First of all, there are no sub $300 dollar ips 1440p panels on the market other than the Korean ones. The cheapest I can see is the benq bl2710pt for 499 cad. Second, with the Korean panels you can oc to 120hz if lucky- try that on a brand name monitor. Third, you can mod the hell out of the Korean panels, removing the bezel and ending up with a thin Vesa mounted monitor on the cheap, another thing you can't do easily with the offerings from asus and samsung.
Korean panels are definitely still relevant