well as play nice with Microsoft’s latest game box, too.
The stock of this monitor seems a bit wobbly at the moment for this monitor, but it is available at Amazon for our UK readers.
Design Features
The Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ is big; it’s the same size as some models on best gaming TV lists get. But is it actually beautiful? The design vibe is pure gaming rather than slick consumer electronics. It’s not exactly subtle. The tilt-only stand (a little height adjustment would have been welcome) looks techy and the bezels are reasonably compact given the overall size. But it’s actually the rear of the chassis with its white plastic and Storm Trooper vibe that’s most striking.
Well, that and the Aura Sync logo projector which shines the Asus ROG logo on your desktop and can be synchronised with other Asus Aura-enabled peripherals and components is RGB lighting is your bag. Like a lot of gaming-specific peripherals, the overall effect arguably has an adolescent air. But at least you won’t confuse this mega monitor with a cheap HD TV. That’s probably just as well given you could have a 55-inch pick from the best TVs for PS5, the best 120Hz 4K TVs, or best OLED TVs for about the same money. This thing has better be good.
A comprehensive gaming feature set is where the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ really scores. The 43-inch panel sports the full 4K, so that’s 3,840 by 2,160 pixels, combined with 144Hz refresh for PC gaming and 120Hz for consoles. The former is enabled via a DisplayPort 1.4 socket while the latter is supported courtesy of a pair of HDMI 2.1 Ports. A further two HDMI ports are included, but only in 2.0 spec, limiting refresh to 60Hz at the native 4K resolution.
Next up, there’s AMD FreeSync Premium Pro certification including full adaptive refresh capability (it’s also compatible with Nvidia’s G-Sync technology and GPUs, it just doesn’t have a G-Sync chip), claimed 1ms response, plus Asus’s Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) tech. It sure seems like this should be a seriously slick and speedy G-Sync compatible FreeSync monitor.
Of course, HDR is de rigueur for any self-respecting gaming panel these days. But the XG43UQ is a cut above most monitors thanks to DisplayHDR 1000 certification. HDR 400 and 600 are far more common. Among other things, that means peak brightness of fully 1,000 nits and broad colour coverage including 90 percent of the demanding DCI-P3 colour space.
All very impressive. But before we fire this monster up, are there any causes for concern buried in the spec sheet? Well, despite the HDR 1000 certification, this is an edge-lit panel rather than one with a grid of dimming zones. Asus isn’t quoting the number of edge dimming zones, but it’s almost certainly somewhere in the eight to 16 range. Whatever, an LCD panel with edge-lit backlighting is not the stuff of true HDR performance.
A mitigating factor is the use of a VA rather than IPS panel technology. VA technology can achieve far better inherent contrast and Asus indeed claims 4,000:1 static contrast which should help boost HDR performance. The best IPS panels top out at around 1,300:1. The catch is that VA panel technology hasn’t always been the best when it comes to pixel response. Hold that thought.
Performance
Lordy, this thing is bright. Painfully, ridiculously, gloriously bright. There’s no way you’d run it at anything like full reheat on a day-to-day basis as a desktop monitor.
On the other hand, the HDR experience is pretty sweet. As expected, the contrast of the VA panel does a pretty good job of making up for the lack of true local dimming. So the retina-searing highs are combined with reasonably deep black levels.
A nice example of this are outdoor urban vistas in Cyberpunk 2077. Sunlit elements of the scene absolutely zing, but without shadows under overpasses washing out. Add in the huge 43-inch proportions plus the epic detail of full 4K visuals, not to mention Nvidia’s ray-tracing and DLSS technologies in full flow with one of the best graphics cards, and it makes for a stunning spectacle and will be great when teamed with one of the best gaming laptops or best gaming PCs. Though this is not a flawless experience.
The main problem is pixel response. The use of a VA panel isn’t necessarily a disaster in terms of response, as Samsung has released a number of really quick VA monitors in the last 12 months, but the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ can’t match them. Not even close.
Asus claims 1ms response performance but uses the MPRT metric rather than grey-to-grey. Whatever the merits of quoting MPRT response, the reality is that this monitor suffers from significant blurring.
Asus has included five levels of user-configurable overdrive in the OSD menu, enabling fine-tuning of response. However, from level three onwards inverse ghosting becomes a problem. By level five it’s horrific. Unfortunately, Asus’s ELMB technology is little better. Far from improving things, ELMB just makes a strobe-y, triple-vision mess of everything. Yuck.
To put all this into context, we happen to have a five-year-old 40inch 4K VA Philips monitor in our labs that offers better pixel response. Long story short, the VA panel Asus has gone for has sufficiently poor inherent pixel response that there’s little that features like pixel overdrive can do to rescue the situation.
In that context, any further flaws are arguably academic. But for the record, the XG43UQ appears to be running at least some image processing that cannot be turned off, resulting in overly sharpened fonts.
Overall. should you buy it?
At this price point, the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ needs to be something special and by some measures, it absolutely is. For sure, it’s one of, if not the, brightest and punchiest monitors we’ve ever seen. Thanks to VA panel tech, it serves up a spectacular HDR experience despite lacking true local dimming capability.
Unfortunately, the wheels fall off when it comes to pixel response. Admittedly, the problem isn’t quite as obvious actually in-game as opposed to eyeballing test images. But it’s still visible. It wouldn’t be good enough on a monitor one-quarter the money, let alone operating at this lofty level. When the likes of a 120Hz OLED panel can be had for a similar budget, it’s awfully hard to recommend something this flawed. Very bright with great 4K detail, but not quite the full ticket
Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ Review
The Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ gaming monitor has big, bold colours, fantastic contrast and a big-screen experience alongside great speakers. But it’s blurry, expensive and won’t suit every situation.
Cons
Introduction
The Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ is one of the most imposing gaming monitors you can buy today.
It’s not a conventional gaming monitor, but it is impressive, with a specification that includes AMD FreeSync at 144Hz, a 4K resolution and DisplayHDR 1000. Is it one of the best gaming monitors you can buy today?
The Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ is a big display with a big price: in the UK it’s £1349, in the US it costs 1399, and it’ll arrive at a similar price in Europe.
The huge price also brings plenty of other displays into play, including widescreen panels like the AW3821DW. For this sort of cash, you could easily get a larger 4K OLED TV from any of the big brands or a large, curved widescreen display like the Alienware AW3821DW.
Design and features
The Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ’s 43in diagonal is vast, and this unit has a 4K resolution and an underlying VA display with 10-bit colour. That’s solid: the 4K resolution only delivers a density of 102ppi, but that’s fine if you’re sitting further away – you’ll get the same crisp experience as a TV.
The 144Hz refresh rate is high enough to deliver smooth motion in any top-end single-player game and in mainstream esports titles. The Asus uses AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, which enables syncing alongside HDR, and it works with Nvidia graphics cards too.
This panel also uses Asus’ own Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) technology. It’s supposed to eliminate lingering ghosting and tearing and works with active sync. That’s better than Nvidia’s native Ultra Low Motion Blur (ULMB), which can’t work alongside syncing.
The Asus is rated for DisplayHDR 1000 which is among the highest certifications available for gaming displays, and better than the Alienware AW3821DWs DisplayHDR 600. It’s got a 1ms response time, which is good on paper, but it’s measured using MPRT rather than GTG – MPRT is the slower standard.
To run top games at 4K and decent refresh rates, you will need a powerful graphics card. If you want to max the panel out at 4K and 144Hz then you’ll need something like an Nvidia RTX 3080 or AMD RX 6900 XT. Even if you want to run less-demanding titles at 4K and 144Hz then you’ll need an Nvidia GeForce RTX 20-series or AMD Radeon RX 5700-series card or better, because the Asus uses Display Stream Compression – and only newer cards support that standard.
The Asus is designed for consoles, too, and it has plenty of muscle in this area. The XG43UQ has HDMI 2.1 ports, so in theory it’s capable of playing PS5 and Xbox Series X/S games at 4K and 120Hz. And, indeed, Asus will release an Xbox Edition of this display later in 2021.
Playing at 4K and 120Hz is something for the future, though. Right now, only a handful of console games that run at 4K and 120fps. games run at lesser resolutions, like 1080p and 1440p.
Of course, you can still use this display to run console games at 4K and lesser refresh rates, or at 120Hz and a lower resolution. But 4K/120Hz playback on consoles hasn’t come into its own yet. And, of course, the pricey Alienware display can’t handle consoles properly due to its wider aspect ratio and resolution.
The Asus sits on wide, metal legs, and can project an RGB LED ROG logo onto your desk or TV stand. Its surrounding bezel is wide, though, and the unit weighs 15.3kg and is 302mm deep, so it’s chunkier than the average flatscreen TV. It doesn’t have much adjustment, either: just 15-degrees of backwards-and-forwards tilt and support for 100mm VESA mounts. The Alienware is far better here.
On the Asus you’ll find two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 connections and an audio jack. Towards the rear are two HDMI 2.1 connectors and DisplayPort 1.4. That’s good, although this display has no USB-C ports. That’s a tad disappointing in 2021.
And, because the Asus is more like a TV than a gaming display, it’s got a pair of 10W speakers. They’re loud, powerful and punchy, with robust bass and decent quality throughout the range. They can’t quite match good TV speakers or a soundbar, but they’re not far away from that level of quality. They’re miles better than any other monitor speakers and easily good enough for gaming.
The Asus also has a remote control that adjusts the volume and settings. It’s also possible to control the Asus with DisplayWidget, which replicates the on-screen display in Windows. Both options are welcome, because the buttons on the back of this huge panel are difficult to reach.
Image quality
The Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ has fantastic contrast and bright colours, which means that you get huge punch, lashings of depth and loads of vibrancy. This display makes games pop. Out of the box, the Asus uses its racing mode, and this option delivers decent quality.
I used a colorimeter to record the performance results for the Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ. The brightness level of 479 nits looks bold, and the black point of 0.12 nits means a contrast level of 3991:1. That’s far better than any IPS display, including the panel in the Alienware, and it delivers punchy, vibrant images with loads of depth, albeit with less of the nuanced realism you’d expect from an IPS.
The Delta E of 2.12 is decent and its colour temperature of 6110K is solid, too. Neither figure is perfect, with the latter proving a little warm, but neither figure affects gameplay. Those results are joined by an sRGB coverage level of 98.9% with a volume of 129.3%, which means that this panel can display every shade required for mainstream games with gusto.
When operating in SDR mode, the Asus achieved a maximum brightness of 909 nits. The panel’s contrast and colour accuracy remained consistent here, and that bodes well if you want to dial the display up for a bolder experience from across the room. Similarly, contrast and quality remained consistent at more modest brightness levels too.
The only issue I found with these initial tests came in the uniformity benchmark. While the Asus retains its backlight strength towards the centre, it loses 20% of that strength in the corners. This won’t impact on gameplay too much, but it could be better.
I wouldn’t recommend switching the Asus away from its default Racing mode, either. The FPS, MOBA and RTS/RPG modes all ruin the Delta E, so colours look worse. Indeed, the only option I’d recommend is the Cinema mode, which improved the colour temperature and Delta E results to 6345K and 1.17 respectively to provide a more realistic image.
The Asus’ big, bold experience continued with HDR activated. With HDR activated the panel hit a peak brightness of 1070 nits and a black point of 0.2 nits, which means a fantastic contrast ratio of 5350:1. The Asus rendered 91.5% of the HDR-friendly DCI-P3 gamut. Those figures deliver a decent HDR experience, with bold high points and loads of depth. It’s far better than the Alienware.
It’s not infallible, though. For all of its punch the Asus remains edge-lit, so it doesn’t have the extra dimming zones used on the best HDR TVs. So, while the Asus is bold, it’s not subtle.
Settling down to play games also reveals a few quirks and limitations from the Asus’ blend of features. Take ELMB: it only runs in one of three horizontal bands across the display rather than the entire panel. That’s not ideal, and upping the ELMB clarity also reduces the display’s brightness.
Those clarity levels have issues, too. At the display’s default level of 3, there’s a little bit of ghosting and haloing around moving objects, and they’re still a little blurry. At level five, objects are crisper, but the ghosting and haloing is crisper, too – so it’s more obvious. It’s a shame, because these clarity levels do make images sharper to varying degrees. But when those sharper objects are followed by varying levels of ghosting and haloing, too, they’re not worth using.
Indeed, there’s little difference between ELMB and the Asus’ conventional Overdrive settings: both make things crisper, but both suffer from some ghosting and haloing. And, with Overdrive being applied across the whole display rather than in bands, that’s what I’d use instead.
Happily, you don’t have to deploy either mode to enjoy games. Conventional syncing delivers enough smooth imagery to make games look decent, and the Overdrive and ELMB options only have a minor impact on clarity in the grand scheme of things. If you leave those modes off, there is blur when gaming, but you’re barely going to notice it when you’re playing from across the room. The blurring is the sort of thing that will bother enthusiasts more than casual players.
Also consider the response time. While 1ms sounds great on paper, MPRT is slower than GTG, and it also contributes to a little extra blurring. It’s not ruinous during mainstream gameplay, but don’t be fooled into thinking you’re getting the 1ms response that’s evident on the best esports panels.
Enthusiasts should also consider that this panel uses an underlying BGR sub-pixel layout. If you look closely at the text, that means it’s not quite as crisp as it would be on the average PC display – the same happens if you examine text on a TV from a couple of inches away.
In everyday use it’s not a hindrance, and you’ll be using Windows’ scaling settings to make everything more legible anyway – ramp that up to 150% and everything is crisper and cleaner. Asus has also applied some image processing to make text crisper on this display. It makes the fonts crisp and sharp, although some enthusiasts won’t like that extra intervention.
The XG43UQ also looks out of place in the wider market. If you want games on a traditional PC setup, this money will get you a faster, crisper display – and 43in is just too big. If you want to play from the sofa, you could buy a bigger 120Hz OLED TV that’ll have better speakers and contrast.
It leaves the XG43UQ in an odd spot. It’s an impressive display that makes games look fantastic, and if its size suits your situation then it’s an excellent option for vibrant, bold mainstream gaming. But for most PC and living room gamers, there are better ways to spend your cash.
ROG Strix XG43UQ 43in 16:9 VA Gaming LED LCD, 144Hz, 1ms, 2160P 4K UHD, AMD FreeSync, HDR, Speakers
Fully immerse yourself in your favorite games with the ROG Strix XG43UQ 43″ 16:9 4K VA Gaming Monitor from Asus. Whether you are watching movies or exploring virtual landscapes, the XG43UQ offers high-definition visuals with smooth performance suitable for any enthusiast.
- 43″ 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) DSC gaming monitor with 144Hz refresh rate for super-smooth gaming visuals
- Two HDMI 2.1 ports enable mind-blowing native 4K 120Hz gaming on the latest consoles without chroma subsampling
- FreeSync Premium Pro offers smooth HDR visuals at the highest settings while maintaining low latency
- Asus Extreme Low Motion Blur Sync (ELMB Sync) technology enables ELMB together with variable refresh rate technology simultaneously to eliminate ghosting and tearing for super-sharp, high-frame rate gaming
- High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology with DisplayHDR 1000 certification and professional-grade 90% DCI-P3 colour gamut ensures exceptional contrast and colour performance
- Matte anti-glare panel reduces distracting reflections and glare to improve the viewing experience when gaming or watching movies
- Full HD (1920 X 1080) @ 120Hz output on PS5; Full HD 1440P(2560 x 1440) @ 120Hz VRR output on Xbox Series X/S
Features
World’s First 43-Inch HDMI 2.1 Gaming Monitor
ROG Strix XG43UQ is the world’s first 43 inch HDMI 2.1 gaming monitor, delivering 4K UHD visuals and a 1 ms moving picture response time (MPRT) for superfast gaming on a big screen. Featuring Display Stream Compression (DSC) and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro technology, Strix XG43UQ enables supersmooth 4K 120 Hz gaming on the latest consoles via HDMI 2.1. Plus, a 90% DCI-P3 color gamut and DisplayHDR 1000 certification ensure true-to-life colors.
Superfast Gaming with HDMI 2.1
HDMI 2.1 enables mind-blowing gaming experience on the latest consoles, providing gamers with 4K UHD visuals at astounding refresh rates of up to 120 Hz.
Going Big with Next-Gen Gameplay
It gets even better on PC, with up to 4K 144 Hz visuals when powered by the latest graphics cards. DSC technology supports 4K UHD visuals via a single DisplayPort 1.4 connection by compressing and decompressing each frame on the fly, with no loss in image quality.
To enable 4K resolution at 144Hz with DSC, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20 series, AMD Radeon RX 5700 or higher graphics card is required. For additional information about enabling DSC, contact your graphics card manufacturer.
GameFast Input Technology
Built-in GameFast Input technology minimizes input lag so gaming inputs are always in sync with the action.
Ultrafast 144Hz Refresh Rate and 1ms MPRT
From fast-paced first-person shooters to real-time strategy, play the latest games at their highest graphics settings at a buttery-smooth 144 frames per second with near-instantaneous 1ms moving picture response time (MPRT).
AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for Smooth Gameplay
Built-in FreeSync Premium Pro technology ensures that ROG Strix XG43UQ delivers supersmooth, low-latency visuals that are brighter and have better contrast. This technology uses low-latency processing for both standard and HDR content to eliminate the input lag that’s typically associated with HDR content.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) with Exceptional Colors
A DCI-P3 90% color gamut and outstanding color contrast ensure ROG Strix XG43UQ meets DisplayHDR 1000 certification standards. Experience true-to-life colors along with the brightest whites and darkest black hues.
Asus Dynamic Shadow Boost
This technology automatically clarifies dark areas of the image without changing other areas. It makes it easier to spot enemies hidden in dark areas of the map and improves the overall viewing experience.
Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) Sync
With ELMB Sync, low-motion-blur technology and adaptive-sync can be enabled simultaneously to eliminate ghosting and tearing for super-sharp, high-frame rate gaming.
Asus GameVisual gives you seven preset display modes and one user mode tailored to suit different types of content.
GamePlus Hotkeys
The Asus-exclusive, integrated GamePlus hotkey offers in-game enhancements that help you get more out of your game. This function is co-developed with input from pro gamers, allowing them to practice and improve their gaming skills.
Asus Display Widget Software
DisplayWidget is an intuitive software utility that lets users tweak the settings of the monitor. Adjustments to these utilities can be made via the On Screen Display (OSD) menu or the navigational joystick, but Asus DisplayWidget makes accessing and using these various settings much faster and easier.
App Sync lets you assign specific Asus GameVisual modes to individual applications and game titles to make sure the program you are using is in your preferred mode. You also have the option of changing these assigned settings quickly.
Sharable Display Setting Parameter
All customized GameVisual settings can be saved to an AXML file format that can be shared with other same monitor users.
MultiFrame allows users to organize multiple Windows on desktop and to arrange them in an orderly way so that they don’t overlap on a big screen.
Keyboard Hot Keys
Hot Keys allow users to quickly change the settings by typing a certain key combination.
Ultra-Low Blue Light Technology
ROG Strix XG43UQ comes with TÜV Rheinland-certified Asus Ultra-low Blue Light filters to protect eyes and prevent strain from harmful blue light. Select from four different filter settings via the OSD menu or by using the five-way joystick.
Flicker-Free Technology
ROG Strix XG43UQ reduces onscreen flicker to give you a more comfortable gaming experience. This minimizes eye strain during marathon gaming sessions.
Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture Hotkeys
ROG Strix XG43UQ supports picture-in-picture mode with a main screen and inset window, along with a picture-by-picture mode that divides the monitor into segments, giving you the option to view multiple sources simultaneously.
Aura Sync Lighting
Exclusive Asus Aura Sync lighting technology provides ambient lighting that can be synchronized with other Aura-enabled components and peripherals.
Download the latest Aura Sync software here.
Specifications
| XG43UQ |
| Black |
| 43″ widescreen |
| 16:9 |
| 4K UHD: 3,840 x 2,160 |
| 0.2451mm |
| 750 cd/m 2 (typical) |
| 4,000:1 |
| VA |
| 1ms MPRT |
| 178° x 178° |
| 1.07B colors |
| 144Hz |
| 2 x HDMI v2.0 2 x HDMI v2.1 1 x DisplayPort v1.4 2 x USB 3.0 (hub) 1 x USB 3.0 (signal) 1 x 3.5mm earphone jack |
| Yes, 2 x 10W speakers |
| Tilt:.5 ~ 10° Height adjustment: N/A |
| 100 x 100mm |
| Color Accuracy: △E GamePlus (modes): Yes Low Blue Light: Yes HDCP support: Yes GameVisual: Yes VRR Technology: FreeSync Premium Pro HDR Mode: Yes Shadow Boost: Yes Display Widget: Yes |
| Voltage: 100 ~ 240 Vac, 50/60 Hz |
| Typical: Saving mode: |
| Kensington lock |
| TÜV Flicker-free TÜV Low Blue Light VESA DisplayHDR 1000 AMD FreeSync Premium Pro |
| With stand: 974.58 x 631.31 x 301.5 mm Without stand: 974.58 x 570.62 x 74.6 mm |
| With stand: 15.3kg Without stand: 14.2kg |
Package Contents
- Asus ROG Strix XG43UQ 43in 4K UHD 144Hz VA LED LCD Gaming Monitor
- Power Adapter
- Power Cord
- USB 3.0 Cable (vary by regions)
- HDMI Cable (vary by regions)
- DisplayPort Cable (vary by regions)
- Color Pre-Calibration Report
- ROG Sticker
- Quick Start Guide
- Warranty Card
