Isn't the ASUS VG248QE G-SYNC exactly that, same monitor with built-in G-Sync?
Damn ASUS has confusing model naming, they are all so close.
yeah, I don't know if there is an official G-Sync version, AFAIK, the monitor doesn't come with G-Sync from ASUS, you either have to DIY or order it from a company that builds it for you (and ends up costing ~$500, ~$25-50 more than DIY and nearly twice as expensive as the monitor without G-Sync)
that's what I was lamenting. If there was a G-Sync version out of the box for ~$400, it would start to be enticing, but as-is the VG248QE is starting to get long in the tooth, which is why I'd be a bit more interested in BenQ's XL2420Z at this point in time, although I'm more inclined to sit on what I have and wait and see what else comes out, but its going to be hard to pass up the Swift for too long.
I don't know that talking yourself into accepting lower quality panels to accommodate your perceptions is necessarily making you worse off. Everyone finds the value that fits and works for them and it's a matter of what you have to settle with that is going to have to be a fit for you.
1. again, its not lower quality, its different quality, vastly superior for motion, which I value for video games, many if not most of which revolve around motion
2. I'm "worse" off because its more expensive running two monitors instead of one, especially when 120Hz LMB is a lot more hardware intensive and hands-on than 60Hz gaming, even at 4K where you can just throw extra GPU at it to solve your problem. It would be great if my IPS was just as capable for gaming, or my TN just as capable for productivity and shared media. But judging from the excellent reviews on the Swift's color and contrast, it just might be good enough to fully replace my IPS, maybe relegate it to using strictly as a secondary monitor for media and not much else.
I don't mind waiting for more improvements to come to the IPS/IGZO panels, and in the mean time will continue to use them for what they provide. Once GPUs have caught up, hopefully next year, there is again no way I'll pass up gaming on a 4K 32" IGZO against an option with lower fidelity but better motion. So even if there winds up being some good 1440p IPS options with 120hz I will still find myself preferring a higher resolution and better PQ option.
I don't see how you can prefer one over the other when I haven't seen you stipulate that you've actually had experience beyond what you already have. So perhaps it might help to clear this up; have you had any experience with LMB? Or is it just some experience with 120Hz IPS? Because 1440p120Hz IPS is definitely nowhere near the same class as what the Swift is capable of. I don't think you have much right to be so dismissive if you don't even know what you're dismissing.
So, when do you sacrifice ULMB for Gsync and vice versa?
never if you can help it
the problem with LMB is that it requires staying as close to 120fps (or 100fps) as much as possible to match the 120Hz (or 100Hz) strobing to avoid the tearing/stutter you get get when you stray away from that mark, which is extremely difficult for most games and borderline impossible for many.
Since there are quite a few games that have trouble maintaining a frame rate suitable for 60Hz monitors no matter how fast your hardware or how far you sacrifice settings (Planetside 2 comes to mind) G-Sync would be highly favorable for such scenarios. However for less hardware demanding games (Source comes to mind) particularly ones that give you the option to employ framerate caps or proper triple buffer v-sync, ULMB would be the ideal.