Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ review

It’s uncommon to come back away from testing a product feeling annoyed, however that’s precisely how I really feel following my time with the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ curved gaming monitor. This isn’t a foul gaming monitor, removed from it, however maybe I anticipated extra and simply after I felt like there have been moments when it could stay as much as the potential, it could quickly slip away as soon as once more. 

Whereas it could be arduous to discover a case for calling the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ one of many best gaming monitors round, it’s a superb instance of a curved show obtainable for an affordable worth. Thermaltake can take delight in that it produced a monitor that, on paper, was far behind different fashions I used to be testing on the identical time, however nonetheless pushed them when it comes to efficiency, ultimately falling brief on that remaining layer of high quality.

Execs

• AMD FreeSync/Nvidia G-Sync appropriate
• Skinny bezel maximizes display actual property

Cons

• Curvature inflicting distortion when not head-on with the show
• Coloration gamut might be higher
• I/O placement
• Occasional blurring regardless of response time

Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ options

The Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ is a QHD (2650×1440) curved monitor with a VA panel and 165Hz refresh price. This output is barely doable by way of the DisplayPort, with the HDMI 2.0 ports able to 144Hz most. 

It has a 90% DCI-P3 colour gamut, which is behind many mid-to-top-tier screens. There may be an anti-glare panel to make sure that direct mild disruption is restricted.

The Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ is flexible with its swivel and pivot capabilities, however you gained’t have as a lot freedom to vary its orientation fully.

There are LED lights on the rear, surrounding the purpose of contact the place the stand connects to the show. It additionally has a hidden I/O courtesy of a cable cowl that simply slides on and off.

Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ design

The Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ had me with its easy design, however the longer I spent with it, the extra it got here to bug me. A difficulty I simply couldn’t recover from was the I/O placement and the duvet it comes with. Cables must be awkwardly angled to slot in such a good area and trailing them by the indent to interchange the duvet is a nightmare, particularly when you have greater than two cables in at anybody time. 

These ridge I/Os are a ache at one of the best of instances, so this design alternative from Thermaltake left me exasperated. Even as soon as a cable was in, messing round with the wiring to feed it by correctly would normally jiggle the connection and disconnect it. This was a relentless battle that would have simply been averted.

In higher information, the RGB placement on the again of the monitor is a pleasant addition however virtually one thing that you just’ll by no means actually take note of except you’re gaming in fairly a darkish area. 

Props must be given for the skinny bezel, which helps the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ really feel grander in scale than the usual 31.5-inch show. The 1000R curve display is a pleasant contact, however suffers from the identical viewing angle points as many others, in that as quickly as you progress round, the picture high quality plummets.

Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ efficiency

The Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ handed all of my preliminary colour high quality, textual content readability, gamma, and brightness testing with no main faults discovered. Extra vital was the way it carried out when gaming and I at all times wish to take a collection of video games to check. Within the case of the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ, I used Doom Everlasting, Warzone 2, and Resident Evil 2.

In all of those video games, the PCGN testing rig I exploit is able to hitting greater than 165 fps, which means I may push the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ to its 165Hz restrict. I used to be fairly pleased with the general efficiency nevertheless it at all times felt like a bit of one thing was lacking. I believe this largely comes from having examined just a few very comparable screens alongside it, they usually all outshone it within the colour vary, accuracy, and brightness, and a few of them had been focused as a finances possibility.

There could be noticeable moments in gameplay the place the picture would turn into a bit of distorted as colours settled. The brightness was sometimes by no means a difficulty, with 400 nits and a 3000:1 contract ratio to again this up.

It must be famous that the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ is usually marketed as a 1ms GtG (gray to gray) show, however its typical GtG response time is 4ms, which may be fairly noticeable with sure scene adjustments and in ultra-fast gameplay like Doom. The MPRT (movement image response time) is performing on the typical 1ms.

Whereas I can admire the MPRT inclusion, it’s a extra subjective determine, given how a person could react to sure motions that occur on display. GtG is goal and determines how lengthy it takes for a pixel to vary from one gray worth to a different. In brief, the GtG typical response time being fairly far behind here’s a far greater deal than having a 1ms MPRT response time.

I additionally attached an Xbox Collection S to make sure there was no concern with console efficiency and I’m blissful to report it labored completely, as you’ll count on given each AMD FreeSync Premium and G-Sync compatibility is included. 

Do you have to purchase the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ?

As an outright alternative, I wouldn’t advocate the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ at its present RRP of $309.99 / £349.90. There are far too many screens of higher high quality that sit at an analogous worth level. 

In the end, I’d advocate the MSI MAG 32CQRF QD forward of this, as it may be discovered for a really comparable worth – typically cheaper in the fitting locations – and it has a stronger efficiency, notably on the colour vary and accuracy. 

Verdict

In the end the Thermaltake TGM-V32CQ is a superb curved gaming monitor that comes from a dependable model with a pedigree in different part markets.

Its efficiency is only a step behind the opposite mid-tier screens we’ve examined not too long ago, and a weird design alternative on the I/O left me annoyed with a monitor that I wished to like, however now simply admire for what it’s.