The Acer Predator X34 is about 2 years old now but it continues to still be one of the best ultrawide monitors for those who want gaming and productivity in a single monitor. A big reason is because newer ultrawide seem to be shifting toward VA panels instead of IPS like this one in the Acer X34.
IPS vs VA is a personal preference since they both have their advantages. I still prefer IPS over VA, which is the main reason I still look at these older ultrawide gaming monitors.
The Acer X34 is almost my perfect monitor for that mix of gaming and daily productivity.
It has pretty much all the right specs I'm looking for with support for 100Hz and G-Sync
support for smooth gameplay and a gorgeous 34 inch ultra wide with an IPS display that's perfect
for productivity. But it's not perfect with it's plasticky design and some noticeable coil line
when overclocked. Also it's still quite pricey at around $1300 US dollars. Regardless I still
think it's one of the best monitors available in the market today if you need a single display
for a mix of gaming and daily productivity. Hi I'm David and this is my experience with
the Acer X34 ultra wide monitor. On paper there's a lot to like about this monitor.
For day to day tasks the large 34 inch ultra wide 3440x1440 resolution is my perfect size to
layout a couple applications. And for gaming while there are higher refresh rate panels in the market
if gaming is your main purpose. The Acer is still very noticeably smooth and clear thanks to being
overclockable to 100Hz refresh rate and support for G-Sync if you have an Nvidia graphics card.
But a big reason why the Acer X34 being a couple years old now still continues to be one of the
top gaming ultra wides in the market is because it uses an IPS display. IPS technology isn't
perfect but I specifically prefer IPS displays since they have better viewing angles and don't
shift in color as much compared to VA panels when you move off angle and can even wash out
the corners when viewing dead center on such a large display. Another reason why some people
prefer these IPS displays over VA is due to the slow pixel response with dark backgrounds that
can cause these shadow artifacts during motion in games. But I'll only really notice this if I'm
specifically looking for it and I'm sure this will improve with newer iterations of VA panels.
The trade off though for choosing an IPS panel is the IPS glow that can be seen at night
on dark scenes and keeps it from having good blocks as the VA counterpart.
Also with the Acer X34 you'll need to overclock this panel to 100Hz beyond its native 60Hz
refresh rate. This is super easy to do inside the on screen menu with a couple clicks but there is
a small chance your panel may not go all the way to 100Hz without displaying visual artifacts.
Also another downside I noticed with my monitor when overclocked to 100Hz is that there is a
noticeable coil whine buzz when viewing high contrast pages such as black text on white
background. It's easily drowned out with a little bit of music or reduced when you revert back to
60Hz refresh rate. But in quiet settings it can be annoying if you're sensitive to these kind of
noises. Looking at the physical design of the Acer X34 there are also some things I like and
things I don't. The stand is really well built, feels solid, and looks really nice. It has a good
amount of adjustments for tilt and height with some basic built in cable management. It does
span quite deep and wide measuring 31cm by 58cm so it doesn't fit too well on smaller desks.
But it does support VESA mounting which has always been my preferred option to getting a
monitor positioned just right anyways. I'm not a big fan of the shiny plastic construction on
the back of the display and it's prone to fingerprints as you would imagine. But at least
the front is pretty clean with it's thin frame design minus the large predator logo up front.
The monitor also has built in LEDs along the bottom which can be nice given you can choose
the color, brightness, and how it blinks at night. Although I never really use it in practice.
The built in speakers are ok in a crunch but they aren't the best I've heard
and I would never recommend them over a dedicated pair. It requires an external
power brick which is some extra cable management to worry about. And port selection on the back is
a little limited with just one HDMI and one DisplayPort connector that's required for G-Sync
support and overclocking to 100Hz refresh rate. Overall the Acer X34 is far from the perfect
monitor. I don't like the glossy black design, the coil whine gets annoying sometimes,
and it's still quite pricey given how old it is. But at that price premium I still think you're
getting one of the best monitors in the market for both gaming and productivity in a single display.
Especially if you're like me and prefer an IPS over a VA panel for great colors,
viewing angles, and pixel response. And while there are other IPS ultrawides in the market
that are cheaper if you just need it for productivity. For gaming the 100Hz refresh rate
and G-Sync support really improves the gaming experience on faster paced titles. So until
someone comes out with a 144Hz OLED HDR ultrawide monitor, the Acer X34 still continues to be one
of my top picks to beat. But hope you guys enjoyed this one. You know what to do and I'll see you in
the next video.
