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In the past, gaming consoles and computer were separated by a large gap. You bought a console if you wanted something easy. The console would hook up to your TV’s antenna input or composite input. When HDMI came out, consoles switched to using it, but an Xbox or PlayStation still couldn’t handle graphics as well as a PC built for gaming.
PC gamers had QHD and UHD resolutions with Adaptive Sync and speeds of 144 Hz, while console gamers were stuck with FHD and a fixed 60 Hz. Today, that split is just a small crack. The newest Xbox and Playstation have Ultra HD resolution, 120 Hz, and FreeSync. They are as good as a mid-range gaming PC and still have the convenience of being able to plug in and play games. So it makes sense that gamers might want to use a traditional computer monitor instead of their fixed 60 Hz flat-panel TV.
And wouldn’t it be cool to use a KVM feature to connect a PC to the same monitor? This vision is realized by MSI’s latest Ultra HD display, the MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD Xbox Edition, which is one of the best 4K gaming monitors. It works the same as the MPG321UR-QD, which we reviewed at the end of last year, but is now certified to work with the Xbox Series X.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD review: Design and Features
Overall, the Optix MPG 32 QD is a nice monitor, but most of the action is in the back. When you look at the monitor from the front, it doesn’t look any better than the Gigabyte M32U. It’s just a black rectangle. But MSI put a lot of thought into the monitor’s back. Even for a gaming monitor, it has a nice look.
It has angled strips on the back that give a hint that the lighting can be changed and a brushed surface. The details are also great. The control stick and MSI shield are both gold, and “designed and engineered by MSI” is written on the left side of the screen. Even though you won’t be able to see it, we like that MSI took the time to make the back of the screen look nice, even though you won’t be able to see it. Size and weight are not a big deal.
The Optix MPG 32 QD is huge, and even with a curve, a 32-inch 16:9 screen feels too big to use. But instead of two legs, the stand is a flat slab, which frees up some desk space. You can tilt, swivel, and change the height of the stand so that it fits your needs. Right out of the box, the adjustment points were a little stiff, but that’s not a big deal. You can get this gaming monitor from its official website.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD review: Ports and controls
The Acer Predator X28, the Optix MPG 32 QD has four USB ports near the ports on the bottom of the monitor and two on the side. Two of the ports are USB 3.2 Gen 1, while the other four are USB 2.0. To get all six of them to work, you’ll need two separate USB-B cables. On the side of the monitor, next to the USB ports, MSI has also put a microphone jack and a headphone jack.
We like that there are so many USB ports, but MSI only gives you one USB-B cable to connect everything. The OSD works well when you only use the joystick to move around it. There are a lot of pre-made settings for both gaming and making content. The gaming presets don’t look very good. The frames-per-second preset cuts off the blacks, and the Racing preset makes the screen look too bright.
We left it at the default setting, which was a good balance for gaming. The presets for the creator are more helpful. MSI has separate options for sRGB, AdobeRGB, and DCI-P3, so you can limit the display to the color space you’re working in. The Movie preset in this section is my favorite. It is slightly darker than the default preset and has a small increase in saturation.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD review: Image Quality
The monitor has an IPS panel (M320QAN02.3 by AUO) with perfect 178° wide viewing angles. This means that no matter how you look at the screen, the image will be perfect and the colors will stay the same. Also, it has a QDEF (quantum-dot enhanced film) layer that gives it an impressive 100% Adobe RGB color gamut coverage.
Which is about the same as 98% DCI-P3 and 160% sRGB. Because of this, you get colors with a lot of depth and life, especially in blue, cyan, and green. Now, most SDR/sRGB content will look too bright on the MSI MPG321UR-QD monitor because of its native color gamut. There are color space modes for sRGB, DCI-P3 (Display P3), and Adobe RGB gamuts that let you change the brightness.
So you can choose the right one. Along with the monitor’s excellent factory calibration, this means it can be used for both professional color-sensitive work and gaming. Next, the MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD has a maximum brightness of 400 nits, which goes up to 600 nits for HDR content, giving you highlights that are bright and clear.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD review: Gaming Performance
The way a monitor works for gaming is very subjective because it depends on the PC that is connected to it. Even though we try to use the same hardware in our test benches from review to review, these results may not be the same as what you see. We used an Intel Core i5-12600K processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card to test the MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD as well as we could.
If you’re looking for the most responsive gaming experience for competitive play, the MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD is probably not what you’re looking for. It wasn’t made for that kind of use. It has a maximum native refresh rate of 144Hz and doesn’t support overclocking, so you can’t push it further like you can with some other screens. The MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD is a great gaming computer.
Whether you like fast-paced first-person shooters or calm simulators, this IPS panel will show your favorite games as the developers intended. The screen is also good for work because it has a wide range of colors. Using GIMP to edit photos was easy, and the colors really stood out. The same is true of movies as well. The blacks aren’t as dark as they are on other non-QD panels, which is easy to notice if you’re used to displays with higher levels.
It’s not obvious to someone who hasn’t seen it before, though, and it doesn’t make much of a difference in the game. They are much better than enough. Like UHD vs. FHD, HDR takes content to a whole new level, and this was no different. With the brightness turned up, games that were supported looked amazing.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD review: Price
The price might turn some gamers off. Paying $800 or more for a display isn’t something anyone would want to do on a bad day, but this display is bright enough to make someone with a little less money smile. If we only looked at how well it works for games, we would give it a perfect score. Whether you like GTA V, PUBG, Fortnite, or Planet Zoo, you’ll have a great time.
It’s easy to get lost in the sea of buzzwords, and quantum dot may be yet another term to remember the next time you shop for a display, but it has a positive effect here. Another cool feature is the VESA mounting support, which lets you use your own arm or stand. To put it simply, the MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD is great.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD review: Final Words
Since many companies are now calling their gaming monitors “Xbox Edition” or “Designed for Xbox,” you might think that only those screens will work with an Xbox Series X. But you need Ultra HD resolution, Adaptive Sync, 120 Hz over HDMI, and HDR to get the most out of the console. Many displays already fit this description.
But if you choose a model with the Xbox name on it, you can be sure that it will help your brand-new console run at its best. MSI hasn’t changed anything about the Optix MPG321UR-QD Xbox Edition hardware. The original MPG321UR-QD that we reviewed last year will work fine with an Xbox Series X. We noticed that the new model was a little more true to color and a little faster.
MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD Ratings