Review Dell S3220DGF Gaming Monitor Review: High-Performance Work and Play

[Admin]

With 165Hz, FreeSync 2 HDR, excellent contrast and accurate color, the Dell S3220DGF is well-suited for just about anything.

Dell S3220DGF Gaming Monitor Review: High-Performance Work and Play : Read more

 

[closs.sebastien]

2560x1440 for a 32 inch? no way. we don't want so big pixels. I use a 4k on a 27'.
and va... is not from the past? no new fast-ips?

 

[closs.sebastien]

why are the manufacturers still putting speakers or headphone outputs on screens? screen is screen.. soundcard is soundcard... speakers are speakers...

 

[FastAddons]

I want to buy this monitor for few weeks now and after reading this, I really don't see why not buy it right now.
I already bought two DELL 27" QHD monitors for work and they are simply amazing.
So having slightly bigger one, curved and 165Hz with HDR seems like the best combination for home, right?

 

[DookieDraws]

I too have been reading up on this monitor lately, as I am also interested in possibly buying it. Thing is, there are so many positive reviews from buyers, it made me suspicious! No kidding! Just look at the reviews for this monitor on the best Buy and Dell websites. Certainly not saying any are fake, but when I see so many positive reviews for ANYTHING, it raises a red flag.

So I have some questions about the monitor, and would love to get some answers, from not only Tom's, but from owners of this monitor.

Are there any issues at all using one of the latest NVIDIA GPUs with this monitor? No flickering, or briefly going blank issues?

How does text look on this monitor? Can you adjust the sharpness of text?

Are there any smearing / ghosting while gaming?

Lastly, the monitor supports DisplayPort 1.4, yet when I look at the included accessories on the Dell website, it says it comes with a DisplayPort 1.2 cable. If true, could this possibly be the reason some are having flickkering, and the brief blanking out issues? Can anyone confirm what the included cable version is? If it is, in fact, a 1.2 included cable, would it be best to purchase a certified 1.4 cable?

Thanks everyone!

 

[jeremyj_83]

2560x1440 for a 32 inch? no way. we don't want so big pixels. I use a 4k on a 27'.
and va... is not from the past? no new fast-ips?

The DPI of 1440p at 32" is the same as a 1080p at 24" so that isn't bad. Also VA is the panel type used on the majority of LED TVs. While IPS is nice, I prefer VA for the added contrast.

 

[JKTexas]

I have had this monitor for about 5 weeks now. I use it more for work than gaming but do that too. Its a great monitor - the curve doesn't bother me at all (which was one of my main concerns because gaming is maybe 2-5% of my total time) and the adjustable stand is nice. I like the headphone port on the machine because I use 3 computers with the monitor (2 personal and 1 work) and I can send the output to one set of speakers (not sure how this degrades audio but I am not a purist. I haven't noticed any flickering yet but use HDMI cables for my personal machines... Lastly, I work in a well lit room and really have no problems with glare or being able to see the monitor during the bright part of the day.

I am coming from a 27" QHD monitor and I think the text may be a little less sharp but it is more than acceptable.

The monitor is a little pricey in the mainstream line up but how often do you really need to upgrade once you get to this size of monitor. For me, it was worth paying a little extra.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[tribeofham]

Alright, so I bought this monitor based on this review. I was really excited but I found myself quickly let down. I can't get G-Sync working. I know it's not officially supported but the review here says they were able to get it working. How?!

I went through the normal rundown: fresh install of Win10 LTSC, used the supplied DP cable, using the latest nvidia drivers, installed the monitor's INF driver, etc. For those of you are curious, I'm running a GeForce GTX Titan X.

 

[linovi]

Alright, so I bought this monitor based on this review. I was really excited but I found myself quickly let down. I can't get G-Sync working. I know it's not officially supported but the review here says they were able to get it working. How?!

I went through the normal rundown: fresh install of Win10 LTSC, used the supplied DP cable, using the latest nvidia drivers, installed the monitor's INF driver, etc. For those of you are curious, I'm running a GeForce GTX Titan X.

Make sure to enable freesync on the monitor. Then it should show up in the Nvidia control panel

 

[tribeofham]

Make sure to enable freesync on the monitor. Then it should show up in the Nvidia control panel

Thanks for your reply. Freesync is enabled on the monitor. Is there anything else I may be missing?

 

[linovi]

Thanks for your reply. Freesync is enabled on the monitor. Is there anything else I may be missing?

check the Pendulum demo from nVidia, it's perfect to see if your Freesync/GSync is working.

https://www.nvidia.es/coolstuff/demos#!/g-sync

Also make sure you use a Displayport cable, Freesync compatible with GSync monitors don't work with HDMI cables if you're using a nVidia GPU.

 

[tribeofham]

check the Pendulum demo from nVidia, it's perfect to see if your Freesync/GSync is working.

https://www.nvidia.es/coolstuff/demos#!/g-sync

Also make sure you use a Displayport cable, Freesync compatible with GSync monitors don't work with HDMI cables if you're using a nVidia GPU.

Thanks, I've tried the demo. Clicking the g-sync option didn't do anything.

I'm using the DP cable that came with my monitor.

 

[linovi]

Thanks, I've tried the demo. Clicking the g-sync option didn't do anything.

I'm using the DP cable that came with my monitor.

could this be due to this? is it Maxwell and not Pascal?

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/beware-g-sync-compatibility-monitors.18868697/

 

[linovi]

Thanks, I've tried the demo. Clicking the g-sync option didn't do anything.

I'm using the DP cable that came with my monitor.

also nVidia released a firmware update for geforce to support DP 1.3 and 1.4 features. This solves some problems with the most recent versions of Freesync.

NVIDIA GRAPHICS FIRMWARE UPDATE TOOL FOR DISPLAYPORT 1.3 AND 1.4 DISPLAYS


To enable the latest DisplayPort 1.3 / 1.4 features, your graphics card may require a firmware update.

Without the update, systems that are connected to a DisplayPort 1.3 / 1.4 monitor could experience blank screens on boot until the OS loads, or could experience a hang on boot.

The NVIDIA Firmware Updater will detect whether the firmware update is needed, and if needed, will give the user the option to update it.

If you are currently experiencing a blank screen or hang on boot with a DP 1.3 or 1.4 monitor, please try one of the following workarounds in order to run the tool:

Boot using DVI or HDMI
Boot using a different monitor
Change boot mode from UEFI to Legacy; or Legacy to UEFI.
Boot using an alternate graphics source (secondary or integrated graphics card)

Once you have the tool downloaded, please run the tool and follow the on-screen instructions.


NVIDIA TITAN Series:
TITAN X (Maxwell), TITAN X (Pascal), TITAN XP

GeForce 10 Series:
GeForce GT 1030, GeForce GTX 1050, GTX 1050Ti, GTX 1060, GTX 1070, GTX 1070Ti, GTX 1080, GTX 1080Ti

GeForce 900 Series:
GeForce GTX 950, GTX 950Ti, GTX 960, GTX 970, GTX 980, GTX 980Ti

GeForce 700 Series:
GeForce GTX 745, GTX 750, GTX 750Ti

 

[tribeofham]

could this be due to this? is it Maxwell and not Pascal?

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/beware-g-sync-compatibility-monitors.18868697/

Oh no!! That's why, I have a Maxwell. That's a huge bummer!

Thanks for the help, I very much appreciate it.

 

[linovi]

Oh no!! That's why, I have a Maxwell. That's a huge bummer!

Thanks for the help, I very much appreciate it.

try this (place a dot in between, for whatever odd reason the forum keeps saying that the links are spam)

www dot nvidia dot com/object/nv-uefi-update-x64.html

www dot nvidia dot com/object/nv-uefi-update-x86.html

 

[tribeofham]

try this (place a dot in between, for whatever odd reason the forum keeps saying that the links are spam)

www dot nvidia dot com/object/nv-uefi-update-x64.html

www dot nvidia dot com/object/nv-uefi-update-x86.html

Ah, yes! I ran across this last night and gave it a try. Same issue.

I did a bit of reading and stumbled across this thread: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/game-ready-drivers/13/291944/maxwell-and-adaptive-sync/

As I understand it, the Maxwell ships with DisplayPort 1.2. Adaptive Sync was introduced with DisplayPort 1.2a. G-sync isn't supported due to hardware and firmware based standards compliance. Unfortunately, this isn't something that can be fixed or updated.

At this point, I face two options: live without G-sync or buy a new GPU

 

[King_V]

2560x1440 for a 32 inch? no way. we don't want so big pixels. I use a 4k on a 27'.

Yes, some of us do. Everyone's eyes are different.

I think 1920x1080 on 27" looks fantastic, as does 2560x1080 on 34"

If I were in the market for a 2560x1440 screen, I'd probably like that on a 32-inch.

I think the pixels are a little too small on my 38" 3840x1600.


While I like curved screens on ultrawide (21:9) monitors of 32" or more, I don't think they're needed on widescreen resolutions (16:9).

 

[QSPR]

Hello, this is my review from Amazon:

10 bit color, HDR, 1440p and 165hz!

I'm in love with this monitor. got it from another store, Amazon didn't have it from the time I got it. the colors are very nice, response time is 4ms but I can barely notice any ghosting. I order a display port cable 1.4, the one that came in the box is 1.2. My old monitor was Dell S2417DG G-Sync 165hz 1440p and 1ms. Did some calibration myself, here they are if some one like to use it:

On the monitor:

Presete Mode: Standart
Game Enhance Mode: Off
FreeSync: On
Smart HDR: Desktop
Response Time: Super Fast
Dark Stabilizer: 0
Brightness: 74
Contrast: 76
Sharpness: 60

On the NVidia Control Panel:

All channels:

Brightness: 45%
Contrast: 57%
Gamma: 1.07

Red:

Brightness: 40%
Contrast: 72%
Gamma: 1.07

Green:

Brightness: 45%
Contrast: 50%
Gamma: 1.07

Blue:

Brightness: 50%
Contrast:50%
Gamma: 1.07

Digital vibrance: 55%
Hue: 0

I hope this works for you. thanks for reading. Happy Gaming!!!

 

[KanameKuran]

Hey guys! I'm interested in this monitor. Currently I have an AOC CQ32G and the ghosting on it is kinda meh no matter the overdrive settings. What about this Dell? Is ghosting that noticable while scrolling/gaming?

 

[Renato Cvikic]

2560x1440 for a 32 inch? no way. we don't want so big pixels. I use a 4k on a 27'.
and va... is not from the past? no new fast-ips?

Do you ever read any s*it on your monitor? I read on few www that 1440p at 27" is super small letters for reading, and that people buff their text to 125% or even 150%

 

[Renato Cvikic]

I have had this monitor for about 5 weeks now. I use it more for work than gaming but do that too. Its a great monitor - the curve doesn't bother me at all (which was one of my main concerns because gaming is maybe 2-5% of my total time) and the adjustable stand is nice. I like the headphone port on the machine because I use 3 computers with the monitor (2 personal and 1 work) and I can send the output to one set of speakers (not sure how this degrades audio but I am not a purist. I haven't noticed any flickering yet but use HDMI cables for my personal machines... Lastly, I work in a well lit room and really have no problems with glare or being able to see the monitor during the bright part of the day.

I am coming from a 27" QHD monitor and I think the text may be a little less sharp but it is more than acceptable.

The monitor is a little pricey in the mainstream line up but how often do you really need to upgrade once you get to this size of monitor. For me, it was worth paying a little extra.

Hope this helps someone.

I'm really afraid of the curve also.. I have p2314h and I sit pretty close to my monitor.
What is like to watch movies / yt and surfing on iT?

 

[FastAddons]

So few weeks ago I've actually bought it and this is what I find out.

The good:

• 165Hz is amazing, even simple scrolling of webpages looks so smooth
• HDR content looks really good, it's so bright, things like sunset looks unbelievable
• materials, the stand, everything looks and feels Pro (just like most Dell monitors)
• the curve looks cool! Even though it's only slight, I love it! Comparing with one of my older 32" AOC 4K flat, this is definitely better.

The bad:

• light bleed is quite visible all around, however you don't see it once you display any content
• VA panel - it reminds me my first TN screen, it's not that bad, but it's noticeable (like Windows taskbar is brighter than it should be)
• sometimes when my PC boots up, I get only 60Hz. However there is a chance this is related to my AMD GPU which was having some issues for some time now...

Some other things to note:

• setting up HDR can be tricky, I had to change from MPC to MPV player in order to make things works smoothly
• I was using 27" Dell before with the same resolution so first impression was not good, since everything is bigger. But you get use to it quickly. Not to mention movies and TV shows looks much better on bigger screen!

Anyway, after past few weeks of using this monitor I can say this was a good 390€ investment

 

[JKTexas]

Do you ever read any s*it on your monitor? I read on few www that 1440p at 27" is super small letters for reading, and that people buff their text to 125% or even 150%

The curve is great! Its more noticeable the further you sit back. It looks even better with videos (YT etc).
gaming not as noticeable as I thought it might be

as far as 32 1440 vs 27 1440. 27 was sharper but I personally think 32 1440 is the sweet spot

 

[closs.sebastien]

Do you ever read any s*it on your monitor? I read on few www that 1440p at 27" is super small letters for reading, and that people buff their text to 125% or even 150%

Smart OS are making fonts bigger. And yes, I work all the day and code all the day on this monitor.