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

[Nexus18]

Would never turn off gsync even if the fps is high :/ Even at high fps, I can see screen tearing.

Been playing around with AW32 a lot and no question it's a good display. However, I decided to get out my PG27AQDM and AW34 back out to do some comparisons with FPS and picture/colour quality to help me decide once and for all if I'm going to keep the AW32. I never took screenshots so apologies in advance.

The PG27 is ok overall but the worse of the 3, especially in HDR. HDR is so poor in comparison to both my AW's. Being 27" I lose immersion which never bothered me much in the past but I find it too small now. But a clear FPS winner which ofc wasn't a surprise. I updated the firmware while I had it out and it displayed some weird buggy behaviour in the OSD and decided to colour cycle when in standby, had to factory reset to stop it. Minor but annoying.

Then I went to my AW34. What can I say, it's so good lol. Immediate observation was the lack of height compared to the AW32. Surprising how quick I got used to the height of that monitor. However I'm already used to the 21:9 again. In one of my games (TW:WH3) I'm 50fps better off in battle maps, and 20fps better on campaign map. That's pretty huge. Image quality is still very good and honestly the lack of 4k in that game in particular didn't really show but I gained more display being UW which is a win. In CB2077 benchmark I'm 3-5fps better with the AW34 which ofc is nothing, but in game it appears to be more like 10 maybe 15fps better in places. The colours and visuals look amazing. Running the game at 5160x2160 brings it very close to 4k native on the AW32 imo but not quite as detailed, but even at 3440x1440 native still looks so good and more immersive being 34" 21:9 UW. I will probably say that the HDR colours pop a bit better in CB on the AW32.

I never improved the text clarity on the aw34 before, and I increased the text size in windows a bit and the detail has improved quite a bit. AW32 4K still more crisp but I wouldn't say it's a deal breaker anymore when web browsing etc. I've got the detail at a very good place now on the AW34, something I should have done a long time ago. And being able to have 2 browsers split (or more) is just much better for me personally. I even rewatched a bit of Land Of Bad to compare that, and I much prefer it on the AW34 wider display.

The AW32 is a great monitor, but being able to compare back to back against the AW34, I now feel the HDR improvements are marginal and the extra detail overall (desktop use/gaming) having 4k is marginal. Finally the last thing I've not mentioned is the 240/175hz comparison. Surprisingly marginal again. I found the 240hz on the Asus PG27 noticeably better over the AW32 240hz. Being a smaller display probably reflects that. But honestly there's not many games I cap at 235fps at 4k, and the ones I do I cap at 170fps on the AW34 and still feels just as fast/smooth.

As it stands currently, I'm back on the AW34 and enjoying it more. I will swap back to the AW32 on Monday and pump some more hours on it to be sure, but currently I don't feel like the £800 price tag is worth it for the marginal gains. Of course all this is subjective so may be a different experience to others who can compare back to back.

Yeah it's definetly not worth £800 coming from the aw34dw but if you could sell the DW for £500, I think that makes it a worthwhile trade depending on if you value the strengths of the aw32 that much or/and simply want 16.9.

One thing which I am finding with switching back and forth is that even though the aw32 doesn't feel as immersive, I am finding I'm noticing things in the game worlds more than what I did with the aw34, I think @mrk touched upon this too and it simply being a case of the screen being bigger i.e. the area is bigger on the aw32

That and not having the extra width but the extra height means you are solely focussing on what's right in front of you so it's harder to miss things.

So really a 38" 21.9 screen will be the sweet spot to retain this advantage of the aw32 but gain the advantage of the 21.9/aw34:

ATM I'm leaning towards the aw32 for the same reasons mentioned earlier:

- my main game once human just looks a lot better but this is also because DLDSR doesn't work on this game even when changed to the res. in windows :/ DLSS is coming to it though, which may close the gap
- motion clarity is very nice even when not pushing as high of fps as the aw34
- because of the way games are now with taa as well as some games not loading in higher res assets unless 4k+ is detected, most new/current games are noticeably better, DLDSR does close the gap significantly but it is such a faff when most games don't support true exclusive mode (of course, nvidia could solve this in the future too....)

The main and biggest reason (outside of 21.9) I would keep the aw34dw is simply for the superior handling of flicker and lower fps/fluctuating fps ranges but this is somewhat easily mitigated on the aw32 with making sure fps is at least 80 and I'm intending on a next gen gpu purchase anyway so it won't be as much of a problem this.

EDIT:

On performance front too, it's weird as in some games, my fps is actually much the same or better especially since can even now use ultra performance mode dlss (with e preset obviously) and still have it look at the very least as good as 1440p when using dlss quality.

 

[TNA]

On performance front too, it's weird as in some games, my fps is actually much the same or better especially since can even now use ultra performance mode dlss (with e preset obviously) and still have it look at the very least as good as 1440p when using dlss quality.

Was telling you this before. You kept worrying about fps and I said DLSS Performance will solve that and still look better

 

[Nexus18]

Was telling you this before. You kept worrying about fps and I said DLSS Performance will solve that and still look better

Haha you did! I guess I didn't think dldsr would add such a hit to perf but I guess it makes sense.

I wonder if we'll see gsync module in the next lot of monitors.... something tells me we won't since there aren't any of the new panels with the module.

EDIT:

Perfect game for showing how much better the gsync module smoothing out fps is hellblade 2, 50-60 fps is considerably smoother on the 34DW.

 

[SpartaP]

All valid arguments for and against, and I agree with all of it. It certainly is a tough one for me.

@Nexus18 those screenshots give a very good size comparison and you're absolutely right, especially in a game like CB, I felt I can see more of the game but as you also said, doesn't feel as immersive.

@mrk Yup you're right even on the desktop the 240hz does make a difference. For me however, the difference doesn't feel that noticeable between the two AW's but it's my fault. It's my fault because I've thrown my PG27 into the mix for comparison, and that is the one display where the 240hz, even on desktop/mouse cursor etc is buttery smooth. So once I went back to the larger AW panels, I felt the difference is there but I guess not something I'm going to miss if I return the aw32.

I'm going to continue to play with both AW's, I've still got plenty of time left before I have to make the decision to keep the aw32.

Side note, the curve displays are a win for me. When I used the flat PG27 yesterday, it felt like it had a negative curve as if someone had bent the other way. Felt weird looking at say the clock on the taskbar.

 

[adger1971]

My 2p,s worth in what I’ve found so far, re the AW32 I don’t think I could ever go back to non curve and this is the 1st curved monitor I’ve owned. I’ve seriously missed out all these years.

4k resolution is incredible, everything in games is crystal clear, the panel oozes quality I could never go back to non OLED.

The few titles I’ve tried Witcher 3, RDR2, Starfield, Cyberpunk & MSFS 2020. Witcher has some slight Flicker on the menu screen but in game absolutely nothing that I’ve seen so far. Cyberpunk basically the same story and nothing to report on Starfield. I wanted to add the the colours are incredible the blacks are literally mind blowing and I’m going to hunt down a few titles that have a lot of night scenes. Rode into Valentine early evening on RDR2 and my jaw dropped.. incredible.

MSFS 2020 can’t seem to get rid of the night flying cloud flicker no matter what FPS I get or whether or not I disable GSYNC. But I sussed it. The only way I’ve found so far that disables the night time flickering is I have to set the refresh rate to 60hz in NVCP.. voila no flickering whatsoever and tbh 60fps in a flight sim is smooth as glass, daylight flying I can use the full 240 hz. Capping the frame rate to 60 fps doesn’t work I have to set the refresh to 60 for nighttime flying. I took a Cessna from London City airport last night, added some overcast clouds and it was Literally pitch black out there, I’ve over 600 hours in the sim and I’ve never in my life seen it look this good it’s absolutely incredible.

Sorry for my rather long post I just wanted to add that I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who advised me who’ve also made posts regarding the QW you guys rock.. I went a few hundred quid over my initial budget for a new monitor and I’m so glad I did. I never thought for one minute that a monitor would enhance my gaming experience like this .. how wrong I was. Cheers All have a fantastic Sunday.

 

[TNA]

@opethdisciple How are you finding the monitor? Is it the huge upgrade I said it would be? Thoughts?