LG 34GK950F vs Alienware AW3420DW

[djay]

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" 256x1600 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 sceen 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.

I must admit it has taken some getting used to. I do really like it now but I am thinking maybe just maybe I should have gone for the LG. I noticed on the US LG Website the LG is $799!! Here it is now £999.

I'm really keen to know about the Freesync because if it does not work like I suspect it won't I think I will be returning it and either going for the LG or looking at another model . No pressure, but come on Hades, hurry up

 

[djay]

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?

 

[JediFragger]

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.

AFAIK you only get the chance to toggle it on or off if the screen actually supports it so it just might!

 

[Hades]

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?

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]

AFAIK you only get the chance to toggle it on or off if the screen actually supports it so it just might!

Sounds even more promising!!

 

[Hades]

@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???

 

[JediFragger]

Potentially good news then! Give it a good testing over the next couple of days and let us know

 

[djay]

@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???

That does sound really promising. So when I disable Gsync on my 2080ti in the driver panel my monitor shows the Mode as Normal and not Gsync as below.

Model: AW3420DW
Input Source: DP
Current: 3440x1440 60hx
Maximum: 3440x1440 120hz
DP Version: DP1.2 - (note: I'm using displayport, not HDMI)
HDMI version: HDMI 1.4
Mode: Normal


So that might indicate that the monitor just reports that Gsync is on when it's actually using Freesync on an AMD GPU maybe?

If you disable Freesync in your Driver panel using an AMD GPU does the mode show as normal like mine? (Sorry just reread the thread and see you said it still shows GSYNC in mode).

I really appreciate you testing this by the way, and so do a lot of others!! Thankyou!

 

[Hades]

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

 

[djay]

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

Ok, sounds really promising, I think that has convinced me to keep it!

Thankyou for all your testing!

 

[Hades]

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.

 

[Grif955]

Just bought one of these (AW3420DW) seeing as Dell extended their BF deal and got £65 cashback through TopCashback so £920 total which is still insane to be fair, better be good . Anyway, chap I had a text chat with confirmed adaptive sync would work with my 5700xt nitro+ and the fact that Freesync is showing as on in Radeon Settings for Hades would suggest that it does. My current monitor is not freesync and Radeon Settings say 'Not Supported'. Weather it's as good as full on Freesync or Gsync remains to be seen, best test would probably be to load up a fast paced shooter and try the same section of the game with Freesync on and off in the settings. Just reread your post Hades and see you've already done that, maybe it need to be a more demanding game?

 

[djay]

Just bought one of these (AW3420DW) seeing as Dell extended their BF deal and got £65 cashback through TopCashback so £920 total which is still insane to be fair, better be good . Anyway, chap I had a text chat with confirmed adaptive sync would work with my 5700xt nitro+ and the fact that Freesync is showing as on in Radeon Settings for Hades would suggest that it does. My current monitor is not freesync and Radeon Settings say 'Not Supported'. Weather it's as good as full on Freesync or Gsync remains to be seen, best test would probably be to load up a fast paced shooter and try the same section of the game with Freesync on and off in the settings. Just reread your post Hades and see you've already done that, maybe it need to be a more demanding game?

HAve to say i'm really pleased with the monitor, its fantastic. Fired up Read Dead 2 and it looked amazing. Looking forward to your thoughts Grif955 when it turns up!

 

[Panos]

Gents if AMD drivers say Freesync is on, it is ON. Point is whats the range of it as is FS1 not FS2.
Also on the tech page states "Adaptive Sync - Nvidia Gsync" when clearly is using VESA Adaptive Sync and not Gsync module, which means 100% Freesync 1 monitor.

And that's the reason I boycott Dell, because got the NV marketing money to remove any reference of this monitor is FS compatible. Like quite a few others did namely Asus & Acer.
Anti consumer practices shouldn't be rewarded.

 

[Hades]

Gents if AMD drivers say Freesync is on, it is ON. Point is whats the range of it as is FS1 not FS2.
Also on the tech page states "Adaptive Sync - Nvidia Gsync" when clearly is using VESA Adaptive Sync and not Gsync module, which means 100% Freesync 1 monitor.

And that's the reason I boycott Dell, because got the NV marketing money to remove any reference of this monitor is FS compatible. Like quite a few others did namely Asus & Acer.
Anti consumer practices shouldn't be rewarded.

Thanks for the clarification. I bought it not expecting it to have FS at all. So FS1 is fine by me. I do completely agree with your point about anti competitive behavior and it's one of the reasons I tend not to buy nVidia if there is a good AMD product available.

 

[Grif955]

So I've had this for a couple of weeks now (Alienware) and I'm liking it more and more as time goes on, it does take a while to get used to coming from 16:9 but not long, especially once you start playing some games on it, awsomesauce oh yes, lovin it!

As soon as it arrives you can see the quality and attention to detail just by the design of the box! The stand is also excellent and looks lovely, I was going to put it on an arm but can't quite bring myself to not use the stand so had to rearrange my desk.

Colour out if the box is very good but I will be calibrating it soon anyway, I just wanted to get some hours on it before I did. No back light bleed, very mild IPS glow in a couple of the corners out of the box which comes at 75% brightness, better than most monitors that tend to come at max brightness, but is still too bright unless your using it in a very bright office type environment. I've dialled mine down to 45% at which point the IPS glow has disappeared and I expect it will be about that or even less when I calibrate it.

So far very pleased with it!

 

[Deletesystem32]

Just bought one of these (AW3420DW) seeing as Dell extended their BF deal and got £65 cashback through TopCashback so £920 total which is still insane to be fair, better be good . Anyway, chap I had a text chat with confirmed adaptive sync would work with my 5700xt nitro+ and the fact that Freesync is showing as on in Radeon Settings for Hades would suggest that it does. My current monitor is not freesync and Radeon Settings say 'Not Supported'. Weather it's as good as full on Freesync or Gsync remains to be seen, best test would probably be to load up a fast paced shooter and try the same section of the game with Freesync on and off in the settings. Just reread your post Hades and see you've already done that, maybe it need to be a more demanding game?

Did your cashback track, noticed on cashback sites, says cashback wont be paid if using discount code other than what topcashback say.

 

[eggcup]

So I've had this for a couple of weeks now (Alienware) and I'm liking it more and more as time goes on, it does take a while to get used to coming from 16:9 but not long, especially once you start playing some games on it, awsomesauce oh yes, lovin it!

As soon as it arrives you can see the quality and attention to detail just by the design of the box! The stand is also excellent and looks lovely, I was going to put it on an arm but can't quite bring myself to not use the stand so had to rearrange my desk.

Colour out if the box is very good but I will be calibrating it soon anyway, I just wanted to get some hours on it before I did. No back light bleed, very mild IPS glow in a couple of the corners out of the box which comes at 75% brightness, better than most monitors that tend to come at max brightness, but is still too bright unless your using it in a very bright office type environment. I've dialled mine down to 45% at which point the IPS glow has disappeared and I expect it will be about that or even less when I calibrate it.

So far very pleased with it!

What brightness are you going for within your calibration tool ?

 

[B0M8ER]

Anyone settled on a response time yet with the AW3420DW?

Im running mine on Super fast, seems to perform well.

 

[stevogums]

Can i ask were you all purchased the alienware from can find it for £999 on currys website .
Was looking to find monitor to pair with new i7 5700XT system i've just built and with the delays on the LG GL850 thought id up my budget and seems the alienware fits the specs i want albeit being double the price.
Whats best place for to source one as im thinking Currys price is ok with some cashback .
cheers