Looking for ultra widescreen monitor recommendations

1Wolf

1Wolf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
433
Hello.

I'm in the process of researching a new monitor. I current have an ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q 2560x1440 monitor and wish to upgrade this to a 35" or 38" ultra widescreen. There are quite a few choices out there; technology moves fast and new stuff is always either just coming out or has come out; and even by the time I watch a YouTube review on something that is just 6 months old its often already dated. Also, those reviews don't cover the use and experience of a product by people in general.

So I was hoping to get some recommendations and opinions from those who either own some of these, or just know alot about monitors in general.

I'm looking for...
* A "Gaming" monitor. I don't do any kind of competitive gaming and certainly don't anticipate running 160 FPS in games all the time. I usually play beautiful, sweeping terrain type open-world RPG games and adventure games and such. I don't play may fast moving twitch based games like Call of Duty. I do like shooters but generally like them slower, single-player, and just plain slower moving. I like third-person adventures like "The Witcher 3" and I'm eager to try the First Person RPG "Cyberpunk". I also play alot of "Civilization" or "Total War" style strategy games. I play alot of flight sims.

* I also use my monitor for "general use" things like web surfing and productivity tasks (Word, Spreadsheets, etc.) as well as software development (Visual Studio, SQL Management Studio, etc.). I'm really hoping to be able to read text on my monitor just slightly better than my current one. My current aforementioned ASUS panel is just a little hard for me to read without zooming in to text and such. I can read it but I often found myself wishing things were just a smidge bigger.

* 1440P

* 38" or 35" Ultra Widescreen. 1600P or 1440P. I've been watching reviews on some of these 1600P monitors and don't have any experience for that resolution so I'm not sure how well supported it is or isn't in games or whether that is going to cause me any issues.

* G-Sync or Not G-Sync. I really have no idea here. My current monitor has G-Sync and I always make sure its on but I don't even know if I see the difference or not. In the past years I've had it my games don't usually run at the types of FPS that I'd probably see as much benefit. My limited understanding of G-Sync is that it seems to be tailored towards those who are pushing very high FPS on a monitor. Or maybe its a "Must have". I don't really have a frame of reference because my current monitor has had it for years now.

* HDR. I hear of alot of talk of HDR. I'm not sure if I should be looking for an HDR monitor or not. I don't even have an HDR television so I don't have much experience with it. I'm not sure how common it is in games. I watched a review from Linus Tech Tips of an ASUS 35" HDR1000 monitor and watching his mouse create this big white halo on the screen would drive me nuts. Or maybe its just something you leave off and only turn it on when playing a game that supports it.

* Budget is < $2000.

* Not a deal breaker and I certainly wouldn't turn down a monitor for cosmetics alone, but if given a choice between two otherwise equal monitors I could do without all of the "Gamer" heavy design stuff that makes it look like a very expensive toy.

If you have any recommendations of monitors you think I should look into, consider, or investigate further I'd appreciate it! Thanks!
 
Newer games generally support ultrawide resolutions. Some older games, not so much - either it'll run in 16:9 mode with black space to either side, or it'll stretch the picture over to the sides kinda like peripheral vision but useless if you ask me.
I have a 34" Dell 3440x1440 and am very happy with it. Though I find myself treating it as 2 monitors most of the time - as in, I have one application split to one side, another to the other. For example, browser on the left, word on the right. Using the browser full screen is kinda stupid, as most websites just stay in the middle and there's tons of dead space to left and right.
For videos, full screen is great, of course.
With the said, I'm not sure if I would go for the 38" screen. That also depends on your desk setup though, as how far you sit from the monitor will affect what works best for you.
Hope this helps.
 
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I am running the Alienware 34" AW3420DW Ultrawide. It's 3440x1440 so it's going to have the exact same PPI as your 27", so text, icons, etc will be the same size.
I would opt for the 38" Alienware if you have the space.
 
Yeah that 38" Alienware is the dream display to replace my 4 year old PG348Q.
 
Thanks for the replies so far and thanks for the heads up on that Alienware 38". I didn't even know that existed.

So far, I think I have it narrowed down to 2, maybe 3 panels:

The Alienware 38" (AW3821DW)
The LG 38GN950

Possibly a third might be the LG 38GL950G. The LG 38GN950 has an updated panel and HDR600 but adaptive Sync instead of a native GSync module and the 38GL950G has the older HDR400 panel and a GSync module. I'm not sure if there is any value for me in the native GSync module or not or whether I'd be just fine with the GSync Compatible unit of the 38GN850, I kept the 38GL950G on the list just in case the native GSync module was more important.

There is a review of the older LG 38GL950G on TFTCentral and I watched a good Hardware Unboxed review of it. TFTCentral gave it a recommended rating. Hardware Unboxed said pretty stellar things about it minus the contrast ratio. However, neither TFTCentral or Hardware Unboxed had reviews of the newer 38GN950.

TFTCentral had a review of the AW3821DW and gave it a "good" rating but stopped short of their recommended rating. I'd love to see a comparison between the two as it seems like they are both very comparable.
 
I can highly recommend the LG 34GP83A-B 34 Inch 21: 9 Ultragear Curved QHD decently calibrated out of the box at a price point that can't be beat. Consider the specs and you will agree. Bottom line, I love mine.
I should add the 1440p monitors that flank it right and left are the same physical height as the LG34GP83A-B making for an awesome desktop.
 
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The 38” Alienware was on my short list. I opted for the LG 48” OLED.

Out of all the ones you listed, I go for the Alienware for the QC and support reputation alone.
 
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