Thoughts on Acer XR341CK bmijpph

[guskline]

Christmas has come and gone and I received a number of newegg gift cards from wife, children and friends. (Thank you all!)

My monitor for my 4790k rig below is an Achieva Shimian 27" 2560 x 1440.

I'm running 2 WC R9 290 Sapphire Tri-Xs in CF and wanted input from anyone who might own the new Acer Ultra wide XR341CK bmijpph.

I'm toying with idea of getting this new ultra wide.

There have been negative comments on flicker issue but overall seems to be a great freesync ultra wide gaming monitor.

Your thoughts?:thumbsup: or :thumbsdown:

 

[4K_shmoorK]

Christmas has come and gone and I received a number of newegg gift cards from wife, children and friends. (Thank you all!)

My monitor for my 4790k rig below is an Achieva Shimian 27" 2560 x 1440.

I'm running 2 WC R9 290 Sapphire Tri-Xs in CF and wanted input from anyone who might own the new Acer Ultra wide XR341CK bmijpph.

I'm toying with idea of getting this new ultra wide.

There have been negative comments on flicker issue but overall seems to be a great freesync ultra wide gaming monitor.

Your thoughts?:thumbsup: or :thumbsdown:

Go for it, its hard to say whether or not the panel you receive will satisfy your expectations. Everyone has different tastes.

If you are looking for the best overall spec'd monitor for the money, the 341CK is it. Besides if the monitor has issues, you can always return it for a refund/replacement.

:thumbsup: and enjoy.

 

[moonbogg]

I'd go for it.

 

[guskline]

Thanks for the input. I'll decide by mid January.

 

[guskline]

I'm going to hold off. The price jumped over $100!

 

[EXCellR8]

The price may come down once the 342CK is released, but it's hard to say which of the two will ultimately be more popular. There's a couple of threads on the differences I believe.

I ordered a 341 and it still hasn't arrived. But I look forward to using it for sure.

 

[guskline]

EXCellR8, thank you for your response. Are you going to use it on your R9 290X rig?

 

[EXCellR8]

Yes, but my intel/nvidia build will be connected to it as well. i realize i won't be able to use g-sync but i do 90% of my gaming on the AMD machine anyway; didn't want to pay extra for the predator model.

 

[EXCellR8]

So I got the monitor yesterday and it's mega big... actually too big for my desk so I needed to design an extension for the shelf part. Not a huge deal but for anyone who's considering this monitor or the predator the stand definitely uses up some space.

It's like 22" from tip to tip of the front two legs and then 14" back to the main support. My desk only had 10" of shelf space

 

[guskline]

EXCellR8, thank you for the input.

Newegg had a big sale on the Dell U3415W so I jumped on that instead. It lacks the freesync aspect and though some have OCed it to 75Mhz it is only 60 MHz refresh rate.

It got pretty good reviews despite lacking the "sex appeal" of the Acer 341CK. Plus at @$690 it is $300 less so I made the jump.

I intend to use it with my 5960X rig which has the GTX980TI and move the BenQ BL3200PT to the 4790k rig with dual R9-290s.

I might sell the Achieva Shimian 27"

 

[EXCellR8]

The 341ck worked perfect with my GTX 980 and windows 10 via HDMI. Hooked up my AMD machine to it and... DISASTER. I get 30hz, artifacts and the screen cuts out randomly every few seconds. Tried new drivers... even worse. Hopefully DP works better but I had to order a longer cable because the included one is a joke. Ugh, I should have figured the 290X wasn't gonna like the monitor.

EDIT: so duh, hdmi 2.0 is required for 60hz... 980 has it, 290 doesn't. oops

 

[Termie]

Guskline, congrats on the new monitor! How do you like it?

ExCellR8, yes, Display port is what you'll need to use, but be careful. Acer includes that short cable because it can handle the bandwidth. If you buy a cheap longer cable, it's almost guaranteed not to work. Do yourself a favor and test with Acer's short cable first.

As far as know, Accell is one of the few manufacturers with high bandwidth long DP cables, and they are not $6 for good reason...

 

[guskline]

Termie it is in shipment today. Hopefully I get it by tomorrow and I'll post my first impression. Do I also use the supplied displayport cable?

 

[guskline]

The 341ck worked perfect with my GTX 980 and windows 10 via HDMI. Hooked up my AMD machine to it and... DISASTER. I get 30hz, artifacts and the screen cuts out randomly every few seconds. Tried new drivers... even worse. Hopefully DP works better but I had to order a longer cable because the included one is a joke. Ugh, I should have figured the 290X wasn't gonna like the monitor.

EDIT: so duh, hdmi 2.0 is required for 60hz... 980 has it, 290 doesn't. oops

I guess some good and bad. No doubt the 341ck is cutting edge but too bad about the cable. I'll see what type of cable Dell supplies with the U3415W. Hopefully a good one.

I have already moved the BenQ BL3200PT over to the 4790k/R9 290CF machine. It has DVI input so no problem. Since the 5960x/GTX980TI machine supports HDMI2.0 and displayports I should be ready to go.

How is gameplay on the GTX980 Kingpin?

 

[Termie]

Termie it is in shipment today. Hopefully I get it by tomorrow and I'll post my first impression. Do I also use the supplied displayport cable?

You should actually be able to use HDMI 2.0, although older HDMI cables won't be able to meet that spec. The Dell comes with a high-quality HDMI 2.0 cable, so yes, you can use that.

DisplayPort will also work, and Dell includes a DP cable. This monitor doesn't need quite the same bandwidth as the Acer, so most DP cables should work, in case Dell's isn't long enough (I believe it will be 6ft).

 

[guskline]

Thanks Termie! Just checked FedEx tracking. The monitor is on the truck expected to be delivered today!:thumbsup:

 

[EXCellR8]

Hope you like it.

I ordered a 6ft 4k capable DP 1.2 cable for mine so hopefully it works. I can't even test the short cable because of where the tower is in relation to the monitor. If the cable I ordered doesn't work I'll grab something else.

980KP works great with it though, but I am using an older HDMI cable. Weird. Nobody around here carries the cables I need... it's always a specialty item with me haha

 

[guskline]

Just got it EXCellR8 and it is VERY nice AND Dell supplied long cables. Nice touch. I started a separate thread about my impressions of the U3415W.

Good luck with your Acer.

 

[EXCellR8]

Thanks, turns out I may need it...

Monitor started blacking out randomly on the GTX 980, then returning a few seconds later. Not sure why it's happening but hopefully I can figure it out. This is with HDMI 2.0 however, so maybe the DP 1.2 wont have this problem, though I kind of have a bad feeling. Worst case scenario I gotta RMA which would really bum me out but at $900 that's a bit unacceptable.

 

[Termie]

Thanks, turns out I may need it...

Monitor started blacking out randomly on the GTX 980, then returning a few seconds later. Not sure why it's happening but hopefully I can figure it out. This is with HDMI 2.0 however, so maybe the DP 1.2 wont have this problem, though I kind of have a bad feeling. Worst case scenario I gotta RMA which would really bum me out but at $900 that's a bit unacceptable.

It's the cable.

As I said, there's a reason Acer includes the short DP cable in the box. I'd really recommend repositioning your gear temporarily in order to test it properly with the included cable.

What you're describing was exactly what I dealt with for months on my XB270HU before realizing I was using an old DP cable, rather than Acer's short cable.

 

[guskline]

It's the cable.

As I said, there's a reason Acer includes the short DP cable in the box. I'd really recommend repositioning your gear temporarily in order to test it properly with the included cable.

What you're describing was exactly what I dealt with for months on my XB270HU before realizing I was using an old DP cable, rather than Acer's short cable.

Termie: what recommendation for a new cable? I'm always confused. Is HDMI 2 which I have better, the same or worse than the DP cable?

 

[EXCellR8]

I have to wait until Tuesday before I get the longer high bandwidth DP 1.2 cables. The GTX 980 has mini displayport while the previous GTX 780 had the larger port. Figures. The 290X has the larger port as well but it's down below in the 932 chassis... that i can't really put anywhere else.

I did test out the HDMI cable that came with the monitor and the same thing happened, random blackouts. That cable was sort of short too so I figured it might work better.

 

[guskline]

I have to wait until Tuesday before I get the longer high bandwidth DP 1.2 cables. The GTX 980 has mini displayport while the previous GTX 780 had the larger port. Figures. The 290X has the larger port as well but it's down below in the 932 chassis... that i can't really put anywhere else.

I did test out the HDMI cable that came with the monitor and the same thing happened, random blackouts. That cable was sort of short too so I figured it might work better.

EXCellR8, I don't want to make you feel worse than you already do about the cable problem, but the Dell supplied cables are all long enough and appear to be quality cables. Why the heck would Acer seem to "cheap out" on cable for a truly premium monitor:'(

 

[Termie]

I'd suggest DP whenever possible, because at least its cables are properly rated. The HDMI consortium initially refused to allow "HDMI 2.0" cables, insisting that any cable would work, but this was patently false. It's finally released a new labeling spec for 4K, but that's too little too late. It shouldn't have allowed such an important standard to be ruined by users with old cables thinking their new devices were broken.

The issue with DP is anyone can sell them without verification, and while there are 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 cables, there is also such thing as low quality versions of each, and the best determinant of quality so far is price. Under $10 and it's not likely to work with high refresh rates, and potentially 4k at 60hz.

Best answer: use what's included in the box, because reputable monitor manufacturers will at least test their monitors with their own cables.

 

[EXCellR8]

The 2m long Accell cable I ordered was $19 I believe. If that doesn't work the monitor will be returned. There's just no way I can use that short little cable that was included. Technically, I haven't even paid for the monitor yet so the worst case scenario is I just get something else later. I still have my eyefinity screens until then.