Gaming & Final Thoughts
This is a 144 Hz monitor so as long as your graphics card can support it you can take advantage of the faster refresh rate. You’ll instantly notice a difference if you are moving from say 60 or 75 Hz, even just in Windows. To really see the difference we would suggest checking out the UFO Motion Test and the Video Game Panning Test to really see what the advantages of the higher refresh rate.
We’ve been using this monitor for the past few weeks playing mostly Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The increased refresh rate definitely made playing games, especially Apex Legends more enjoyable. Now I do have to say for fast-paced FPS games the 1500R curve is just a little too much. With the game running fullscreen I would tend to miss things on the edge of the screen. I ended up reverting back to what I typically do on my main 34-inch display, playing the game either windowed or borderless window at 1440p. Then I can have Twitch chat and discord on either side of the game. The 1500R curve is amazing for games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, racing games, MMOs and more. Games where curve really enhances the immersion.
This display does have some gaming-specific features, one is the ability to put a dot or crosshair in the center of the screen. We saw this on this AORUS CV27Q and it for me it does seem to help out a little, but by no means is it going to instantly better at a game. You can use the buttons on the bottom edge of the monitor to cycle through dots and crosshairs.
I am a huge fan of ultrawide displays, for the longest time I was a two display guy, but then I switched over to a 34-inch ultrawide and I’ve never gone back. The UWQHD 3440 x 1440 resolution is perfect and you never have to have any apps magnified in Windows. For the longest time we were really stuck on 75-100 Hz on these type of displays, but it is good to see 144 Hz on such a display. This really makes it a great display for anything. For gamers you have that super-fast refresh rate and if you are playing an MMO or racing game the 1500R curve will give you more immersion. The 34-inch size also makes enjoying media a really great experience. Finally you have with all of the screen real estate so you can be extremely productive on the GM34-CW being able to have multiple windows open at once on a single screen.
Cooler Master has definitely checked a lot of boxes with this monitor, but there were still some things we would have liked that have seen. First the menu system is just clunky. Using the buttons on the front of the monitor is not the best experience. This could be solved by a joystick or adding software to make changes to the monitor. We saw this on both the MSI Optix MPG341CQR and AORUS CV27Q and made changing settings incredibly easy. Of course to have that functionality you would need USB support, another thing this monitor does not have. It would have been nice to see at least a two port USB hub so you could easily connect your keyboard and mouse. Finally while the stand is nice it does not offer any cable routing options, so you are definitely going to see your cables hanging down off the back of the monitor.
At the end of the day you are getting a 34-inch display with a UWQHD 3440 x 1440 resolution, 144 Hz refresh rate, 1500R curve, thin bezels and much more. Being one of Cooler Master’s first displays I think it is a good entry into the segment and I am excited to see what the future of Cooler Master displays will bring. Right now you can pick up the GM34-CW at our favorite online retailer for $799.99. Overall ThinkComputers gives the Cooler Master GM34-CW 34-inch Curved Gaming Monitor an 8 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– 34-inch, UWQHD, 144 Hz
– VA panel with Quantum Dot
– Freesync and G-SYNC compatible
– Stand offers a lot of flexability
– 1500R curve is great for media viewing and immersive games
Cons:
– On-screen menu system is clunky
– No USB ports
– No cable management
