I'm usually pretty lucky because I'm able to use the best gaming monitors as soon as they're available. I've used extremely large ultrawide monitors like the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, and I've also used smaller but extremely fast gaming monitors. In general, I tend to focus on making games look their best rather than play their best because I like shiny things, but the Alienware AW3423DW seems to be able to do both.
Everyone is talking about the Apple event right now and obviously I should be talking about it too. After all, Apple released the M1 Ultra and even claimed that it was faster than the RTX 3090. That should interest me now.
But I'll be honest, I don't really care about Mac Studio right now because that monitor showed up on my doorstep. And as soon as I installed it, I couldn't look away.
This is, at first glance, one of the best looking ultrawide monitors I've ever used. I am amazed. I played a lot of Elden Ring on this thing today instead of, you know, doing my job, just because it looks so cool. And that's despite the fact that Elden Ring, for some strange reason, doesn't support the 21:9 aspect ratio.
This means I have to put up with giant black bars on the sides. I do not care. They literally disappear from my vision because this panel is so good.
ok calm down jackie
Obviously, since I've made my living talking about technology, I get a little annoyed at new toys showing up on my doorstep for inspection. It may very well be a honeymoon period, and I'll find something to dislike about this monitor after a week of use. Anyway, that's what my full review will be for (stay tuned, 😏😏).
But it's amazing what a difference switching to a QD-OLED panel has made from the VA panel on my old AOC Agon AG352UCG6. It really is a difference between day and night, and while it's technically the same 3440 x 1440 resolution, the image quality is much better. This is thanks to the natural advantages of OLED.
OLED panels have individually lit pixels, which means that any part of the screen that doesn't display color is turned off completely, meaning blacks are truly black and colors appear naturally. But then add the high brightness and color accuracy of that display, not sure on the metrics yet, but we'll get to that, and upgrading to the Alienware AW3423DW is essentially like upgrading to a new resolution.
Of course, this additional image quality comes at a much higher price. What sucks is that I know I'm going to buy this thing as soon as I have to ship it to Dell, and it's going to cost me $1,307 (about $990, AU$1,780). That's a lot to ask for a monitor, especially in an age where that's what it costs to buy a €600 graphics card.
But it's the best screen on the market right now, and it might actually be worth that price, because it's going to look absolutely stunning for years to come.
Games look better, but with the same frame rate
Usually, when you upgrade to a monitor with better image quality, that means you're going to a higher resolution, and that means it's harder to run your favorite PC games. However, I was already using a 3440 x 1440 gaming monitor, so plugging it in was literally like an easy facelift for my gaming.
Looking at the spec sheet, it's not hard to see why. After all, it's a 34-inch 3440 x 1440 display with a 175Hz refresh rate. That's enough to satisfy both pro gamers and casual gamers like me. It covers 149% of the sRGB color gamut, making it good for photo and video editing, and features a maximum brightness of 1000 nits. Plus! Ultimate G-Sync!
Obviously, we'll have to see if this gaming monitor lives up to its spec sheet, but so far things are looking pretty good.
The Alienware AW3423DW only ran for about five hours, but I played everything from Elden Ring to Deathloop to Final Fantasy XIV. Every game is absolutely awesome. And, with Elden Ring, I forgot to enable HDR. Oh!
You know when you get a shiny new update to your PC's gaming settings and just want to launch all your favorite games just to see how they handle the new? That's what I'll be doing in the next few days, and it's definitely more than I usually do for a gaming monitor review.
So don't worry, I have some PC games to play in the next few days. And as a bonus, HDR isn't as bad on Windows 11 as it is on Windows 10.