Cooler Master GM34-CW Ultrawide Monitor Review: Dat Curve Though

In the sea of monitors with plethora of options, it was an interesting sight to behold when Cooler Master announced their very own line of monitors and we got to play with the Cooler Master GM34-CW – the behemoth ultrawide monitor at 34” which steals the show for a good reason and after using it – we realized that this could be a good monitor for the curved ultrawide folks out there.

Clean and Edgy Design

1/4

Every brand has their own design element to make their product standout and carry out the brand identity very well, so that it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. Cooler Master nailed the design element of the GM34-CW with the stand that has the hexagon Cooler Master logo design on it, followed by the purple stealthy looking CM logo on the bottom bezel and the purple accent lighting on the back which give the monitor that Cooler Master identity. The whole monitor is curved and constructed in polycarbonate shell, which means you must be careful when you set it up and the stand is robust, thanks to its full metal construction.

The back of the GM34-CW has a clip lock and latch mechanism to attach the monitor to the stand which I think is a smart execution. But say if you do plan to use a choice of your own Monitor mount with the help of VESA Mount, that’s possible as the monitor comes included with a bracket inside of the box for you to take complete advantage of it.

Gaming Centric Features

Do remember it’s a gaming focused monitor as it does have all the bells and whistles of what gamers would need in their system. The panel supports both FreeSync 2 and G-Sync and can hit frames upto 144Hz with 1ms response time. Going up to such a wide display means that the resolution should match to give the best experience you can ask for and 1080p doesn’t cut it because the pixels will be obvious and ruins the experience.

That said, CM went for a 1440p Panel to step up the panel experience for something better overall and for what its worth, it does great justice. As for the ports, the monitor offers more than enough for you to hook up anything you want: It could be your laptop, PC, Nintendo Switch, XBOX or even your PlayStation.

Phenomenal Panel and Experience

Personally, coming from a flat 27” inch monitor, just getting into the whole ultrawide experience is like entering totally different realm with so much real estate in front of me in a wider form factor – something that I am most definitely not used to. But the very fact that, in front of me – what could have been two monitors placed side by side is just done by one monitor and that I loved that idea better because its one extra stand less on the table, none of that weird black bezels seen when stacking displays side by side and truly little plugs occupied in my extension. I know it may sound like a little sacrifice to make but it’s those little things that matters for a better experience down the line.

Now the thing is that this isn’t a flat monitor and its curved, so you will notice that obvious arch but not as aggressive as the Samsung Odyssey but a much nicer curve – the kind that doesn’t look obtrusive. Right after setting up the monitor, I did two things – watch some of my favorite 21:9 aspect ratio music video and play Doom Eternal, Division 2 in that glorious display. For the most part, I can say it was an enjoyable experience right down to the nitty gritty details in graphics. The support for HDR did take things up a notch in producing some nice balanced colors and exposure in the game environments like Doom Eternal for instance, which supports HDR Mode immediately picked up that the monitor supports it and allowed me to toggle and adjust the exposure, the color science such as contrast and dynamic balance in areas where both well-lit up spots and darker areas are shown clearly because this is what HDR does, bringing better Dynamic range in games for better immersive-ness. For those who know Doom, know that the game is a fast-paced hack-and-slash style concept with some amazing graphics to blow your mind – and it sure as hell (pun intended) made a better experience playing as the Doom Slayer.

Drawback: Lack of USB I/O on Monitor

The Cooler Master GM34-CW does have a little let down and it depends on how you see it and what kind of machine you are using to run this Monitor. In my case, I use the ASUS ROG Strix Scar GL703 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070. Knowing that laptops do have limited I/O baked into it, one thing I always look out for is the capability to expand the USB ports with the help of the built-in ports on the monitor. Sadly, if you are using or have a similar setup like mine – the GM34-CW falls short as there are no USB ports on the monitor and it only has Video Inputs to run all your devices.

Curve Monitor isn’t everyone’s Cup of Tea

Curved monitors are niche products and while it does an astounding job in having the best real estate for multiple tabs on screen and multitask, not to forget gaming on this is so cool to a point that I want one – if you are a content creator, the curved panel adds a slight inconvenience especially when you do editing work. The panel is great with good color accuracy and all but in this case the curve is what puts a questionable work – because there’s no way to see if the line you make on editing software, or use functions like straightening on Lightroom, to say if its straight or its curved. This is where I resorted to my 27” Flat panel for editing purposes.

Conclusion

If you are in the market for a monitor that has all the bells and whistles you expect from a gaming monitor but in that glorious Ultrawide form factor – I am genuinely surprised and happy to say that I am recommending you to get this Cooler Master GM34-CW – though it may have a steep price tag but for what it’s worth, it’s one of the few ultrawide monitors with this specs that actually has a good price to performance value proposition. But if you do plan to get this ultrawide monitor for tasks that falls more into the editing realm, then sadly you will have to resort to other option but if the curve doesn’t bother you, go for the GM34-CW. The lack of I/O is a small dealbreaker and you’d eventually forget about it while playing your favorite title.

We at The Adventures of Vesper give the Cooler Master GM34-CW a Gold award for making a good first attempt monitor for the market.

Special thanks to the lovely folks at Cooler Master for gracing us with the GM34-CW for this review to happen.