MSI's latest cheaper-than-the-competition OLED gaming monitor is this sweet 34-inch ultrawide panel for $680

MSI MAG 341CQP | 34-inch | 175 Hz | QD-OLED | $899.99$679.99 at Amazon (save $220)
OLED gaming still isn't as affordable as we'd like. But it's getting there. This 34-inch ultrawide QD-OLED beast is the cheapest of its kind we've yet seen. The 175 Hz refresh is a tiny bit pedestrian, but it's plenty fast enough for us and in all other regards, this is the full OLED experience, including 0.03ms response and serious HDR sizzle.

Price check: $729 at Newegg

32-inch 4K or 34-inch ultrawide? If the answer is the latter, your OLED weapon of choice could well be the MSI MAG 341CQP, yours for $680 from Amazon and the cheapest we've seen this class of display.

We've just had the in-office debate over the merits of 32-inch 4K versus 34-inch 1440p ultrawide. The 4K option scores with image detail, pixel density and superior non-gaming capabilities. The 34-inch ultrawide hits back with that wrap-around sense of gaming immersion.

Then there's cost and how performance intersects with cost. The argument goes something like this. We recently spotted another MSI OLED panel, the 32-inch 4K MSI MAG 321UP on Newegg for $800. That makes it the cheapest 4K gaming OLED yet. Nice.

Now, if that was the only consideration, 4K for $800 versus 34-inch ultrawide for $680, well, you could make a strong argument for 4K. The problem is that 4K is so very demanding in terms of GPU load. So, if you're going 4K, you're going to need $900, maybe $1,000's worth of GPU to make the most of it.

With a 34-inch ultrawide and its 3,440 by 1,440 pixel grid, you're looking at just under five million pixels to the over eight million pixels of 4K. So, a $600 graphics card like an Nvidia RTX 4070 Super should suffice. 

Put the GPU and OLED combo together, and the 4K option ends up at $1,700 to $1,800 and around $400 to $500 more expensive than the 34-inch ultrawide option. Of course, neither option is cheap. But the 34-inch ultrawide route is quite a bit more attainable.

If that's the broad proposition, what's