Sharp popping sounds coming from PG279Q

[Ansible]

So the night before last my monitor started making a sharp popping noise at a rate of about 1 pop per second that lasted about three minutes. After three minutes, the rate of popping decreased over a period of about 30 seconds until it stopped completely. At no point after this did the monitor make any more noise, and everything seems to be working fine.

I used it for about 3 hours last night and the event did not repeat itself.

The question is, should I return the monitor and seek out something else, or stick with it and hope that it was nothing? If Amazon were doing replacements, I wouldn't hesitate, but unfortunately they're only doing refunds on this particular item. So I'd have to order one from somewhere else for more than what I paid for this one (and risk getting a panel with problems ala dead pixels or unacceptable backlight bleed), or buy a different monitor. I have 1 day to decide, after that point it will no longer be eligible for return and I'll have to RMA.

What would you do in my situation?

[Crashcourse316]

100% return/Exchange/RMA. Whatever is appropriate for your situation depending on how long you've had it. You don't need to seek out a different model if you want this one. This is not a normal issue and it is most likely bad electronics. That popping is probably electrical charge buildup releasing and shocking another nearby component. It is possible the issue won't cause any other issues right away or even long term but I would take it back immediately to the retailer or e-retailer if its still returnable and exchange for a new one. The only common issues with this monitor seems to be 80% back light bleed which is normal to a certain point and users perceive levels of it acceptable differently. 10% dead pixels. 5% firmware update issues with the weird column of pixels being displayed in the wrong place. and the rest is just random crap. Yours is a 10/10 return (or 5/7 depending on what scale you use 😉 )