Alienware AW3423DW 34" QD-OLED Review: The Ultimate Gaming Monitor?

[Scorpus]

The Dell Alienware AW3423DW is a 34" 3440x1440 OLED gaming monitor with a 175 Hz max refresh rate. It's easily the best HDR gaming monitor you can buy right now, but it's not perfect for everything.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2445-alienware-aw3423dw-oled/

 

[R00sT3R]

Sorry, but after getting used to the pixel clarity of 4K gaming, I could not drop down to 1440p, no matter how nice the extra bells & whistles it may come with.

I'd rather carry on with my 4K monitor (and its limitations) until a 4K monitor comes along with the same panel technology.

..also, Ultrawide support is still kind of sucky in PC gaming land.

 

[brucek]

I'm really happy with Dell for bringing this to market and initial consumer reaction seems to validate how thirsty the market has been for this type of product. If this is version 1.0, I can't wait to see what the choices look like in a few years.

 

[Usukosej]

That subpixel configuration might be a dealbreaker for many people. Including me. Anyway great to see more OLED PC monitors. Days of LCD must end.

I stay at 1440p/240Hz/IPS for a few more years. Using DLDSR to have close to native 4K/UHD resolution in most games works wonders. Sometimes I output to my OLED TV @ 4K/120Hz tho, depending on title. Luckily my 3080 Ti can do 100+ fps in most games at 4K, however I aim for around 200 fps when I use 1440p and play competitive multiplayers. Simply smooth as butter.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

#1 I I were to replace my Alienware 34" monitor, I'd probably buy the Alienware 38" monitor - which virtually no one talks about despite it using the same technology.

My Alienware 34" is excellent video quality, but since it isn't 4K it doesn't make the 3090 work as hard as it could. Perhaps that's a good thing since I get solid 1440p performance at high FPS rather than less FPS at 4K.

#2 This is a very nice monitor and I love the build quality.

 

[Ohnooze]

I'm using a 2 year old 55" 4k Samsung TV at the moment. It's an QLED but it's good enough until QD OLED becomes more common and a better price. Probably wait another year before I upgrade...can't go back to a small screen.

 

[Lionvibez]

Sorry, but after getting used to the pixel clarity of 4K gaming, I could not drop down to 1440p, no matter how nice the extra bells & whistles it may come with.

I'd rather carry on with my 4K monitor (and its limitations) until a 4K monitor comes along with the same panel technology.

..also, Ultrawide support is still kind of sucky in PC gaming land.

I've been on Ultrawide since Dec and have been enjoying it however 90% of the games I play support it. And much easier to push 3440x1440 @ 144hz with a 6800XT plus prefer high refresh rate over 4k at 60hz.

 

[Pastuch]

Still no input lag tests with gsync.

Still no input lag tests without adaptive sync or gsync.

Guess we’ll keep waiting for the Rtings.com review.

 

[poohbear]

Thank you for the thorough & very insightful review!

I like how you pointed out the early-adopter issues with this monitor, cause on paper it looked flawless! I'll stick with my AW3420DW until they come out with a 2nd or 3rd gen model of this one. By then all the kinks will be ironed out.

Widescreen gaming is the sweet spot, so looking forward to the AW3426DW.

 

[Lounds]

Great Article Tim, must have taken weeks to write up.

 

[toooooot]

I shopped for a gaming 4k monitor not long ago.
I couldn't risk getting an OLED monitor. It must last for the next three years minimum.
I like that more companies are making these, I really do.
But considering the technology of oled, the risks and possible life of such products, they seem like a luxury more than top choice for the price+quality.
And I know, I know that I would not have a burn in problem in an OLED TV.
A monitor however... I can correctly predict which side of the monitor will permanently burn in.
Thinking about the disadvantages of OLED, it seems acceptable to use it in TVs.
But it does not seem like the right choice for every day monitor.

 

[quadibloc]

I guess this monitor is not for me. My monitor is a 4K one, and if it had the fuziness issue due to triangular pixels, it wouldn't be an issue, because for desktop use, I run it at 1920 by 1080. But this monitor is by 1440, so it needs to be run at full resolution for the desktop, not half resolution.

 

[scavengerspc]

 

[Usukosej]

I've been on Ultrawide since Dec and have been enjoying it however 90% of the games I play support it. And much easier to push 3440x1440 @ 144hz with a 6800XT plus prefer high refresh rate over 4k at 60hz.

90% of the games YOU play, maybe ... But there is tons of games that don't support 21:9. How do I know? Because a friend of mine uses 21:9 and refuses to play games without 21:9 support and he missed out on ALOT of must play titles because of this fact.

If you can't accept STRETCHING or BLACK BARS then 21:9 is not what you want. You will get one of those in at least half of the newer games...

This is always the problem when going with a custom resolution. 16:9 aspect is standard and this won't change anytime soon. Most games are made for consoles. Consoles are made for TVs and TVs are 16:9.

Ultrawide monitors are not the best for shooters, hence no pro gamers use ultrawid6e

I will take my 27" 1440p/240Hz/IPS + 65 OLED 4K/120Hz/Gsync on the side any time over a 34" UltraWide that is for sure...

I'll pick what I want depending on game. ELDEN RING was played on the OLED with controller. PC monitor is always chosen when I play fast paced gamers. Around 200 fps with 240 Hz GSYNC is simply smooth as butter.

 

[Lionvibez]

90% of the games YOU play, maybe ... But there is tons of games that don't support 21:9. How do I know? Because a friend of mine uses 21:9 and refuses to play games without 21:9 support and he missed out on ALOT of must play titles because of this fact.

If you can't accept STRETCHING or BLACK BARS then 21:9 is not what you want. You will get one of those in at least half of the newer games...

This is always the problem when going with a custom resolution. 16:9 aspect is standard and this won't change anytime soon. Most games are made for consoles. Consoles are made for TVs and TVs are 16:9.

Ultrawide monitors are not the best for shooters, hence no pro gamers use ultrawid6e

I will take my 27" 1440p/240Hz/IPS + 65 OLED 4K/120Hz/Gsync on the side any time over a 34" UltraWide that is for sure...

I'll pick what I want depending on game. ELDEN RING was played on the OLED with controller. PC monitor is always chosen when I play fast paced gamers. Around 200 fps with 240 Hz GSYNC is simply smooth as butter.

That's the difference I'm not your friend. And I have no problems playing the other games in 16:9. I play Starcraft 2 on a regular. The rest of your post telling me what pro gamers do means absolutely nothing to me. As for what you would prefer that is your choice happy for you.

 

[godrilla]

I've been on Ultrawide since Dec and have been enjoying it however 90% of the games I play support it. And much easier to push 3440x1440 @ 144hz with a 6800XT plus prefer high refresh rate over 4k at 60hz.

How do you feel about the brake in immersion during cutscenes? I would say 90 % of games I played before my CX on my 3440 x1440p 100 hz ips gsync monitor broke the immersion during cutscenes I don't have that problem with my CX 100% of the games I play do not break immersion during cutscenes due to unanimous support for 16:9 standard ratio. While I loved gaming in the ultrawide but my biggest pet peeve was the break in immersion during cutscenes.

As far as the alienware qd oled. its not what I expected in terms of input lag at 175 hs vs 120hz c1.
Great review as usual!

 

[Lionvibez]

Cutscene's being 16:9 also not a deal breaker for me got use to it.

And yeah it seem the LG OLED screen still have lower input lag than the samsung one in the new Alienware.

 

[Usukosej]

As I said, if you use 21:9 get used to black bars or stretching in most games, in some form or another. Yeah cutscenes wil always be 16:9.

21:9 never be a standard and sucks for shooters and competitive gaming.

For immersive? Maybe .. but playing on a huge OLED at 4K/120Hz/Gsync is more immersive anyway.

I have used a LG 38" UltraWide with 3840x1600 and it was clearly better than 34" 3440x1440 so lets hope we see bigger Ultrawides soon. 34" Ultrawide seem rather small really.

 

[Tom Sunday]

I'm really happy with Dell for bringing this to market...I can't wait to see what the choices look like in a few years.

Greetings from Stehekin, WA. Great review and dream to come true! What a wonderful ultra sleek monitor and fully geared towards gaming. But I am one of the many that has to wait a few more years or so to even consider such a large expense. All naturally driven as we speak by the mere fact of the still rising fuel prices at the pumps and the continuing inflation. Surely that is where my little extra money has been going and disappearing too! Nothing left over for the pure luxury of upgrading or new PC hardware acquisitions. At the end of the latest computer show at the Grange here in Wenatchee they were setting-up for a gun show. My buddy from Diablo, WA, said that he was actually thinking about buying a gun for 'self-protection' instead of dropping his carefully ‘squirreled-away’ hard cash on a major previously owned and hobbled together i7-7700K, GTX 1080 PC system upgrade. Where has this world come too? Well actually I should be happy here in Stehekin, safe and sound.