Thermaltake TGM-V32 32″ Quad HD 170Hz Monitor Review

Thermaltake is a new player in the monitor market. Still, with the likes of Gigabyte, MSI, Cooler Master and quite a few others playing in the display market, and Thermaltake being one of the biggest PC gaming brands around, it certainly seems like a natural evolution for their brand. Their new monitor focuses on PC gaming, so it ticks all the right boxes for most PC users. It features a 2560x1440 resolution on a large 32" panel, with a 1000R curve (a very mild curve), and a fast 170Hz refresh rate with a 1ms response time (MPRT). If that's not enough, you also get G-Sync and FreeSync support, HDR, and excellent colour reproduction right out of the box. Of course, that is a good feature set, but it's fair to say it's on par with rival offerings too, a sort of sweet spot that gives you lots of gaming-friendly features without costing too much money. So, with that in mind, let's just get on with the testing and see what it's like to use in the real world. Key Features 32 inch WQHD (2560 x 1440) curve monitor with 1000R curvature, 170Hz rapid refresh rate and 1ms response time (MPRT) G-Sync compatible and FreeSync Premium technology delivers a tear-free gaming experience that is smoother than ever Compatible with HDR high dynamic range with 400 nits brightness and DCI-P3 90% colour gamut for brightness and colour levels that exceed the capabilities of ordinary monitors Technical Specifications: Panel Type: Curved VA Refresh Rate: 170Hz Response Speed: 1ms Synchronization: NVIDIA G-Sync Compatible, AMD FreeSync Premium Additional Features: Ultra Shadow Boost, Flicker-Free, Ultra-Low Blue Light Display Attributes: Brightness: 400nit Color Gamut: 90% DCI-P3 Contrast Ratio: 3,000:1 Display Color: 1.07 billion colors Viewing Angle: 178° (horizontal/vertical) Connectivity: HDMI 2.0 x 2 DisplayPort 1.4 x 1 Audio Output x 1 Dimensions and Weight: Width: 704.6mm Depth: 262.5mm Height: 588.9mm Weight: 7.5kg A Closer Look Thermaltake has played it pretty safe here, with an exterior design that's pretty basic and understated. I would border on the line of saying it looked cheap, but that's not really true, it's just pleasantly bland. Gaming monitors with funky stands are cool, but sometimes they can look distracting too, so I actually appreciate this toned-down and more office-friendly aesthetic. There are five buttons on the bottom of the frame for the OSD, pretty basic really, and I would have preferred a control stick on the back of the panel as they're much easier to use. Similar to the button indicators the Thermaltake logo is simply printed onto the middle of the frame. The panel is quite large at 32", and while not razer thin like some OLEDs, it's definitely not too bulky either, which bodes well for those wanting to directly mount it to a wall or have limited desktop space in general. The panel looks great though, with a good anti-glare matte finish, and that 1000R curve just brings in the edges a little bit, which helps a lot on these larger panels. The stand is good, offering a good amount of ergonomic adjustment. Weirdly, it uhm, rotates a bit. It doesn't go to full portrait mode, but if you like to sit with your head at a jaunty angle, it can go this far... for some reason. There's a reasonable amount of left and right rotation, again not a huge amount, but plenty to tilt it away from the sun shining through the window or to turn to the person next to you to show them some dank memes. At the back, it's a really understated design here too, with a very clean back panel. However, that glossy oval in the middle is actually packing in some RGB lighting if you want to throw some colour out into the room. There's a cable pass-through built into the stand, so display and power cables should be easy to control. Much like the Thermaltake logo on the front, the TT logo is simply printed onto the plastics at the back. The back cover hides all the ports, and under it, you'll find a pair of HDMI and a single DisplayPort on one side. Then a simple power connector on the other side, bonus that it doesn't require an external power brick. Performance Powered up, the monitor looks great, with excellent colours right out of the box, and being 32" with a 2560x1440 resolution, the image is large and clear. The panel is nice and bright, and again, the out-of-the-box calibration looks good, with very clean-looking white and good black levels, with accurate colours that make it a pleasure to use for my daily work, content consumption and editing work. It's not a professional monitor, but it's certainly accurate enough that if you're doing some photo and editing work it's going to be more than up to the job. The same goes for watching content and playing games, the colours are going to look fantastic regardless of what you're doing. The HDR support is decent too, these edge-lit panels can be hit and miss, but the extended colour range offered by its DCI-P3 support does look great, even if an SDR compressed photo makes it look a bit potato, it's pretty decent in real life. And movies playback great too, with FreeSync and G-Sync, ensuring that native 24FPS movie content plays back with no judder or stuttering issues. The curved panel has good viewing angles too, you can sit off to the side and it still looks the same. More extreme viewing angles hold up well too, the colours looked the same, but at more extreme angles you see more ambient light reflecting on the panel too. Gaming Performance As for gaming, it really is the sum of its parts. FreeSync, G-Sync, 170Hz, 1ms response time... it plays pretty damn fantastic. CS:GO 2, Halo, Valrant and any other shooter I played this week were as much fun as they always are. Hitting 170Hz are 2560x1440 isn't that hard either, with most mid-range GPUs able to push most shooters well enough to take advantage of a monitor such as this. Motion handling is superb, and while there is an overdrive mode and MPRT, I can't say I ever felt they were needed. Of course, if you prefer that boosted feel, it's nice to have the option. Games don't have to be fast-paced to be fun though, and with Flight Sim being so demanding, a large 32" panel is great for flight sim, especially with that gentle curve just giving it a more immersive feel. OSD I'm not a fan of buttons on the front, they're often a pain in the backside to navigate. However, you do get a hot menu when you press a button, allowing you quick access to most key features, or the leftmost button to open the full menu. The main OSD is nicely designed and has a nice black and red gamer vibe to it. I can see the resolution, refresh rate and other features at a glance, and gaming features are on the first menu too. There are full brightness and contrast controls, but hey, that's standard stuff really. You can adjust the colour temperature, and I found standard or warm to be the best options, cool was just far too blue for my taste. There are two gamma options too, the stock is good, but the second setting is closer to our target of 2.2. There are a bunch of profiles to choose from, largely I never find these to be any good on monitors, standard or user are the only ones worth tinkering with. Finally, there are options here for the rear RGB, but since I wall mount my displays, turning it off is the best option, but your needs will vary. Display Analysis The monitor came with a calibration report in the box, saying it was hitting 100% sRGB, 100% AdobeRGB and 95% DCI-P3 using a 7500K white point and 2.2 gamma in AdobeRGB mode. In default mode, the monitor uses sRGB which is best suited for SDR content anyway, and I hit pretty close to the specs even in that mode. The stock gamma curve is close, coming in at 2.1, and the second mode closer to 2.2, but the difference is pretty minimal to the eye. The grey ramp is very consistent, but a little on the cool side at 7600-7800K, but this is easily brought true by setting the monitor to the warm mode, which I think looks better than stock, but can be subjective. The manual said it was factory-calibrated with an average delta-E of 1.51 with the settings previously mentioned, but I actually recorded an average of 0.93 using my own settings of sRGB and warm mode, but honestly, it's hard for the untrained human eye to see much difference below Delta-E 3.0, so honestly, both work rather fantastic, and colours are very accurate. How Much Does it Cost? The Thermaltake TGM-V32 32" Quad HD 170Hz Monitor is available at Scan Computers with an MSRP of £349.99, which is pleasantly surprising given the features and size of the panel, making this a very attainable monitor for those wanting a premium gaming experience that won't break the bank. Now, some cheaper aspects of the monitor keep the cost down, such as the relatively basic ergonomics of the stand, the fairly plain-looking casing, and the simple button UI controls, but if that keeps the cost down without compromising on panel performance, then I'm all for it. Overview There's not really a lot to complain about with this monitor that I haven't already mentioned above, it doesn't so much cut corners are it does keep certain features fairly basic to ensure they can get a killer gaming panel into this price bracket, and they've certainly done that. The panel is VA, and while some will swear by IPS or even OLED, VA is a well-matured platform, and this panel is packed with great features that make it a serious contender. The black levels are great, the peak brightness is good, and even in HDR400 mode, it holds up great for gaming, but black levels can be a little shiny in movies with darker scenery. It is edge-lit but short of getting your head at a significant off-angle, I didn't notice any light bleeding issues outside of HDR mode. The 170Hz refresh rate is plenty fast too, and while I know this will vary for most gamers, anything above 100Hz is plenty for me, so I'd likely just cap my system at 120Hz and save my GPU from having to work harder than I need it to. At 170Hz, you're going to get those response times nice and low though, so if you're a competitive gamer, maxing it out may be best. FreeSync and G-Sync compatibility will ensure there's no screen tearing should you drop below that too, so things always look great regardless. The OSD buttons are basic, but the UI is excellent, with all the major and minor settings you could ask for to calibrate and fine-tune the monitor to your needs and taste. Gaming-friendly features like Overdrive, crosshairs, and various colour profiles are all easily accessed too. What pushes this monitor to the next level is the colour accuracy, covering a high percentage of AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 within impressively low Delta-E, so it's good for colour-sensitive work, but also means that viewing your photos, movies, games and more will look like they're supposed to! Should I Buy One? For Thermaltake to be a new player in the monitor market they have to hit the market with products that are going to grab people's attention and the TGM-V32C hits the mark perfectly, with an appealing price tag, and performance that is going to put a big smile on any PC gamers face. Now, I can't wait to get their other new monitor, the TGMM-I27FQ (27" Fast IPS panel) in for testing and see how that compares!