Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA good choice for Ultrawide Gaming
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020
As you would guess from my attached pictures I like having a lot of monitors. I have a 3440x1440 Ultrawide (100Hz), 3840x2160 4K (100Hz) , 1920x1080 (200Hz), and this Acer Predator Z35 2560x1080 (200Hz + Gsync) which was the most recent added to my collection.
Connected to these monitors is a RTX 2080 TI FE. This graphics card is more than capable of playing games on any of these monitors on Ultra settings. However, I tend want to 'Have my Cake and Eat it Too'. The problem with playing games on either my 3440x1440 Ultrawide or 4K monitor is that while it looks incredible on Ultra Settings I am not able to get the super high refresh rates to boost my ego. Its just a lot of pixels for a GPU to have to fill.
Playing on the 1920x1080 monitor does get me the high FPS numbers in games but after playing on Ultrawide screens switching back to a squarish shaped screen just felt cramped and even on ultra settings it simply didn't look as good to me. Also @ 1920x1080 I found myself getting bottlenecked at the CPU level as GPU the needs of the game just wasn't utilizing the GPU.
Then came the Acer Predator Z35. For me this was perfect medium as it gives me a 21:9 Ultrawide screen resolution and with the higher pixel count @ 2560x1080 to make better use of my GPU. Games like Apex Legends, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Battlefield 5, Division 2, Call of Duty, etc.. on my 3440x1440 monitor I would get anywhere between 90-130 FPS averages.
On the Acer Predator Z35 @ 2560x1080 most games would land me anywhere between 190-250 FPS.
Natively I think this monitor runs at 144Hz but if you connect it to your GPU using a Display Port cable it can support 200Hz refresh. This monitor also happens to be the first one I've owned with GSYNC. When it's enabled the game screens when moving around is buttery smooth. The same games on my other monitors even with the support for higher refresh rates I could still notice tearing or stuttering here and there.
NOTE: GSYNC seems to work best when the screen FPS is just shy of its limit. In my case where the Acer Predator is set for 200Hz if leave my FPS uncapped and it goes over 200Hz GSYNC is not used or turned on.
So to make sure it always kicks in you would want to set a FPS limit or cap either within the game your playing (if supported) or through your GPU control panel. I'm on NVIDIA so I used the NVIDIA Control Panel to set a global FPS Cap/Limit @ 197 Hz which prevents any game from going higher than 197 which then mean GSYNC will always stay active.
I do not think I can post links in my review so I would suggest doing a google search for "How to setup Gsync" there are some really good articles and sites that explain the reasons and process for certain settings.
PROs:
1. Good balance between real estate (ultrawide) and not as demanding pixel count (ie NOT 4k) so its a lot easier to get high/ultra quality settings and high FPS numbers
2. Monitor is huge
3. Can overclock to 200Hz
4. GSYNC Support
5. Watching movies in ultrawide fills entire screen (no black bars on either top/bottom of screen)
CONS:
1. The lack of HDR support is kind of a bummer but fortunately I primarily use this monitor for gaming of which most of them are fast paced. If I'm looking to play something the looks pretty I usually end up playing it on either the 4K or 3440x1440.
2. The Ultrawide 21:9 is a bit of wonky resolution for anything outside of ultrawide gaming and watching movies. General website browsing is ok however when watching videos or movies recorded in standard 16:9 aspect ratio like most videos on Youtube or TV shows (Netflix, hulu, etc..) you will have black bars on the sides of the video.
The black bars on the side may not be an issue for some or most. For me visually I find it annoying so I tend to watch NON-Ultrawide content on my 1920x1080 (16:9) monitor. If its possible I would definitely recommend this more in a dual monitor setup.
3. Monitor is huge. I added this same thing in the PRO's section as having a giant screen is always awesome however make sure you have the room for it on your desk.
4. Monitor is heavy. I think its around 28lbs (12.7kg) so most common desktop monitor mounts wont support it.
Overall this is my go to for gaming. I am very happy with this purchase. Some day if I ever get my hands on an RTX 3090 i may end up switching my gaming to the 3440x1440 primarily but that day is still a ways off :)