Intel Iris XE graphics doesn't recognize external monitor refresh rates properly

[DraconicHeart]

Greetings!

I have a laptop with a Windows 11 installation  with an 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz processor, with built in Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics.

I recently bought an external monitor which is an LG 27GQ50F-B Ultragear monitor, which has a refresh rate of 165Hz over a DisplayPort connection and 144Hz over an HDMI connection. Since this laptop has only an HDMI connector I bought an HDMI 2.0 for it to fully support the refresh rate that the monitor offers.

The thing is, Windows doesn't show the refresh rates that the monitor offers, it only shows 50Hz, 59.94 Hz and 60Hz respectively, even though the Intel Graphics Command Center report shows that it has a supported resolution of 1920 x 1080 (144p Hz). (The full graphics report will be attached to this thread as well as the Intel SSU report).

Generated report from the Intel Graphics Command Center:

* Digital Display 1 *

Display Name: LG ULTRAGEAR
Display Type: Digital
Serial Number: -
DDC2 Protocol: Compatible
Gamma: 2.2
Connector Type: HDMI

Maximum Image Size
Horizontal: 23.62 pulgadas
Vertical: 13.39 pulgadas

Supported Modes
640 x 480 (60p Hz)
640 x 480 (75p Hz)
720 x 480 (60p Hz)
720 x 576 (50p Hz)
800 x 600 (60p Hz)
1024 x 768 (60p Hz)
1280 x 720 (50p Hz)
1280 x 720 (60p Hz)
1920 x 1080 (50p Hz)
1920 x 1080 (60p Hz)
1920 x 1080 (100p Hz)
1920 x 1080 (120p Hz)
1920 x 1080 (144p Hz)

The Freesync Premium configuration is active on the monitor. 

And the Intel Graphics Command Center doesn't allow to enable Adaptive Sync nor Intel ArcControl.

I've already tried some alternatives like setting custom resolutions with Custom Resolution Utility (CRU), but they still don't show up on the system even when restarting the graphics driver and restarting the system.

The graphics driver is also updated to the latest version. But as of today, I'm still not sure what's causing the system to not recognize the refresh rate that the monitor supports, it feels like wasted potential.

If someone could suggest something to fix this problem that would be great!

Thanks in advance!

[MUC · Accepted solution]

Intel Graphics Command Center shows what the monitor is capable of. So 1080p @ 144 Hz.

Unfortunately, Dell decided not to make full use of the capabilities of the processor integrated graphics on the Inspiron 15 3511 and only used components for the path from the processor to the physical port that do not allow more than 1080p @ 60 Hz. This is also stated in the manual. This is indeed very annoying and I am sorry, but unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about it.

[DraconicHeart]

Alright, that makes sense now, I didn't look up into the detailed specifications of the laptop hardware itself. I was looking at the software level and found that the Intel Iris graphics were capable of outputting high refresh rates on 1080p resolution on other Dell computers, so I was wondering if something on my setup was wrong or if I could make it work with what I had.

Thank you so much for the feedback! I'll mark your answer as valid since it's a hardware issue, it can't be helped.

I hope that other people going through the same issues as me find it helpful and also consider looking through the hardware specifications to identify more quickly the limitations of the hardware in question.

Again, thank you very much for the help!

Greetings.