Missing Refresh Rate Option on External Monitor

[waffleRL]

Hello, I run a setup with an external monitor connected to a gaming laptop via HDMI 1.4 through a HDMI 2.1 cable which all previously allowed me to use 144Hz but the option has been missing for a few months now. 

Laptop: MSI GF63 11UD

Monitor: MSI G24C4

I got the laptop and monitor on the same day and connected them, everything worked fine, the 144Hz option was available everywhere, both in windows and the Intel Graphics Command Center.  It went away after about 2 months of use and now it is not appearing anywhere. I looked through countless solutions but none of them seemed to work, I also had a suspicion it might be the drivers so I downgraded them with the use of DDU to what my laptop was shipped with and it still hasn't worked. It's listed as a supported mode in information section in the command center. The hardware hasn't changed at all either.

I've attached the SSU report and proof of it working as a lot of people don't believe me that it worked before. The image on the top is how it is now, and the one below is from the day I first connected them.

[MUC]

This is a Tiger Lake platform.

The following applies to the monitor: 2 x HDMI 1.4 (8-bit)

1080p @ 144 Hz RGB 8-bit CVT-RB = 58% HDMI 2.0 = 102% HDMI 1.4

Since the monitor is explicitly specified by the manufacturer as 144 Hz, extended diagnostic data would be helpful. Could you please create a report for Intel Graphics Drivers and attach it here?

[waffleRL]

Here it is

[MUC]

The Detailed Timing Descriptor (DTD) that the monitor sends:

The parameters marked in yellow do not correspond to the VESA CVT-RB standard, but at the same time allow compliance with the bandwidth limits for HDMI 1.4 (Pixel Clock = 325.7 < 340 MHz). That's fine.

Please try this: Custom Resolution Utility (CRU)

Unzip and run "reset-all.exe" and restart your computer. Can you then select 144 Hz again?

[waffleRL]

Still missing sadly. In CRU it doesn't let me add a refresh rate higher than 123 Hz on any resolution, which is pretty odd.

[MUC]

Do you also see something like this on your device?

[waffleRL]

Yes, exactly that

[MUC]

I don't have the monitor, but when I show its Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) to the Intel Iris Xe, latter establishes a corresponding connection to my HDMI sink (HDfury VRROOM)

HDMI 1.4 is sufficient for this signal.
So it should actually work with your monitor. I didn't change anything by hand.

[waffleRL]

It should. simply because it also worked before, I'm wondering why it's gone missing, still not sure about the drivers, I saw a post where 144 Hz (different monitor) showed up on some versions and didn't on the others. I did try them but no result...

[waffleRL]

Update:

My pixel clock is somehow slower than it should be, I was able to add 1280x960@144Hz in CRU and it works just fine. I think it cuts off at like 297 MHz, and I'm not sure why, does anyone know what could be causing that?

[MUC]

297 MHz is the limit for an HDMI TMDS transmission according to HDMI version 1.4.

Please try this and restart the computer:

[waffleRL]

Followed the steps and restarted, the 297 MHz limit still persists, after some tinkering I managed to get 131 Hz at exactly 297 MHz, going anything over that still makes it unusable.

[MUC]

What happens if you remove the CTA-861 TV resolutions? Don't forget to restart.

[waffleRL]

They stay deleted, 144 Hz still isn't available though.

[MUC]

Another idea that also works in my test environment. I previously removed the 144 Hz line from the "Detailed resolutions" field on the CRU main page to see if the Intel driver still uses what you can set manually as follows:

Please close all windows with OK and restart.

[waffleRL]

After doing that only the 60 Hz and 131,2 Hz ones stayed, the 120 Hz one disappeared. Later I tried adding back the 144 Hz one on the main page and it still looks like the 297 MHz limit is there.

[MUC]

Again about the Laptop itself:

MSI GF63 Thin 11UD
15.6" FHD (1920x1080), 144Hz, IPS level
1x HDMI (4K @ 30Hz)

4K @ 30Hz = 297 MHz TMDS

Are you sure that the external monitor has actually run at 144 Hz? I think we've reached the point where you have to ask MSI support whether the hardware on the motherboard between Iris Xe and the physical HDMI port really allows more than 297 MHz.

This document suggests the opposite:

Either 4K @ 30 Hz or 1080p @ 120 Hz = 297 MHz TMDS.

[waffleRL]

Definetely has, first thing I did with the laptop was install Windows 11 on it (came without an OS), do the setup stuff and plug in my monitor, no driver installations or anything, I didn't even know about all the pixel clock stuff at the time I just assumed it's going to work and it did, I was really excited as I've never played on anything more than 75 Hz so I sent a screenshot to my friend with it (it's the attached photo, clearly says: MSI G24C4 Connected to Intel UHD Graphics with 144.01 Hz selected through HDMI). Also 144 Hz was appearing when I entered the monitors settings and displayed current refresh rate on screen. It is possible, but not sure what's caused it to have a limit now, saw some reddit post about this not being an issue on other operating systems like Linux so maybe it's Windows reconfiguring itself in some update. I'll try to contact MSI support about that, thanks for the help by the way, I wouldn't come up with those by myself, learned a lot about how displays work trying to work this out. Maybe it's really not supposed to work and I just got super lucky and Windows wasn't installed fully then, that's the only reason I can think of for the limit not being there at that time.

[MUC]

Yes, you are right. I saw the screenshot at the beginning, but forgot about it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were "making something up" in your head. Just wanted to double check to be sure. I'm happy to help if I can. But in this case, unfortunately I don't know any other option than now to completely reinstall the operating system. But this by no means has a guaranteed chance of success.