What the monitor is
Dell's US listing gives these core specifications:
- The diagonal is 38.9 inches, and the listing shows two modes. They are 5120 × 2160 at 165 Hz and 2560 × 1080 at 330 Hz.
- It lists an OLED panel and a 0.03 ms gray-to-gray response time in Extreme mode.
The MKAU review adds more detail, which I have not confirmed against Dell's manual. It describes a 1500R curve, a 143 PPI pixel density and a four-stack tandem OLED panel. It also lists:
- one DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20 input and two HDMI 2.1 inputs
- a USB-C port with 90 W power delivery
- a built-in KVM
- a three-year warranty that covers burn-in
Dell's support page links a user guide for the monitor. The page content available to me didn't show what the guide says, so treat the wording of the port and warranty claims as the reviewer's.
Why the RGB stripe layout matters on Windows
Windows ClearType assumes a standard red-green-blue stripe. The MKAU reviewer says panels with a white subpixel, or with triangular layouts, produce green and magenta fringing on text edges. He says this model avoids that.
Other reviewers agree on the direction:
- HotHardware says the AW3926QW uses a new OLED panel with an RGB stripe subpixel layout, with no text fringing visible in its photos.
- Club386 says the layout means you don't need to worry about text fringing, which older OLED panels can show as purple and green edges on black text.
- TechSpot compared it directly with LG's 39-inch rival. It said the LG's RGWB panel is excellent for text because of its 143 PPI density, but the Alienware's RGB stripe layout is sharper.
- TechSpot also noted that the Alienware's glossy finish improves text clarity further.
The reviewers' views are consistent, but they are subjective. Eyesight, viewing distance, Windows scaling and ClearType settings all change what you see. Frohloff's comment that he rarely needed his astigmatism glasses is one person's experience, not a measured result.
Gaming and GPU demands
At native resolution the panel pushes 11,059,200 pixels per frame. That is about a third more than 3840 × 2160 (8,294,400 pixels). It is a workload estimate, not a benchmark.
Frohloff says an RTX 3090 ran games well, but he gives no titles, frame rates or settings. He suggests DLSS or FSR for heavy games if you want to get close to 165 Hz.
The 330 Hz figure comes with a catch. Dell ties it to 2560 × 1080, so it is not 330 Hz at 5K2K. The MKAU review also describes smaller 16:9 windows at 330 Hz for competitive play, at 24.5-inch and 27-inch sizes. I could not verify those windows against Dell's pages.
The cable question
Frohloff warns that cables matter at this resolution. He estimates about 55 Gbps of raw pixel data at 165 Hz with 10-bit colour, and says HDMI 2.1 tops out at 48 Gbps. He adds that the DisplayPort 1.4 output on his RTX 3090 relies on Display Stream Compression (DSC). He reports that the DisplayPort cable in the box is rated DP 1.4, and that a DP 2.1 graphics card would need a certified UHBR20 cable for an uncompressed signal. I could not confirm the cable rating or the 55 Gbps figure from Dell's pages.
A sensible approach, based on general practice:
- Check which video output standard your graphics card actually supports.
- Use the included cable first, then switch to a certified cable if you see flicker or blackouts.
- Confirm the resolution, refresh rate and colour depth in Windows display settings.
- If you move to a longer cable and problems appear, suspect the cable before the monitor.
The reviewer lists blackouts from poor cables among his cons. That is his experience, not a documented defect.
Consoles
Frohloff says a PS5 or Xbox Series X sends a 4K 120 Hz signal over HDMI 2.1. He says the monitor scales it across the whole panel without stretching, and keeps HDR and VRR working. That is a single-reviewer observation I could not corroborate. Consoles don't output native 21:9 gameplay, so any scaling behaviour is down to the monitor's firmware.
Downsides and caveats
- Glossy coating: The MKAU review warns against placing a bright window behind your chair. Notebookcheck says the glossy finish should give colours more punch but makes the panel more prone to reflections.
- Power efficiency: Club386 found that the RGB stripe structure benefits text clarity but hampers efficiency in its power test.
- Adobe RGB coverage: Club386 measured 92%, which is below its expectations for WOLED and QD-OLED monitors.
- Other cons from MKAU: There are no built-in speakers, and the panel can't rotate into portrait orientation.
- Rival comparison: TechSpot's headline favours the Alienware over LG's 39-inch rival on price. The MKAU review doesn't compare the two.
Price and warranty
MKAU lists an Australian price of A$1,999 and a three-year Advanced Exchange warranty that includes OLED burn-in. The Dell Australia page I checked showed A$1,999.80 including GST. Dell's US page showed US$1,099.99. Those two prices aren't directly comparable because of currency, tax and regional pricing. Prices change, so check Dell's current listing and the local warranty terms before buying.
Bottom line
Frohloff calls this the best ultrawide he has used. That is his opinion, not a settled fact. The evidence does support the main point: an RGB stripe OLED with a pixel density of about 143 PPI should render Windows text more cleanly than white-subpixel OLEDs. The costs are a GPU that can drive 5K2K, careful cable choices, and glare in bright rooms. The 330 Hz mode only runs at 2560 × 1080.