Alienware announces the AW2725DF and AW3225QF (worlds first 4k 240hz and worlds first 1440p 360hz QD-OLED monitors - launches January 2024)

[Personality+]

No joy unfortunately. Just had an email from Dell who are trying to offer me last years 34 inch model as an exchange. Told them where to go and said I want like for like or a full refund. I'll be getting PayPal involved if they keep messing around!

Yeah I'd want a full refund as well if my screen was constantly flickering like that. Although is gameplay still smooth with gsync turned off or not? If so I wouldn't have much of an issue not using it, but if it's an issue yeah get rid I guess. Also quite weird if like suggested above it's more of an Nvidia issue, perhaps to do with DSC on some units perhaps.

 

[Spikey]

Yeah I'd want a full refund as well if my screen was constantly flickering like that. Although is gameplay still smooth with gsync turned off or not? If so I wouldn't have much of an issue not using it, but if it's an issue yeah get rid I guess. Also quite weird if like suggested above it's more of an Nvidia issue, perhaps to do with DSC on some units perhaps.

If that 3rd option is disabled, zero flickering. So it's cleatly some gsync issue. If I get a refund I'll hold off for the asus model and grab a cheap screen to tide me over.

 

[Personality+]

If that 3rd option is disabled, zero flickering. So it's cleatly some gsync issue. If I get a refund I'll hold off for the asus model and grab a cheap screen to tide me over.

I have another solution maybe, in nvidia settings make sure vsync is on and you have all the gysnc options ticked that caused your issues.
No vsnc in game and set your max fps to 222 in game cap

1. Gsync+Vsync in Nvidia control panel (NEVER IN GAME VSYNC)
2. Enable Reflex in supported games

240Hz = 222fps in game cap

just try that and let me know if you have any issues

otherwise I'm out of solutions.

 

[Darren1967]

I'm on the verge of returning mine purely because the flickering is horrendous, I had a small amount on my LG C2 but nothing on this scale to the point where it's extremely off putting. The only way I can eradicate it is to untick the option in NV control panel under gsync which is the setting around applying this monitor's settings (3rd option can't recall the name) but in doing this you lose gsync so it's no use to me, I've tried HDMI and DP using brand new cables and it's still really bad in the 3 main games I'm playing atm : WRC (latest one), F1 2023 and R6 siege, doesn't matter if HDR is on or off.

I've sent dell an email, I'll try and get a video up showing how bad it is, but I'm going to push for a refund I think and see what the Asus is like, such a shame as I love the monitor bar this issue. (Also running current firmware).

Dell Alienware AW3225QF flickering

Only way I can stop the flicker over HDMI or display port is to disable the nvidia control panel setting under Gsync - setting 3. Display specific settings ...

www.youtube.com

I know exactly what you mean. The flickering with G-SYNC is much worse than I could ever have anticipated even though I was aware of some flickering with OLED displays from using my Xbox Series X and PS5 in their 120 Hz modes on my 2019 LG B9 TV. Few reviews even mention this and it is not like you can go into a shop and check these displays out yourself so we can only rely on what those reviews say. Most reviews only mention that VRR/FreeSync/G-SYNC are supported but do not go into any depth on how they actually perform across a number of games. I find this an odd oversight for a monitor that is being marketed as a gaming display. I bought this monitor based on those reviews and not one of them mentioned flickering with VRR enabled.

On my old ASUS PG279Q IPS monitor I had G-SYNC set for Fullscreen and Windowed games and never had any issues at all using it in the 7 years I owned that monitor, and certainly no flickering. I have had to switch to Fullscreen only for G-SYNC on my AW2725DF to avoid the horrid flickering on the desktop wallpaper but even with that setting I am still seeing a lot of annoying flickering while playing Dragon's Dogma 2 on my PC with G-SYNC enabled and a 120 fps framerate cap using RivaTuner Statistics Server. This is because this game has a highly variable framerate due to poor optimisation in the town areas so I can go from 120 fps in the countryside outside the towns to sub-60 fps in the towns. The flickering is especially noticeable during dialogue scenes with the various NPCs who hand out quests. I also see slight flickering in Horizon: Forbidden West, even though that is a mostly bright game, but I am using DLSS3 frame gen so have an unlocked framerate. I have also seen flickering in the new Alone in the Dark game as that is mostly a dark game. Basically, the only way to not have any flickering is to lock the framerate completely at 60, 90, 120 fps or whatever, without any variance, but that defeats the whole point of using G-SYNC in the first place in my opinion.

It's a real shame because in every other way this monitor is superb. I love the image quality, those deep, deep blacks and eye-popping colours and I love the HDR too. It's a great monitor that I would highly recommend... if it wasn't for the G-SYNC flickering issue.

 

[Spikey]

I have another solution maybe, in nvidia settings make sure vsync is on and you have all the gysnc options ticked that caused your issues.
No vsnc in game and set your max fps to 222 in game cap

1. Gsync+Vsync in Nvidia control panel (NEVER IN GAME VSYNC)
2. Enable Reflex in supported games

240Hz = 222fps in game cap

just try that and let me know if you have any issues

otherwise I'm out of solutions.

Thanks mate, I have all that set, plus I have FPS capped in nvidia panel to 237 - i'm sure I read to knock it down by 3? Do you not cap it in nvidia panel (max framerate?) ? Thanks again for helping out!

 

[Personality+]

Thanks mate, I have all that set, plus I have FPS capped in nvidia panel to 237 - i'm sure I read to knock it down by 3? Do you not cap it in nvidia panel (max framerate?) ? Thanks again for helping out!

set it to 222

 

[Spikey]

I know exactly what you mean. The flickering with G-SYNC is much worse than I could ever have anticipated even though I was aware of some flickering with OLED displays from using my Xbox Series X and PS5 in their 120 Hz modes on my 2019 LG B9 TV. Few reviews even mention this and it is not like you can go into a shop and check these displays out yourself so we can only rely on what those reviews say. Most reviews only mention that VRR/FreeSync/G-SYNC are supported but do not go into any depth on how they actually perform across a number of games. I find this an odd oversight for a monitor that is being marketed as a gaming display. I bought this monitor based on those reviews and not one of them mentioned flickering with VRR enabled.

On my old ASUS PG279Q IPS monitor I had G-SYNC set for Fullscreen and Windowed games and never had any issues at all using it in the 7 years I owned that monitor, and certainly no flickering. I have had to switch to Fullscreen only for G-SYNC on my AW2725DF to avoid the horrid flickering on the desktop wallpaper but even with that setting I am still seeing a lot of annoying flickering while playing Dragon's Dogma 2 on my PC with G-SYNC enabled and a 120 fps framerate cap using RivaTuner Statistics Server. This is because this game has a highly variable framerate due to poor optimisation in the town areas so I can go from 120 fps in the countryside outside the towns to sub-60 fps in the towns. The flickering is especially noticeable during dialogue scenes with the various NPCs who hand out quests. I also see slight flickering in Horizon: Forbidden West, even though that is a mostly bright game, but I am using DLSS3 frame gen so have an unlocked framerate. I have also seen flickering in the new Alone in the Dark game as that is mostly a dark game. Basically, the only way to not have any flickering is to lock the framerate but that defeats the whole point of using G-SYNC in the first place in my opinion.

It's a real shame because in every other way this monitor is superb. I love the image quality, those deep, deep blacks and eye-popping colours and I love the HDR too. It's a great monitor that I would highly recommend... if it wasn't for the G-SYNC flickering issue.

Thanks for the comment mate, assuming you can only stop it like myself if you disable that 3rd option on NV panel? The flickering is horrendous if that's on, doesn't matter what game or if it's in HDR or SDR for me. HDMI and DP both the same behaviour.

 

[Spikey]

set it to 222

No joy mate, works fine with that setting off though so basically gysnc is useless atm unless you want really bad flickering.

 

[Personality+]

No joy mate, works fine with that setting off though so basically gysnc is useless atm unless you want really bad flickering.

222hz is the right frame timing for gsync with vsync on based on latency up to 1000hz but if gsync isn't actually working, no idea if it's having any influence on your experience or not. If gsync isn't enabled you could probably try running with vsync off at 222 and see if it's still smooth in games or not for you, perhaps giving you an equally good experience now. I dug into this for my tv as I was getting screen tearing at native 144hz and found out I needed to set my tv to 138hz for gsync and no issues since with or without gsync. Hopefully the same for you with 222. But still try and return it, if the advertised product isn't working as intended.

 

[Spikey]

222hz is the right frame timing for gsync with vsync on based on latency up to 1000hz but if gsync isn't actually working, no idea if it's having any influence on your experience or not. If gsync isn't enabled you could probably try running with vsync off at 222 and see if it's still smooth in games or not for you, perhaps giving you an equally good experience now. I dug into this for my tv as I was getting screen tearing at native 144hz and found out I needed to set my tv to 138hz for gsync and no issues since with or without gsync. Hopefully the same for you with 222. But still try and return it, if the advertised product isn't working as intended.

Thanks pal I'll keep you posted

 

[z10m]

Ordered the 27” today as my second display to go with my 48” C1.
If I get flickering like @Spikey it’s going back to Dell for a refund.

 

[Spikey]

Ordered the 27” today as my second display to go with my 48” C1.
If I get flickering like @Spikey it’s going back to Dell for a refund.

Let me know how you get on, currently got radio silence from DELL since I said no way would I accept last years model for the exchange, I've said like for like or a refund. Will see what happens, I don't find their responses very quick tbh.

 

[Darren1967]

Thanks for the comment mate, assuming you can only stop it like myself if you disable that 3rd option on NV panel? The flickering is horrendous if that's on, doesn't matter what game or if it's in HDR or SDR for me. HDMI and DP both the same behaviour.

Just watched your video and saw that you have the 32" Alienware monitor not the 27" one I have. Mine is not certified as G-SYNC compatible but yours is! Having watched your video now, this is the kind of flickering I see in games on my 'uncertified' display and even on the desktop wallpaper (when I use G-SYNC set to Fullscreen and windowed). So what does this certification even mean because from what I've read on the NVIDIA site one of tests they do is for flickering!!! How can NVIDIA certify a display like this when it flickers so badly with G-SYNC? It beggars belief. It's clearly flawed.

This is the first QD-OLED monitor I've owned so I have no idea if this issue affects *all* OLED and QD-OLED monitors regardless of whether they are certified as G-SYNC compatible or not. In my experience this flickering can vary from mildly annoying to downright irritating and makes it look as if the monitor is faulty.

I would love to hear more feedback from others using both the 27" and 32" monitors with FreeSync and G-SYNC. Do you all get flickering depending on the game? Is there such a thing as a flicker-free OLED and QD-OLED monitor when used with VRR?

 

[Lord-Jaffa]

God that flickering issue is horrendous, has it been specific to the Alienware monitor or is it the panel itself?

 

[z10m]

Let me know how you get on, currently got radio silence from DELL since I said no way would I accept last years model for the exchange, I've said like for like or a refund. Will see what happens, I don't find their responses very quick tbh.

Will do.
I will test it both connected directly to my 4090 as well as connected to my motherboard with integrated AMD graphics and compare.

 

[no_1_dave]

It's VRR related - so GSYNC in this case
Flickering will be worse the higher the refresh rate

I've not had the flickering that bad, only ever get it on loading screens but is GSYNC really necessary on a 240hz monitor? Genuinely interested, because GSYNC is mostly needed when your fps is between 30-80. After that tearing will become a non issue with a 240hz monitor. You won't get flicker between 40-80fps so no harm using GSYNC in those demanding games, but games that run closer to the 240fps range won't benefit from gsync anyway so may as well turn it off and lose the flicker..?

Or am I wrong? Maybe worth trying

 

[Sc00p007]

The flicker is usually worse the more erratic the framerate. I guess with a higher ceiling, the flicker will be easier to spot on 4k 240hz screen. A frame rate quickly bouncing between 100-120 on a 120hz screen will be less noticeable than 100-160 on the 240hz screen. I had a nightmare start when I first got vrr oled. 4k was really demanding at the time and I got unlucky and a few of the games I was playing had bad flicker due to bad optimisation causing frame drops or erratic fps. Fortunately they were one playthrough single player games, over the years I found it not to be an issue on most games. I turned off gsync for 2-3 games over a rough 40 game sample.

 

[opethdisciple]

My current monitor is a Dell S2716DG 27 Inch TN.

Is the AW3225QF really gonna be that big of an upgrade?

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[Personality+]

My current monitor is a Dell S2716DG 27 Inch TN.

Is the AW3225QF really gonna be that big of an upgrade?

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Yes

 

[opethdisciple]

I just need to measure up as it's gonna be a tight squeeze on my desk.

My only other thought is the fact that we are very soon going to be entering in to summer.

As my gaming pc is in a loft between the months of June 1st - Aug 31st I cannot game as the loft just get too hot.

Last year it was still 24c late Sep so really its more like late May to late Sep I cant game.

Is it worth buying something now and only using it for a month or two or just wait it out until Sep...