Alienware AW3420DW

Anomalistics · 15 Jan 2020 at 10:05

What are your thoughts on the Alienware AW3420DW? I am desperately seeking an upgrade from my Samsung 24" - which is quite dated now. There is so much to take into consideration, all I keep hearing about is HDMI 2.1, HDR 400/100, amongst other things.

MissChief · 15 Jan 2020 at 10:16

Great monitor. One of the best UW monitors available, but do you have the Graphical horsepower to push it well? What GPU do you have.

Anomalistics · 15 Jan 2020 at 11:58

MissChief said:
Great monitor. One of the best UW monitors available, but do you have the Graphical horsepower to push it well? What GPU do you have.

I have a GTX 980TI. I will probably upgrade this to the latest RTX version when it is available.

JediFragger · 15 Jan 2020 at 14:26

Anomalistics said:
I have a GTX 980TI. I will probably upgrade this to the latest RTX version when it is available.

You'll get by with that until the new nVidia cards are out in the Summer I'm sure

Anomalistics · 15 Jan 2020 at 15:15

JediFragger said:
You'll get by with that until the new nVidia cards are out in the Summer I'm sure

Given that it is 1440p, do you have any objections? In a perfect world I would like a monitor that provides 4k resoultion at 120hz or more but the entry model prices that I have seen for such models are laughable.

JediFragger · 15 Jan 2020 at 17:15

Anomalistics said:
Given that it is 1440p, do you have any objections? In a perfect world I would like a monitor that provides 4k resoultion at 120hz or more but the entry model prices that I have seen for such models are laughable.

Ultrawide monitors tend to provide a better balance between resolution/hz/cost, and yes the 4k/120hz ones are pretty hefty for a small screen!

eggcup · 15 Jan 2020 at 18:41

Got one myself 4 days ago, the best ips monitor I have tried, and I have tried a few! hardly any IPS glow or backlight bleed. Great colours too.

Kohaashi · 15 Jan 2020 at 19:12

eggcup said:
Got one myself 4 days ago, the best ips monitor I have tried, and I have tried a few! hardly any IPS glow or backlight bleed. Great colours too.

Good to hear. I’ve just ordered one for myself.

Smffy · 15 Jan 2020 at 19:48

Chadd said:
Good to hear. I’ve just ordered one for myself.

had mine a while now, it’s a lovely screen!

Vertigo · 16 Jan 2020 at 12:52

How does it compare to the older AW2418DW? Can't see much difference apart from the slightly better grey-to-grey in the specs.

MissChief · 16 Jan 2020 at 12:54

Vertigo1 said:
How does it compare to the older AW2418DW? Can't see much difference apart from the slightly better grey-to-grey in the specs.

If you’re talking about the AW3418DW faster refresh at stock and Overclocked. Better G2G response as you said and I think it has a higher contrast too?

Waza · 22 Jan 2020 at 00:06

Ok so I'm also in the look out for a new monitor, I have a rx5700xt, I know this is g sync but would this still work at 120hz, I know the lg 950 can go to 144hz and is amd compatible. But the build quality is not as good as this. So my dilemma. Which one is the best for me.

JediFragger · 22 Jan 2020 at 08:36

Waza said:
Which one is the best for me.

I chose the 950F because I'm always switching sides tbh and I really like the flexibility :cool:

Hades · 22 Jan 2020 at 09:55

I love mine. There is a lot of discussion in this thread:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/lg-34gk950f-vs-alienware-aw3420dw.18871817/

It does have freesync even though it is not advertised with it (probably freesync 1 rather than 2) as this was discussed quite a bit in the thread.

pp111 · 24 Jan 2020 at 13:23

I am going to buy one in a few weeks. That or the LG 34GK950G.
The 980Ti will drive it, but you are in trouble with some modern titles. It's going to struggle with things like Monster Hunter, and barely manage 50fps. You need at least a 2070 Super to get it to 60fps for a modern title like Monster Hunter and eventually a 3080 or better to get it to a confident 100fps. 100Hz is effectively the limit of these monitors, thanks to the G-Sync module which is rated at 100Hz for 3440x1440. If you play older games then a 3070 will be more than good enough. But if you are spending £1000 on a monitor I assume you will be able to afford a 3080 when they come out!!

Bito · 24 Jan 2020 at 22:59

Is there any visual indication, on the 3420DW, that g sync is active, like on the Acer Predator and Asus monitors via led or anything ?

Hades · 25 Jan 2020 at 10:21

Bito said:
Is there any visual indication, on the 3420DW, that g sync is active, like on the Acer Predator and Asus monitors via led or anything ?

Yes it's in one of the menus I think. I will check when using it.

J1nxy · 25 Jan 2020 at 18:01

Has anybody tried running an Xbox or similiar into the HDMI port? just wondered if it supports a native 2560 x 1440p 1:1 or if it'll only work with 1080p?

Hades · 25 Jan 2020 at 19:48

J1nxy said:
Has anybody tried running an Xbox or similiar into the HDMI port? just wondered if it supports a native 2560 x 1440p 1:1 or if it'll only work with 1080p?

Funny you should ask that right now. My sons friend is using mine on the xbox tonight so I just asked him for you. He says he can only get 1080p.

J1nxy · 25 Jan 2020 at 20:27

Hades said:
Funny you should ask that right now. My sons friend is using mine on the xbox tonight so I just asked him for you. He says he can only get 1080p.

Thanks for checking it makes a decision over a monitor easier.