Cooler Master GM238-FFS Gaming Monitor Review

Performance

So with this monitor, I started out using it for work and played a few games of Apex Legends, and honestly, it was superb. The high refresh rate and great colours make for a truly superb gaming monitor. But I wanted a gaming monitor with a twist… a 90-degree twist.

The size of this monitor makes it ideal for Portrait mode, and as you can see, the colours really pop (it’s on the right, obviously).

Now, it doesn’t have a portrait mode on the included mount. However, it has VESA mounts on the back, and as you can see, a few holes in my wall with the drill and a spare wall mount I had lying around, and we’re ready to rock.

And if you read my work often enough, you’ll know I love to crack on with a bit of Arcade gaming. I’m running a vertical build of CoinOps here, so it’s actually using the 2nd monitor as a 16×9 marquee, which is neat.

As you can see, a lot of these older arcade games used custom monitors with a portrait aspect ratio, so having them on a monitor to the side like this actually works really freaking well.

Who wouldn’t want this on their second monitor?

Or this? Just look at those colours pop too. The low response time and high refresh rate of this monitor mean that these games feel silky smooth.

Remember that time I built a couple of light guns? Here it is.

But the main reason I wanted a high refresh rate, colour-accurate portrait monitor for gaming, is pinball. I would have published this review sooner had I stopped playing on the Back to the Future table in Pinball FX 3. Yup, that’s a custom controller I built too, one of many lockdown projects of mine. Overall though, the CM238-FFS has been nailing it, it’s perfect.