Cooler Master GM-GM34-CWQ2 21:9 Monitor Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Cooler Master GM34-CWQ2 34″ Quantum Dot VA Curved Gaming Monitor is available already from Scan for just £379.99, which I think is a pretty fantastic price given the overall size, features and quality of the display. Flagship ultrawide monitors can still cost £1000+ for mini-LED and OLED models, but honestly, the returns on the extra investment are pretty small given how good this monitor is for a fraction of that price.

Overview

When it comes to quality, Cooler Master has kept things realistic while focusing on all the important aspects as appropriate. The casing is relatively bland plastic with a printed logo on it. There’s no trick RGB thrills, there isn’t a super-fancy stand made from aluminium or anything like that, but honestly, having used this monitor daily for some time now, I’m happy to say that in a dim room, the monitor blends into the gloom and the only thing I ever see if the panel, and it’s a stunning panel at that.

The brightness is excellent, and I never found the need to push it was 40/100 on the slider, and at 100% it’s dazzlingly bright at nearly 500 nits, making it a bit of a light cannon for counteracting bright rooms and sunny days. Like most VA edge-lit panels, the HDR performance is hit-and-miss, and the HDR400 rating tells you as much. The colours look amazing in games like Horizon, but it lacks detail in dark scenes and bright areas in night scenes can lead to a pretty grey image overall, so I suggest sticking with SDR for this monitor.

That being said, with a striking contrast ratio over 4000:1, great black levels (in SDR), high peak brightness, and colours that are vibrant, accurate and colour a large section of the AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 colour scales, you will be very happy with what you get from it. Plus, VA panels respond really well, and it does not suffer from the ghosting or smudging from fast-moving objects either, which is great.

At 165 Hz using the stock settings, it’s fast, but you can just as easily set it to 180Hz (OC) to push it a little harder, and since I’ve used it pretty much exclusively at 180 Hz, I can’t see that there’s any negative effects from doing this. The panel supports FreeSync Premium, and as I’ve been running it on an RTX 4090 with G-Sync, again, I’ve had no problems with screen tearing, flickering or dropped frames, it just works great right out of the box.

Should I Buy One?

For those who need more desktop space for productivity or more immersion for their gaming, the Cooler Master GM34-CWQ2 ticks both boxes. It’s great to work on, and watch movies with, and with its wickedly fast refresh rate and ultrawide aspect ratio, it’s a powerhouse for gamers too, and at under £400, it’s hard to beat. For me, this is the perfect monitor without having to spend £1000 for something more extreme, and I strongly recommend it as one of the best monitors of 2023/2024.