Oh, so you want a ginourmous, curved gaming monitor with G-Sync, overclocking, and every other bell and whistle you can imagine? You're in luck with the new Predator X34 from the folks at Acer. But I digress, as this box arrived on our porch, my nerd excitement was peaked but controlled as to be honest, a lot of Ultrawide monitors have left me cold. Don't get me wrong, ANY 34" Ultrawide gaming is experience is a good one, but usually comes with some major caveats.
First off, the Predator X34 comes in a very nice and attractive package over and is solid, while still being mostly assembled right out of the box. It comes with everything you need to get rocking including all the cables and accessories to get started in a few minutes flat. Trust me, you are going to want to go with DisplayPort as it's the only interface that will handle the high resolutions and refresh rates this beast can handle. Overall, this is a very well designed package, without going overboard on cheesy or overly flashy design.
Design and Performance
Oh Lordy, I am blown away with seeing how beautiful these new Predator series of monitors are and the X34 does not disappoint. With an overall stunning design of black with striking accents of red, this is one gorgeous display in the aesthetic department. Also, the X34 is massive in screen real estate without being overly cumbersome or clunky. It's the perfect match of elegance and sheer bad-arsery. That's right, I said bad-arsery. The menu buttons on the front are easily accessible and navigating the menus is slick and easy, especially for all the settings this beast contains! Overclocking to 100hz? No problem. Gorgeous colors out of the box the but the ability to tweak it endless? Check. This is a stellar display in every regard of design and functionality and I couldn't be more pleased.
Ok, ok. It's pretty. It's easy to tweak but the real question: How does it perform? I don't want to sound cliché here, but I'll jump straight to the point as I can't contain my geek excitement for much longer: The Acer Predator X34 is the best performing, most versatile gaming display on the market. Not only does the desktop experience benefit from the 3440x1440 resolution with oodles of real estate, playing Star Wars Battlefront in 3440x1400 at 100hz is a gamer's dream. This is practically a unicorn sighting in the world of Ultrawide monitors. Colors were vibrant, blacks are inky, and most importantly, the X34 is so responsive, I honestly felt like my FPS scores benefited substantially from playing on it. Besides a bit of back light bleed on the far corners, this display is near perfect and will practically change your gaming life.
Value and Conclusion
Well, if you can't tell by now, I'll say it again: This is the best gaming monitor I've used since my Sony Trintron 22" CRT. Wait.. what?! That's right. Until now, I haven't felt a display this large, this feature right but most importantly, this fast and responsive as I have since the CRT days. Luckily, you don't have to lug around an 80 pound beast to get that type of lightning fast response time, instead you get the whole enchilada. This monitor won't be cheap when it launches in the USA in mid-December, but oh how I promise you dear readers, it is worth every penny.
Final Verdict
Lightning-fast, uber responsive and sexy in every regard, the Acer X34 is the Ferrari of gaming displays. With near perfect design lying in every crevice, the 100hz feature combined with G-Sync just sweetens the pot of whole package. I can't say enough how much I love this display except with a perfect score, which it deserves and then some.
