LG 34GK950F vs Alienware AW3420DW

Hades

Hades

Hades

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I was pretty set on getting the LG 34GK950F until I just saw the Alienware AW3420DW. I wanted some opinions on which people felt was the best monitor.

They are around the same price although the Alienware is quite discounted now and the LG discount appears to have finished. I have a Radeon VII so on the face of it the LG would be the better choice due to Freesync and 144hz. I would probably be happy with the 120hz on the Alienware as I am coming from a 60hz monitor and don't yet know what I'm missing with Freesync as I've never had it.

I really love the look of the Alienware. It looks far more striking to me and would match my office fantastically with the black and white rather than black and red of the LG. The Dell build quality and support seems to be superior to LG. Is the 120hz vs 144hz and Freesync of the LG enough to override build quality and looks?

EDIT: ...also does the Alienware have an internal power supply or external power brick?
 
djay said:
I am in exactly the same situation. I did order the LG 34GK950F on Friday but wasn't guaranteed the Saturday delivery unfortunately due to how busy OCUK had been with Black Friday so I cancelled it.

The Alienware does have an internal PSU, so uses a kettle lead as normal. I also prefer the AW monitor, it uses the same panel as the LG as well. I did go on the Dell chat to ask if the monitor also supported Freesync for AMD GPU and he assured me it does, however I was not convinced. Need to wait for some reviews before making my mind up.

However as the LG is now back to £1149 it makes the Dell the better purchase i think.
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Thanks for the PSU info. I'm assuming it does not have freesync.

I expect the LG will go on sale again soon, either at OcUK or elsewhere so not too worried about that. However just seen quidco offers an extra 7% cashback (only valid for another hour apparently) so I have to make a quick decision.
 
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Minato said:
Both monitors use the same panel so on that front you'll probably be happy either way. I had this same dilemma over the last few weeks and just ordered the AW3420DW. The reasons being:
1. 120Hz vs 144Hz is not a big deal for me
2. 5 year advanced exchange warranty on the Dell (They send you a replacement monitor, you send your monitor back in that box when it arrives) vs 2 year warranty with the LG
3. Likely to have to play panel lottery to get one i'm happy with with no BLB etc, which might necessitate multiple returns. This is easy and free with Dell, but if I bought the LG via OcUK i'd have to pay a fair amount of money to return the monitor each time, and be without a monitor until the next one arrives.
4. I think the Alienware looks better design wise
5. Price when I bought the AW was ~£990, vs £899 for the LG (black friday sales for both)

Hope that helps you come to a decision either way. If the LG 38GL950G comes out in the next couple of weeks in the UK I think I will buy that and compare it to the AW3420DW, and return whichever I like less.
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Thanks. Yes helpful although I'd probably stay with the standard 3yr warranty as it;s at the top of my budget for a monitor.
 
OK I had to make a quick decision to get the additional 7% cashback which will expire by midnight. So I went for the Dell despite it not having freesync. My current 12 year old monitor is a Dell and I've been very happy with it. I may regret not having freesync at some point but I don't have it now and tend to run games with vsync off anyway. 120hz will be more than enough and I love the design of it, especially as I have a white desk in a white office :)

After cashback it will be £952. I might call them tomorrow to increase the warranty but as mentioned by @Minato one of the strengths of even the basic 3 year warranty is being able to simply call them and swap it out at no cost. A lot of money but I don't regret spending a similar amount on my current Dell 3007 12 years ago. Most of the money was also a gift from my (late) mum for my birthday this year as she knew I wanted a new monitor at some point. I promised her I'd spend it on a monitor and she passed away a couple of weeks ago so I was adamant I would.

The only fly in the ointment right now is I don't actually have a gaming PC as the motherboard died a few months ago (currently using my old Thinkpad!).
 
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MissChief said:
Personally given the hassle some people have had with LG's warranty returns (return it and be without a monitor while it's being repaired) and the amazing monitor warranty you get with Dell (they delivery one and then you return the broken one within 2 weeks AFAIK) and the minimal cost to extend the warranty, if the extra 24Hz doesn't matter to you and you can get the 3420 close to the LG price then I'd favour the Alienware.
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It was the painless return/fix/swap policy that swung it in the Dell's favour.

MissChief said:
And condolences to you for your loss @Hades :(
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Thank you.
 
Chris [BEANS] said:
I didn’t realise the new Alienware was already this cheap!!! I might get one myself!!

I’ll mirror the condolences mate. As it’s something that’s ‘meaningful’ as well as practical, you’ll definitely get more peace of mind from the AW warranty and exchange policy.

Hope you really enjoy it mate :)
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Thank you. I appreciate it. Funeral this Weds :(
 
djay said:
Hades, are you running an AMD GPU? If so I will be really interested to see if it does work with AMD Freesync as the Dell rep assured me it does. I have now ordered one but I am using a 2080ti but I really wanted the option of AMD Freesync just in case I do go from Green to Red in the future.

Would have been great if you could just disable the Gsync then the monitor had the option or 144hz Freesync. I can but hope :)
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I am using an AMD GPU. But the rest of my system is dead and I have new parts arriving this week. The likelihood is that you will get it up and running before me. But I will check it later this week when I finally get everything running.
 
djay said:
It's arrived, and it's beautiful. No dead pixels thankfully. The only thing i'm a bit annoyed about is that i'm sure I ordered the black one! Played some COD MW on it and it looks stunning.
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I thought they only did one model? Grey or black surround with a white back. Wasnt aware there are two models?
 
djay said:
Yes, I think I have misunderstood. Here is what it shows in my basket - Dell Alienware 34 Monitor - AW3420DW- 86.5cm(34") Black

But on the order, the black is missing :)
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Just checked mine says the same on the order and I definitely expect a white back.
 
Yes that does concern me slightly coming from a 30" 16:10 2560x1600.

A quick question. I see it has an audio line out and headphone out (no speakers though). I also can't see any audio line in. So where does it get the audio from? Is it via the HDMI cable or does it have an internal USB sound card?
 
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Mine has arrived too now. I spent a lot of the day building my new PC, installing windows and other things. Finally about an hour ago I just unboxed and setup the AW3420DW. I'll be honest that I am not quite as blown away as other have been. I do think it's a fantastic monitor. But coming from a Dell 3007 with 30" 2560x1600 it feels like looking at a letterbox. I am also very aware of the curve. It's also a testament to how good the Dell 3007 still is, and certainly was when I bought it. It was a real top end monitor in its day. So the concerns I have are more related to moving from a 2560x1600 16:10 to a 3440x1440 than the Alienware monitor itself.

However... it is a fantastic monitor and I am absolutely sure in a few days I will stop noticing the curve. Also, although I do miss the 16:10 aspect ratio many things were still displayed in 16:9 on my old screen with black bars top and bottom. So it was a false sense of size. I also haven't played any games on it yet. I'm fully expect that I will be singing its praises in a few days time. It's just the move from 16:10 to 21:9 which is giving me pause for thought.

The 'white' of the back and stand are also light grey rather than the striking white from the photos. No complaints there and it's just an observation.

I haven't had a chance to try freesync yet. I don't actually know how to try it and I am still downloading games. But I'll try as soon as I work out what to do.



EDIT: Radeon Settings says that Freesync is on. I don't know if that means it's working or whether that's just the default setting for all monitors.
 
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djay said:
EDIT: Radeon Settings says that Freesync is on. I don't know if that means it's working or whether that's just the default setting for all monitors.

No idea but it sounds promising? On the monitor when you go into settings, then go to Others, then Display Info, what does it say under Mode?
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Model: AW3420DW
Input Source: DP
Current: 3440x1440 60hx
Maximum: 3440x1440 120hz
HDMI version: HDMI 1.4 (note: I'm using displayport, not HDMI)
Mode: G-SYNC

One easy way to tell is to put my old monitor back on. If it doesn't show Freesync enabled then I'll have my answer. It's now in the garage loft so I'll need to do that tomorrow or at the weekend as it's a bit late to do that now.

Also in answer to my own question about how it has audio output but no audio input, I see in Windows that the monitor 'sound card' is showing up. I have it connected with displayport (which as far as I know doesn't carry audio). So it must have an internal USB sound card (I have the USB cable attached).

I've just played a game and can now see why people love 21:9. It's definitely immersive. I'm starting to love this monitor. No regrets. Starting to get used to the curve and height. Fantastic monitor. Love it :)
 
@djay @JediFragger I have some interesting information. Turning freesync off in the Radeon Settings does not change the 'mode' seen in the monitor settings. It says G-Sync regardless of what I do. But... and I have a big smile on my face here, although I'll leave it up to you to decide what it means... I just hooked up my old monitor again...

...with my old monitor attached which does not have freesync Radeon Settings does not give me the option to enable freesync.



Summary:

So I can't enable freesync with my old monitor. But I can enable it with the AW3420DW on my Radeon VII. I also couldn't see any tearing in the one game I have installed - Quake Champions. I can't promise this means it has freesync but... I think it does???
 
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Yes to be clear:

1) The mode in the monitor settings does not change whatever I set freesync to. In monitor settings it always says gsync. I did try rebooting the PC too.

2) When using my old monitor (displaylink to dual link DVI) Radeon Settings does not allow me to turn on freesync.

3) When using the AW3420DW Radeon Settings shows freesync as on. I can also turn it off and on if I want to.


I guess the next test is to try a non freesync monitor over native displayport (i.e. without the DVI adapter of my old monitor). I think I might have one so will check tonight. Over the weekend I will also try some games with freesync on and off to see whether there is a difference.

Edit: I asked in the AMD driver thread in the graphics section and someone who has both freesync and non freesync monitors says they only get the freesync option on the monitor which supports it. The evidence is mounting :)
 
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I thought I'd post a quick update on the AW3420DW so far.

I thought I might have another displayport monitor to check what Radeon Settings says about freesync on it. But unfortunately it's an HDMI connection instead. But as mentioned in my previous post someone in the AMD Driver thread says they see the same as I do on a known freesync monitor (freesync slider available on the freesync monitor and the slider not available on their non-freesync monitor).

I've only been able to play games for a few hours and I only have two games installed; Quake Champions and Halo Reach. My Radeon VII completely spanks those games for FPS even setting quality to ultra. So I may not even be in a situation where I would benefit from freesync on them. I've also never had a freesync monitor before so I don't really know what to look for. But I haven't noticed any tearing. I also didn't really notice it when turning freesync off in radeon Settings. But it did feel a little smoother with freesync turned on. Maybe I'm imagining that though. So I'm now fairly confident it does have some kind of freesync compatible adaptive sync. But please don't base any purchasing decisions on what I've said so far. All I can do is report what I've experienced.

One last point... Because I'd come from such an old monitor I hadn't realised I needed to change the refresh rate in Windows. I was using 60hz before but found how to set it to 120hz today. So I turned it on and... OH MY GOD what a difference that makes. I'm loving that :)

So while I was initially pleased with the monitor but not blown away, I'm now very, very, very happy with it and extremely pleased I got it. I don't regret my decision to get this over the LG.

If anyone can think of any more tests for freesync then let me know.
 
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