Can someone help troubleshoot why I can't get 144Hz on monitor?

SEA_Strong92

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Feb 13, 2014
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Hello Everyone,

I’ve been trying to figure out why I haven’t been able to get 144Hz on my 2nd monitor. I’ve been trying to connect my monitor through DVI-D cable to a DVI-I to DisplayPort adapter into my DisplayPort port on my graphics card. I’ve researched the ports on the GPU and monitor and found that the ports should be able to output 144Hz. I’ve looked back at the reviews and questions on Amazon about the DVI-I to DisplayPort adapter and people were saying that the adapter is capable of 144Hz.

Here are the products in question:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035PS57C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KO4518I/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J3TZJOA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If someone sees the issue and can point me in the direction of an adapter that will work, any help would be appreciated.
 
Solution
Wow that sucks. Normally HDMI 1.4 devices can support 1080@144hz. But this is a 144hz monitor with an "HDMI 1.4" port that doesn't support maximum HDMI 1.4 bandwidth. That's one of the pitfalls of HDMI certification - the device doesn't actually have to support the maximum bandwidth of its spec. Sad... And Acer doesn't exactly make this info easy to find either...

Anyway, your only option is to use an active DP > DVI Dual-link adapter. Back when the Radeon 5870 first came out with eyefinity, those ~$100 DP to DVI dual-link adapters were the only ones available for about six months (and even then they were hard to find). I had to buy one so I feel your pain. Finally the active single-links became available and were less than 1/3...

larkspur

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Are you sure you are using a DUAL-LINK DVI cable?

This is a single-link cable (do not use): https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-DVI-D-Single-Link-Cable/dp/B000067SOL/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1519504662&sr=8-4&keywords=dvi+d+single+link+cable

This is a dual-link cable (must use this for DVI 144hz @ 1920sx1080): https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Plated-DVI-D-Ferrites/dp/B007NJ0S1W/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1519504662&sr=8-5&keywords=dvi+d+single+link+cable

Why not just connect the monitor using an HDMI cable? Your GPU appears to have two HDMI ports.

Or, why not connect the monitor directly to the card using a dual-link DVI cable? Your GPU has a DVI-D dual-link port.
 
All passive DisplayPort to DVI adapters are Single-Link only. 144 Hz at 1080p requires a Dual-Link DVI connection.

Do not use any adapters, just connect directly to the DVI port on your card.


The HDMI port on the GN246HL is limited to 60 Hz
 

SEA_Strong92

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I'm 100% sure it's a Dual-Link DVI Cable.

This is a 2nd monitor, aka the DVI-D port on the GPU is being used by the first monitor that is running up to specs @ 144Hz.

Although there are 2xHDMI 2.0 ports on the GPU, the HDMI 1.4 port on the monitor cannot support 1080p @ 144Hz due to bandwidth limitations...
 

SEA_Strong92

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So there isn't any way to get a 2nd monitor working @ 144Hz with this card?
 

larkspur

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Wow that sucks. Normally HDMI 1.4 devices can support 1080@144hz. But this is a 144hz monitor with an "HDMI 1.4" port that doesn't support maximum HDMI 1.4 bandwidth. That's one of the pitfalls of HDMI certification - the device doesn't actually have to support the maximum bandwidth of its spec. Sad... And Acer doesn't exactly make this info easy to find either...

Anyway, your only option is to use an active DP > DVI Dual-link adapter. Back when the Radeon 5870 first came out with eyefinity, those ~$100 DP to DVI dual-link adapters were the only ones available for about six months (and even then they were hard to find). I had to buy one so I feel your pain. Finally the active single-links became available and were less than 1/3 the price...

But anyway, unfortunately it looks like you'd be needing something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Accell-B087B-007B-DisplayPort-Dual-Link-Adapter/dp/B002ISVI3U/ref=sr_1_19?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1519509145&sr=1-19&keywords=DP%2Bto%2BDVI%2Bactive&th=1
 
Solution


Not without a $100 adapter. It's a better idea to return the monitor and get one that actually has DisplayPort. The GN246HL should have been discontinued ages ago.
 

SEA_Strong92

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Thank you, everyone, for the help. I believe that the reviews and Q&As on Amazon reference all the products on the page, including an active adapter, not specifically any one product. Why Acer would put a non-144Hz HDMI socket on a 144Hz monitor is a huge oversight and I miss when most GPUs had 2 DVI-D ports.
 


It's a cost cutting measure, it's things like that which make the monitor as cheap as it is :p