I have the good fortune to have multiple 120hz+ monitors at my disposal so I have been using aim hero to determine which monitor set up provides the best aiming performance.

Seeing as most people probably won’t know what Aim Hero is… it’s just a simple aiming program that matches your sensitivity in CS:GO or Overwatch so you can build muscle memory by doing drills. http://store.steampowered.com/app/518030/Aim_Hero/

(It’s $5 and no, I am not associated with them!)

Anyhow, the point is, by doing the reflex map on there, I receive a score based on my aiming performance. Even though I do vary, it does provide a relatively consistent score and I can see immediate increases/decreases based on different monitor setups.

1. I tested my current daily, the Asus PG258Q which was running ULMB @ 144hz with the monitor’s built-in crosshair. My max score was about 95-100k with that setup.

2. Then I tested using a small dot as a crosshair… and my score immediately jumped to 110-115k!! It turns out, using the Asus built-in crosshairs isn’t as good as using a simple dot.

3. Then I tested 240hz (instead of 144hz ULMB) and ONCE again, my score went up! I fluctuated around 115k-120k. Turns out, for fast aiming, I perform better at 240hz than 144hz ULMB on this monitor… EVEN if 144hz is sharper with faster movements. The rapid input of 240hz makes aiming easier.

This was a big discovery because I thought that 144hz ULMB would be better (because it visually feels better) but the aiming tests consistently show better performance at ‘regular’ 240hz.

Crazy right? I had never been able to quantify it like that.

4. Then I put back my ‘old’ monitor, Asus ROG P278Q, 27″ 144hz monitor. For this one, I set it to my favorite setting which is 120hz ULMB. And… after the second run, I scored a new high score! This, in spite of having not used the monitor in months (so I certainly wasn’t used to it). I scored 130k which is a significantly higher score.

And.. the crazy thing is that going from the 240hz on the Asus PG258Q to 120hz ULMB on the Asus P278Q felt laggy. When I move my mouse to aim at 120hz ULMB, there is a noticeable input lag delay where the crosshair begins to move AFTER I move the mouse.

Yet, in spite of this, I scored my highest score yet… LIKELY due to the fact that the 27″ is significantly large than 25″ (even though the different appears small… it really isn’t. There is a massive difference in size.)

Also, the P278Q allows for 2560x resolution which makes things even clearer… this MIGHT be a contributing factor (I don’t know) but in spite of having more input lag, I scored the highest with that screen.

5. Then I went back to the 240hz mode to test… and was unable to break a score of 115-120k. (This was right after scoring 130k on the 27″)… so the winner for the reflex test was the Asus P278Q at 120hz ULMB.

HOWEVER…

This was just the reflex test and I found for tracking quick movement, the 240hz really helps. So now I’m still on the Asus PG258Q as my daily driver, just at 240hz instead of 144 ULMB.

(And, about 3 weeks later, I ended up breaking my high score on the 240hz with a score of 133k. I didn’t included this during the regular testing because in 3 weeks, my aim has improved so that’s likely the reason why I scored so high. All the previous tests were done within the same hour so my ‘human machine’ was as consistent as it’s going to get.) I’ll have to go back and test the 27″ again sometime soon.

Ultimately, this tells me that the ultimate monitor for me would be a 27″, QHD resolution, 240hz monitor with ridiculously low input lag. (Oh, and I love the option to switch to ULMB, so hopefully that’s in there)

tl;dr;
Aiming results: On a 25.5″ monitor, 240hz is better than 144hz ULMB for flick/reflex shots even though ULMB feels better. 27″ (and perhaps a higher resolution) helps even more… with 27″ 120hz ULMB being the winner for reflex shots.

Tracking is still unproven however I feel as if 240hz is the best for tracking because the input is noticeably quicker.