MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD – The Ultimate PC Gaming Monitor?

Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake 2 is a graphical powerhouse, with many of the latest graphics technologies to take advantage of features like DLSS scaling, Frame Generation, Ray Tracing, Path Tracing and more. I stuck the game on the High profile, which largely sets the game to Ultra, with a few exceptions. Running it with DLAA at 4K High the game is pretty much maxed out and extremely demanding. Even on the MSI RTX 4090 Suprim, I still only managed to get around 30-40 FPS, which is pretty shocking, but Path Tracing without DLSS is frankly a generation or two away yet.

Settings Tested

• DLAA 4K High
• DLAA 4K High + Frame Gen
• DLSS Quality (2K) High
• DLSS Quality (2K) Frame Gen

Moving into DLAA High + Frame Gen, or surprisingly DLSS Quality the game ran largely the same on either, a more consistent 60 FPS experience was possible and frankly, the visual quality was just excellent. Given a choice, DLAA High + Frame Gen looked better than dropping to DLSS Quality without Frame Gen, but frame latency was a little lower on the DLSS mode, so at least you’ve got a choice of what works best for you.

It’s a hard game to screenshot, but wow, it looked incredible on the MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD, which delivered deep blacks, and bright vibrant colours that capture the reflections and light sources that penetrate the grim world of Alan Wake 2. With colours this accurate about the only way you could improve would be OLED, but at 4K 120Hz, using the DLSS Quality setting on High Profile with Frame Gen allows you to game at nearly 100 FPS in Alan Wake, while G-Sync keeps everything stutter free for a silky smooth experience.