MSI MPG ARTYMIS 343CQR Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor Review

How Much Does it Cost?

Let’s not beat around the bush here, the MSI MPG ARTYMIS 343CQR Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor is far from cheap. However, at £899.00, you are getting an impressive suite of hardware and technologies for your investment. Not only that, but I recall reviewing monitors similar to this just a couple of years ago, and you would have been spending £2000 to get something broadly similar. While I don’t expect the price to become “cheap”, it’s still good to see things have cooled down to a more attainable level. Perhaps due to the price, but I must say it’s nice to wrap up a review and see that the product is in stock, given the current global climate.

Overview

MSI is one of the biggest and the best when it comes to high-end gaming hardware. As you can likely tell at this point, their latest gaming monitor is no exception to that either. The MSI MPG ARTYMIS 343CQR is easily one of the best and one of the coolest monitors I’ve reviewed, and that’s hardly surprising given the hardware it features. The high-end monitor market is very competitive, and the ARTYMIS can certainly compete with anything else in this price range.

Performance

There’s no doubt that ultra-wide displays are great for both work and gaming. Having three browser windows comfortably open is nice, with one front and centre and two on either side; I also find it great for the super-wide spreadsheets we use for graphics card testing.

However, there’s an incredible number of supporting titles out there now when it comes to ultrawide gaming. Everything from Stardew Valley to Elder Scrolls Online will work on an ultrawide display, filling your vision with a vast amount of information. Doing a PVP raid in ESO is awesome, just pull the camera back and you have a distinct advantage with how much more you can see.

Calibration

My calibration tool said the colours were a little rich on this monitor, and honestly, that’s not a bad thing. Sure, anything under 3 Delta-E is ideal for professional editing monitors, but on this monitor, they have a little more “pop” to them. What really struck me was the contrast ratio, blacks are really deep, and there’s no torching or haloing from the backlight. In HDR more, 400-500nits feels like plenty when you’re sat up close too.

The full calibration took the colour accuracy up to 4/5 points vs 3.5/5 I had on gaming and movie modes. However, I’d argue that the default settings were better as they were more uniformly calibrated result, rather than just shooting for each colour to be closer to Delta-E.

Personally, I think you’ll do just fine dropping the contrast and brightness down a bit to suit your needs, even the Windows calibration tool will do just fine, also turning on the Warm 1 setting in the OSD, and you’ll have some pretty desirable results with that.

Plus, there’s a suite of cool MSI software features like crosshairs, zoom, timers, mobile projector and more. I’m sure many users will love them; I think they’re a bit gimmicky, but they certainly have their uses.

Should I Buy One?

This monitor is truly stunning. If you want a monitor that has a little bit of everything for under £1000, this will be hard to beat. Low response times, high-refresh rates, a stunning looking ultra-wide 3440×1440 panel, free-sync, and so much more beyond.