Intel HD 530 and Acer XB270HU 144Hz no input

[Gorguss]

I'm currently running Acer XB270HU with an i7-6700K onboard graphics, and I'm trying to get it to reach 144Hz. but I can only go as high as 120Hz. When I set it to 144Hz from the control panel, the screen gets no signal and goes to sleep.

I've tried several lower resolutions with the same result. Anything higher than 120Hz results in no signal. Monitor is connected directly with DisplayPort cable and no adapters. I had no issues running 144 Hz on a dedicated GPU (1080 Ti).

I've upgraded to latest version available: 26.20.100.7000

* Digital Display 1 *

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 10.0.18362

Display Name: XB270HU

Display Type: Digital

Connector Type: DisplayPort

This wouldn't be as problematic if the HD 530 changes settings to 144 Hz automatically in several applications. I'm therefore forced to run in windowed mode.

[n_scott_pearson]

According to the article on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort), supporting your 2K monitor at 144Hz will require a data rate of 17.60 Gbit/s. Since the maximum data rate supported by DisplayPort 1.2 is 17.28 Gbit/s, there is a problem. Now, the article does note that, using "non-standard timings", it is possible to get this working, but it does not detail what these timings actually are. Obviously, the timings that you are currently using are not those necessary. Unless you can figure out what these "non-standard timings" actually are - and convince this monitor to (also) support these timings - you will be limited to 120Hz.

Reality sucks,

...S

[Gorguss]

Thank you Scott Pearson! In that case, a workaround would be to limit the display driver or rather the monitor to 120 Hz. As it stands now, everytime any fullscreen application launches, it resets to default 144 Hz and I get no output.

I'll have to get a dedicated GPU again, just not a beast like the 1080 Ti. That was quite overpowered for my needs, but ran this setup effortlessly with these "non-standard timings".

[n_scott_pearson]

Unfortunately, I am not quite sure how you would put in an artificial limitation like this. Let me send a query to the experts and see if they have any ideas.

...S

[Gorguss]

As a follow up to your previous reply; The HD 530 Display Port 1.2 is limited to 17.28 Gbit/s. But wouldn't that imply that resolutions like 1080p would be supported to run at 144 Hz? More of a curiosity question than anything else really.

Spoiler by the way; It doesn't 😅

[n_scott_pearson]

In the Wikipedia page, there are a number of tables that are not displayed by default. Instead, a grey box is shown containing (only) the title. Click on the Show links to have them displayed. In these tables (I typically look at the third table), you will see that 1080p@144Hz only requires a data rate of 10.0 Gbit/s, which is easily handled.

...S

[n_scott_pearson]

Hold the fort. A colleague of mine pointed out that I was using the wrong table. The (third) table I was using is for HDR video. The table I should have used, namely for SDR video, indicates that the requirement for 1440p@144Hz is 14.08 Gbit/s, which is well below the limit. I am told that, in the NUC validation lab, they have tested with monitors similar to yours and didn't see any issues. We agreed that the problem is likely with your cable...

The Wikipedia article also points out that there is some confusion regarding cable certification. Cables intended to support DisplayPort 1.0 High Bit Rate (HBR) are designated as being "Standard" DisplayPort cables. The problem is that cables intended to support DisplayPort 1.2's High Bit Rate 2 (HBR2) are also identified as "Standard" DisplayPort cables. It thus comes down to cable quality; a lower quality cable might support HBR but not HBR2, whereas a higher quality cable will handle both HBR and HBR2.

Bottom line, we suggest you look into procuring a better quality cable,

...S

[Gorguss]

Thank you for clearifying that Scott. I have been using the exact same DisplayPort cable for this setup with a 1080 Ti without an issue for 12 months (1440p@144Hz). I'll try another DP cable later just to be sure.

[Gorguss]

Tested another DP cable with the same result. The problem solves itself now that I've ordered an RTX 2070 Super. Thanks for your advice though, learned a couple of things on the way 🙂