MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR Review: 34″ 3440×1440 165Hz FreeSync UltraWide Curved Gaming Monitor

The MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR is one of the rare ultrawide gaming monitors with a steep 1000R curvature and a wide color gamut.

Here’s what you need to know about it!

Image Quality

Based on a VA panel, the MSI 343CQR delivers a high static contrast ratio of 3,000:1, which results in deep and inky blacks, while its strong 400-nit peak brightness allows it to get more than bright enough to mitigate glare even in well-lit rooms.

Further, it has a wide 92.7% DCI-P3 gamut coverage for more saturated and rich colors. While this means you’ll get some over-saturation (117.8% sRGB gamut volume) when viewing SDR content, it’s not extreme by any means and most users will prefer the added vibrancy.

Alternatively, you can use the sRGB mode in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu to clamp the gamut to ~100% coverage for better accuracy.

Next, the monitor has 178° wide viewing angles, so you won’t notice any degradation in image quality at skewed angles during everyday use.

However, since VA panels suffer from gamma/saturation shifts, they’re not ideal for professional color-critical work. For gaming, content consumption, and basic content creation, this won’t be an issue, though.

The 3440×1440 UQWHD resolution has a high pixel density of 110 PPI (pixels per inch) when displayed on the 34″ viewable screen of the MSI Artymis 343CQR monitor, resulting in plenty of screen space with sharp details and text.

What’s more, the 21:9 ultrawide format provides you with an extended field of view in compatible games, while the movies shot at the ~21:9 aspect ratio are displayed without black borders at the top and bottom of the screen.

Keep in mind that some games don’t support ultrawide resolutions natively, so you’ll need to use mods (if available) for the optimal viewing experience. Luckily, most modern games support the 21:9 aspect ratio (except for some competitive titles, such as StarCraft, Overwatch, and Valorant).

Either way, make sure you check out how your favorite games handle ultrawide monitors before considering buying one.

Moving on, the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR also supports HDR and has VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 certification. With HDR content, you get a boost in peak brightness up to 550-nits for punchier highlights.

Sadly, there’s no full-array local dimming support, which is required for the true HDR viewing experience on LED-backlit displays. Still, thanks to the monitor’s decent peak brightness, contrast ratio and color gamut, some HDR scenes will look better than SDR, but it’s barely a glimpse of proper HDR picture quality.

Performance

When it comes to pixel response time performance, there are three overdrive modes: Normal, Fast and Fastest. To illustrate how these overdrive modes perform, we’re using Blur Busters’ UFO ghosting test.

Both Fast and Fastest modes add noticeable overshoot, so we recommend just sticking with the Normal overdrive mode for the best results. As expected from VA panel displays (not counting in Samsung’s Odyssey G7 and Neo G7/G8/G9 VA models), there’s noticeable smearing behind fast-moving objects in dark scenes.

Some gamers might find the amount of smearing tolerable, and others will find it unbearable, but it should be fine for casual gaming if you’re not too sensitive to this type of visual artifact.

If you’re using VRR (variable refresh rate) and get around 60FPS, some inverse ghosting will be visible. So, the only way to prevent overshoot at low FPS is to disable VRR.

Not using VRR might be necessary anyway due to the VRR brightness flickering that’s common for high refresh rate VA panels.

Not every unit is affected by this issue to the same extent, but it’s usually easy to spot brightness flickering when using VRR with fluctuating frame rates, at the 48FPS LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) threshold, in in-game menus and loading screens.

If you can maintain a steady frame rate in well-optimized games, VRR will work without issues for tear-free gameplay up to 165FPS using compatible AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards.

The MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR also supports MBR (Motion Blur Reduction) technology called ‘MPRT’, which uses backlight strobing to reduce perceived motion blur at the cost of picture brightness.

While MPRT makes fast-moving objects a bit clearer, there’s still visible ghosting and image duplication, but it’s worth trying it out in fast-paced games. Below, you can see how the monitor’s motion blur compares to that of a fast IPS monitor, such as the MSI MAG281URF.

Lastly, the monitor has a flicker-free backlight (unless MPRT is enabled) and there’s an integrated low-blue light filter.

Features

At the rear of the MSI MPG 343CQR, there’s a power button, a macro hotkey and a directional joystick for quick and easy navigation through the OSD menu.

Alternatively, you can use the Gaming OSD App 2.0, which allows you to make OSD-related adjustments in a desktop application using your keyboard and mouse.

Pressing the macro hotkey on the monitor can launch this application once installed too.

Useful gaming features include various picture presets, crosshair overlays, a refresh rate tracker, on-screen timers and Optix Scope (zooms in the area around your crosshair for better precision).

There’s also a feature called Night Vision, which improves visibility in dark scenes by altering the gamma curvature. Using the ‘A.I.’ option, Night Vision can dynamically brighten up dark parts of the image without over-brightening regular scenes.

Other interesting features include Sound Tune (removes background noise from audio), Picture in Picture and Picture by Picture support and Mobile Projector (allows you to display your phone side-by-side in a 16:9 and 5:9 split).

In addition to the standard image settings, such as brightness, contrast, color temperature, input source (including automatic detection), aspect ratio, etc., the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR also has a sharpness option, but no hue/saturation or gamma settings.

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is robust and versatile with up to 100mm height adjustment, +/- 30° swivel, -5°/20° tilt and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility, while the screen has a steep 1000R curvature and a light matte anti-glare coating that prevents reflections without making the image too grainy.

There’s also a mouse bungee, a headset hanger and Mystic Light RGB lighting at the rear of the monitor.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0 ports (limited to 100Hz at 3440×1440), USB-C (DP Alt Mode and 15W Power Delivery), a headphone jack and a dual-USB 3.0 hub (1 upstream + 2 downstream).

Price & Similar Monitors

The MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR price ranges from $450 to $900, which is too expensive.

Around this price range, you can get the Acer XR343CKP with an IPS panel, offering stable VRR performance, faster response time and a wider color gamut, though not as high contrast ratio.

If you want a similar 34″ 3440×1440 VA panel gaming monitor, the AOC CU34G3S offers basically identical specifications as the 343CQR for just ~$350.

Additionally, we don’t think that the aggressive 1000R curvature adds anything meaningful to the viewing experience, so we recommend the MSI MAG342CQR or the KTC H34S18S with a more moderate 1500R screen curvature for ~$300.

Finally, if you want the best ultrawide monitor, we recommend the Dell AW3423DWF for ~$800 – it offers drastically better image quality and performance than the models mentioned so far thanks to its QD-OLED panel.

In case you want an ultrawide monitor with a fast response time and smooth VRR performance, but the XR343CKP is too expensive for you, there’s the Sceptre E345B-QUN168W with a flat-screen IPS panel for $300.

To learn more about monitors and ensure you’re getting the model most suited for your personal preference, visit our comprehensive and always up-to-date best gaming monitor buyer’s guide.

Conclusion

Overall, the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR offers an immersive viewing experience thanks to its VA panel with a high contrast ratio, wide color gamut and ultrawide aspect ratio.

Sadly, its response time and VRR performance are not as good, and there are similar alternatives that offer the same experience at basically half the price.

Specifications

Screen Size	34-inch
Screen Curvature	1000R
Resolution	3440×1440 (UWQHD)
Panel Type	VA
Aspect Ratio	21:9 (UltraWide)
Refresh Rate	165Hz
Response Time	4ms (GtG)
Response Time (Anti Motion Blur)	1ms (MPRT)
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync (48-165Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0, USB-C (DP Alt Mode, 15W PD)
Other Ports	Headphone Jack, 2x USB 3.0
Brightness	400 cd/m²
Brightness (HDR)	550 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	3000:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 92.7% DCI-P3
HDR	DisplayHDR 400
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)