Predator X34 Owner's Club & Discussion.

Just watched your video and recreated the same scenario on my gaming rig. Specs in sig. I also got a massive framerate dip and a jerky mouse when Gsync was enabled in Windowed mode when running Handbrake. I turned off Gsync in windowed mode, which I never use anyway, and it runs perfectly. I googled the issue, and others have experienced it too. It's more likely a bug with the Nvidia drivers than it is your monitor. Other people experienced it with other Gsync monitors. So it's not your Predator, it's a problem with windowed mode and Gsync. I'd turn off Gsync for windowed mode and not worry about it. Not sure why people are running games in a full screen window anyway...

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/3o1wy4/psa_nvidia_driver_version_35850_causes_lag_with/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/377160/discussions/0/492378806388068945/
https://discuss.atom.io/t/g-sync-windowed-screen-very-slow/20696

So your Predator is fine.
Awesome. Very kind of you to test it yourself, and find those threads. I had found a similar thread on the geforce forums that was allaying my concerns. But this I think finally convinces me to keep this freakin' thing. Now to pay it off (I'm doing intra-family financing!).

Thanks again!

--H
 
I've decided to send this monitor back and go for a 1440p, 144Hz, G-Sync monitor instead, maybe even TN panel. The BLB on mine is terrible and ruins immersion in dark scenes in movies and games. Even though I play pretty much every new title out there, I still mainly play CS:GO, and this only handles that task at a marginally acceptable level.

Also, even though no one mentions this and maybe it's something I'm doing wrong, but every single game I play in 21:9 stretches at the edges. If you look at say, a pillar or something in the center of your screen, then move it to the side of the screen, it stretches and becomes wider. Every game I've played does this included TW3, JC3, FO4, CS:GO, and more. If you don't pay attention to it it's fine, but still.

I think I'd be better off with a PG278Q, S2716DG, XB271HU, etc. for fast games using KB&M, and using a 42" 4k TV for movies and games to use with controller. The addition of ULMB will be nice as well, shame it doesn't come on this one. After that I'll still save at least $300 over this thing.

This monitor just seems to do everything ok, doesn't really excel in any area other than looking totally bad ass on your desk.

Like it, don't love it.
 
I've decided to send this monitor back and go for a 1440p, 144Hz, G-Sync monitor instead, maybe even TN panel. The BLB on mine is terrible and ruins immersion in dark scenes in movies and games. Even though I play pretty much every new title out there, I still mainly play CS:GO, and this only handles that task at a marginally acceptable level.
To each their own, but allow me to share my experience since we're essentially crossing paths headed in opposite directions. I can't speak to the BLB. If it bothers you that much, I guess that's it. But, regarding going "down" to a 1440p @ 144Hz G-Sync, I just tried that. I got the new Asus Swift IPS model. After about two weeks, I sent it back. For the money, it just didn't seem like that much of an upgrade from a 24" 1920x1200 monitor (to 27" 2560x1440). Whereas, the 21:9 X34 Predator does indeed feel like a whole new world of immersion in comparison. I've also found that I'm better able to drive 3440x1440 @ 100Hz than I was 2560x1440 @ 144Hz or so. By the time I had my quality settings dialed in for today's demanding games, I was at 100Hz or so anyways.

So, well, if it's not too late, consider those things. . . it would be a shame to send back a relatively good X34 Predator, and then want it again in a few months.

Also, even though no one mentions this and maybe it's something I'm doing wrong, but every single game I play in 21:9 stretches at the edges. If you look at say, a pillar or something in the center of your screen, then move it to the side of the screen, it stretches and becomes wider. Every game I've played does this included TW3, JC3, FO4, CS:GO, and more. If you don't pay attention to it it's fine, but still.
I think you'll only see this in 3D games. That's just how the vast majority of 3D engines handle such a wide aspect ratio. But you shouldn't see this on strategy games or "map-based" games at all.

Like it, don't love it.
Well, I hope you love whatever you decide to get. I liked the 1440p 144Hz IP Asus Swift. I like the Predator quite a bit more. Though I won't quite say "love" (that's reserved for OLED in the future!).

--H

P.S. The X34 Predator is so huge, you might want to trick yourself by using a tiny monitor for a few days before trying the 1440p unit. Otherwise, if you switch them out directly, your brain is likely to rebel at the perceived disparity in size. :p
 
Yeah I also tried the PG279Q (165 Hz IPS) and think this monitor is significantly better. Maybe I would stick with the 27" if I competitively played CS - but for all-around gaming and immersion factor, the X34 is the clear winner for me. I'm not really a fan of ULMB either, while it does improve motion clarity significantly it adds a ton of ghosting. I prefer using G-Sync over it to be honest.

As for 4K, while it looks great, it isn't an enjoyable experience for me with current hardware. A single 980 Ti in my opinion fails to deliver good frame rates in more recent games, and I don't like to rely on SLI.

My next upgrade after this will hopefully be a 4K OLED w/ G-Sync. Pascal should be a pretty significant bump so that res is doable on single GPU.
 
Well, think I spoke too soon about mine being perfect, because I am having a very annoying problem.

My monitor, seemingly randomly, will lose the video signal for a split second, then recover the screen with the displayport logo, in games. This flicker on and off will happen repeatedly, and then go away for a while (30 mins, an hour, 10 minutes, who knows) and then come back. Seems to happen the worst in Diablo 3, but it also just happened in Cities: Skylines, and even Undertale, which is locked at 30 FPS. The monitor worked flawlessly for the first couple weeks I had it, never had the flicker issue in Fallout 4

This is on a 980 Ti so the video hardware is fine. I've tried multiple different displayport cables. Monitor is overclocked to 100hz. Is this overclock instability? I see that Acer is now hedging the fuck out of the "guarantee" to do 100hz. .
 
Sounds way more like a Displayport cable issue than anything else. You say you've tried many cables, but can you confirm you've used one certified for DP 1.2 with as short a length as possible?
 
Well, think I spoke too soon about mine being perfect, because I am having a very annoying problem.

My monitor, seemingly randomly, will lose the video signal for a split second, then recover the screen with the displayport logo, in games. This flicker on and off will happen repeatedly, and then go away for a while (30 mins, an hour, 10 minutes, who knows) and then come back. Seems to happen the worst in Diablo 3, but it also just happened in Cities: Skylines, and even Undertale, which is locked at 30 FPS. The monitor worked flawlessly for the first couple weeks I had it, never had the flicker issue in Fallout 4

This is on a 980 Ti so the video hardware is fine. I've tried multiple different displayport cables. Monitor is overclocked to 100hz. Is this overclock instability? I see that Acer is now hedging the fuck out of the "guarantee" to do 100hz. .

First time I've ever heard of that issue. You need to do some testing. This could be a cable, your video card, or a driver issue. Wouldn't be the first time an Nvidia driver caused problems and was mistaken for a monitor problem.
 
Sounds way more like a Displayport cable issue than anything else. You say you've tried many cables, but can you confirm you've used one certified for DP 1.2 with as short a length as possible?

Both cables claimed to be DP 1.2 certified, but when I went back to look at my purchase order for them, I found some reviews having similar issues at high resolutions and refresh rates and did not appear on the displayport website, so I'm going to buy a new cable and test it out. I hope that's the issue, because otherwise the panel has been great.
 
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To each their own, but allow me to share my experience since we're essentially crossing paths headed in opposite directions. I can't speak to the BLB. If it bothers you that much, I guess that's it. But, regarding going "down" to a 1440p @ 144Hz G-Sync, I just tried that. I got the new Asus Swift IPS model. After about two weeks, I sent it back. For the money, it just didn't seem like that much of an upgrade from a 24" 1920x1200 monitor (to 27" 2560x1440). Whereas, the 21:9 X34 Predator does indeed feel like a whole new world of immersion in comparison. I've also found that I'm better able to drive 3440x1440 @ 100Hz than I was 2560x1440 @ 144Hz or so. By the time I had my quality settings dialed in for today's demanding games, I was at 100Hz or so anyways.

So, well, if it's not too late, consider those things. . . it would be a shame to send back a relatively good X34 Predator, and then want it again in a few months.


I think you'll only see this in 3D games. That's just how the vast majority of 3D engines handle such a wide aspect ratio. But you shouldn't see this on strategy games or "map-based" games at all.


Well, I hope you love whatever you decide to get. I liked the 1440p 144Hz IP Asus Swift. I like the Predator quite a bit more. Though I won't quite say "love" (that's reserved for OLED in the future!).

--H

P.S. The X34 Predator is so huge, you might want to trick yourself by using a tiny monitor for a few days before trying the 1440p unit. Otherwise, if you switch them out directly, your brain is likely to rebel at the perceived disparity in size. :p

I was thinking about trying the IPS Asus Swift myself, but may just go the TN route as I want better blacks and less BLB. I'm also thinking the TN panel would have faster pixels and be better for CS:GO.

I already picked up a 42" 4k TV and I'm really loving it for movies and general use (not to mention how dope visualizers look on it) and using my QX2710 PLS for games. I'm either going to get one of the ASUS models for gaming or just rock the Korean panel until I get a good deal or some other technologies become available.

The X34 is a great balance but the terrible blacks and BLB ruined immersion for me, not to mention the stretching which drove me insane. At $1390 with tax I just could not stomach it.

Yeah I also tried the PG279Q (165 Hz IPS) and think this monitor is significantly better. Maybe I would stick with the 27" if I competitively played CS - but for all-around gaming and immersion factor, the X34 is the clear winner for me. I'm not really a fan of ULMB either, while it does improve motion clarity significantly it adds a ton of ghosting. I prefer using G-Sync over it to be honest.

As for 4K, while it looks great, it isn't an enjoyable experience for me with current hardware. A single 980 Ti in my opinion fails to deliver good frame rates in more recent games, and I don't like to rely on SLI.

My next upgrade after this will hopefully be a 4K OLED w/ G-Sync. Pascal should be a pretty significant bump so that res is doable on single GPU.

I don't like SLI either but for games I like to use a controller with (I have a couch behind my computer desk) I don't mind turning down settings.

It's my understanding that ULMB is good for games you can maintain really high framerates with (CS:GO) and G-Sync for games where you often dip below your refresh rate, so they seem to be for different purposes.

The X34 to me was just OK for most games but not incredible for any of em. If the monitor was $800 or so I may feel differently, but at the retail value of that thing I just personally feel it should be better.

It didn't feel like that much better than my $250 PLS that does 120 Hz.
 
These monitors sure are hard to find. It appears that everyone is OOS at the moment.

Well they are one of a kind right now. Acer has also started to get the hardware sorted out a little, so people are buying more of them. Microcenter seems to always have a few.
 
The only thing I'm seeing on mine that I'm a bit concerned about is that with g-sync enabled, my mouse cursor is disappearing and/or momentarily freezing while levels load in games and the refresh rate/framerate changes (etc.). I don't recall this happening on my Asus Swift IPS with v-sync enabled.

So far I've seen this on Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars Battlefront, and in 3DMark the top portion of the screen flickers while moving the menus (etc.).
Well, aside from the reassurance delivered here that this is essentially normal, the new nvidia driver released late January also cleared up this behavior in SW Battlefront and LotRO. It's still present in Handbrake, but I think that program is just quirky.

So, cheers all around.

--H
 
Bah, after about 35 days, I finally noticed the "scan line" issue. While around Minas Tirith in Lord of the Rings Online, you really see the scanlines in the grey and pink portions of the sky. There are none with g-sync disabled or when I look straight up and the framerate rises to the point where g-sync isn't needed (100fps+).
 
Bah, after about 35 days, I finally noticed the "scan line" issue. While around Minas Tirith in Lord of the Rings Online, you really see the scanlines in the grey and pink portions of the sky. There are none with g-sync disabled or when I look straight up and the framerate rises to the point where g-sync isn't needed (100fps+).

That's a bummer... I do see the scanlines in that Pendulum g-sync demo but I've not been able to detect them in games. The sky in the demo is grey-ish though so it seems to be most visible on that color. Mostly been playing Batman and Tomb Raider

That said, even the G-Sync demo, the scanlines I DO see don't really bug me, at least compared to the defects I had on other monitors. In the world of high refresh rate monitors everything seems to be flawed in some way, the Asus PG279Q I tried had terrible uniformity. At least with this, I can just disable G-Sync for certain games if I notice the scanlines, and it doesn't impact desktop use.

Curious: did you try setting the overclock on the monitor to match your refresh rate in the game? (Assuming it at least stays above 60). I've heard you don't get scanlines if for example, the OC is set at 70 Hz and you are getting 70 Hz in game).
 
Curious: did you try setting the overclock on the monitor to match your refresh rate in the game? (Assuming it at least stays above 60). I've heard you don't get scanlines if for example, the OC is set at 70 Hz and you are getting 70 Hz in game).
Will try that eventually. But really, as you said, they're not all that noticeable. Was just momentarily bummed that my monitor isn't "free" of them.
 
Ive had mine since the very first pre-order from newegg shipped. When was that, back around October?

Its been great (but it does have the wake from sleep problem, which to me is a non event since I've disabled sleep anyway).

Im not a big Acer fan of anything and this monitor is the first Acer product Ive tried since a laptop back in 2006. I'm really impressed with it but am bummed out so many others had issues that should have been stopped in quality control.

Hopefully they've gotten better units out the door nowadays.
 
If the gsink module is the problem, can't you turn off gsink? Or does everything go through the module as some sort of scaler?
 
Ive had mine since the very first pre-order from newegg shipped. When was that, back around October?

Its been great (but it does have the wake from sleep problem, which to me is a non event since I've disabled sleep anyway).

Im not a big Acer fan of anything and this monitor is the first Acer product Ive tried since a laptop back in 2006. I'm really impressed with it but am bummed out so many others had issues that should have been stopped in quality control.

Hopefully they've gotten better units out the door nowadays.

I'm in the same boat, I absolutely love my X34 which is flawless apart from the WFS bug. Even though its a non-issue, it grates on me that a monitor this expensive has a flaw that should have been easily picked up by quality control. I could send it back for a repair, but then I am worried about external damage and being without my monitor for 2 weeks, and even with a replacement there is a risk of getting an inferior unit in terms of BLB or worse, one which doesn't run at 100hz.
 
I just had mine.. sadly, 100hz overclock flashes screen.. i'll just have to accept 95hz overclock.. now that i think abt it, whats so much of 5hz difference anyway.. but i do prefer not having any issues, and an excellent overclocking experience on a highly priced monitor.. any news on updates releasing for a fix on the x34 coming soon?
 
The fix is just to send it back and get a totally new unit and hope its a better one.

Don't expect any fix beyond that.
 
Don't count on it. I'd take Acer QC over Asus QC, at least where monitors are involved.

That's rough; I'm not familiar with ASUS QC, but every Acer monitor I've bought just keeps trucking, and I have a pair of bottom-line TNs for secondary displays that I bought second-hand up right now. They just work.

Maybe ASUS will buck the trend, especially given the trouble Acer has seen with this setup (which is a control board from Nvidia and a panel from LG... so apart from solid design, QC is literally all they're responsible for).
 
Quite a few people already have the Asus over on overclock.net and it has all of the same issues: coil whine, scanlines, etc.

In either case, the problems do not really appear to be a result of bad QC but more a side effect of pushing this panel beyond its original 60 Hz refresh rate.
 
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Frankly I think the scan line complaint is largely exaggerated.

I had NO idea what a scan line even WAS until people started complaining about them and the X34. And as a buyer of the very first newegg stock of X34's, I still haven't seen a single one.

Well, I guess let me clarify: Since I have no idea what a scan line is, maybe I have seen one and just dont know it? But Ive played through a ton of games on it (which is what the X34 is for in the first place):
The Witcher 3
Far Cry 4
Star Citizen
War Thunder
World of Warships
Ark
Modern Warfare
Men of War Series
Guild Wars 2
Rainbow Six Siege
Elite Dangerous
Just Cause 3
Fallout 4
X-Com 2
Wasteland 2
IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad
GTA V
Arma 3
Fallout New Vegas (modded with HD texture pack and ini edit to support 3440 x 1440)
(do I need to go on?)

And I haven't seen one single strange thing that detracts from the gaming experience in any of the above titles (granted I need to mention I'm playing on 2 x Titan X's so my frame rate in the is generally between 80-100 fps and never drops below 60).

Am I going to run a G-sync demo artificially forced to run at 30fps (when my games never drop below 70...) so I can see the mythical scan line? Ahhh NO. There is zero point in that.

As far as BLB/IPS glow goes... This is something you just have to accept with any IPS panel. It's part of the tech. Keep in mind, that when the monitor first arrives at your doorstep, its brightness is set to 100% from the factory. So when you first plug it in and fire it up and are greeted by your MOBO's black bios screen, you are likely to see a ton of glow in the corners and be pretty upset. But then get into windows, turn down the brightness to about 40% (I think mine is at 38%, not at home right now to check) and the difference is huge.

Here is a shot of mine in the elite dangerous loading screen (which is a pretty damn dark game):




I'm not saying the X34 is perfect, mine suffers from the wake from sleep defect (though I have sleep disabled so I really dont care). But the people here expecting to see zero glow on a big IPS panel and people forcing a demo to run at 30 FPS.... Well, just go play games with 2 x 980 Tis or 2 x Titan X's and enjoy the thing. This thing is made for really heavy graphics hardware in the same way the original Crysis was made for video cards that didn't even exist at the time of its release.
 
Just tested my refurb X34 (2nd attempt since they first sent me the Freesync version by accident). I am shocked, I won the lottery! Paid $729.99 for this bad boy and it's preforming better than the 2 I paid full price for. Packaged with the styrofoam just like from the manufacture, cables packaged well too, only complaint is the front panel was slightly off but snapped right back in.

So here are what I tested:
Scanlines: There are almost none if any! Tested at 30-100 FPS I never thought I would be saying this but I really can't see them very well if at all, even with my face right up to the monitor. Obliviously I am still in shock over this and will continue to test. If anyone has seen my previous posts, they know I have been very vocal about this.
Build Date: Sep 2015
Dead Pixels: None!
No Scratches
Back Light Bleed: Got the typical top and bottom left, no complaints looks like everyone's.
Color Banding: None, even on the black spectrum (my 1st one had that issue).
OC: Overclocked to 100hz, no screen flickering.
Coil Whine: None! Tested at 30-100 FPS
No wake from sleep issue so far (1st one had this issue)


It took 4 attempts since early October, but I finally got a winner, now I just have to hope it doesn't go defective :)
 
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I read through what I could, so sorry if these have already been asked and answered.

I got one of these yesterday and I have no idea what any of the settings do or if they're worth changing. Does anyone here use Dark Boost or Overdrive or Game Mode? What do they even do? For overclocking, if I can't hit 100hz, is it best to do 95 or drop it down to 90 to be divisible by 30?

Also, mine was a refurb and did not come with the mounting bracket. I assume I'll need one to do a VESA mount?
 
I read through what I could, so sorry if these have already been asked and answered.

I got one of these yesterday and I have no idea what any of the settings do or if they're worth changing. Does anyone here use Dark Boost or Overdrive or Game Mode? What do they even do? For overclocking, if I can't hit 100hz, is it best to do 95 or drop it down to 90 to be divisible by 30?

Also, mine was a refurb and did not come with the mounting bracket. I assume I'll need one to do a VESA mount?
I wouldn't mess with the Dark Boost and other stuff. I used THIS article to tweak my monitor and get the "best" picture quality. Then I overclocked to 100hz and that's it. As far as not hitting 100hz, that's a deal breaker for me. I returned two until I got one with ZERO dead pixels, no coil whine, no WFS issue, and one that would hit 100hz without breaking a sweat. I bought mine new and paid like $1000, but even spending $750 or whatever is a lot of money for a monitor that isn't "perfect". So if I were you, I'd return it until I got one that does everything it should. I have no idea about the mount, as I use the stand.
 
I wouldn't mess with the Dark Boost and other stuff. I used THIS article to tweak my monitor and get the "best" picture quality. Then I overclocked to 100hz and that's it. As far as not hitting 100hz, that's a deal breaker for me. I returned two until I got one with ZERO dead pixels, no coil whine, no WFS issue, and one that would hit 100hz without breaking a sweat. I bought mine new and paid like $1000, but even spending $750 or whatever is a lot of money for a monitor that isn't "perfect". So if I were you, I'd return it until I got one that does everything it should. I have no idea about the mount, as I use the stand.

I've actually got a calibration tool but I'll use those settings as a starting point. I'm not too picky about refresh rate so I'll just drop to 90 if 100 does not work and leave everything else as-is.

Thanks for the quick response.
 
Hey guys. Just joined the predator club as of last night. Was up to 4 in the morning doing some gaming. ☺


 
I mounted it on one of those MX Ergotron arms. Works amazingly well. The arm is a little pricey but it's worth it. Saves a lot of desk space and the arm has tons of points of adjustment.

 
Does anyone have and not need the wall mount bracket? My refurb didn't come with one. Shoot me a PM with how much you want for it.
 
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