Alienware 17 R3 External 1440p 144hz G-Sync Monitor Support

So how can I get an a 1440p 144hz G-Sync monitor to work with 17 R3 with 980M?

Hi,

Seriously?? I literally just talked to Dell today and ordered the Dell S2716DG 1440p 144hz G-Sync monitor because they said it would work as long as I bought their $40 USB-C Display Port cable. I am so mad right now. How do I get a 1440p 144hz monitor with G-Sync to work on my Alienware 17 R3 with 980M GPU? As earlier stated by Dell that it would work via Thunderbolt 3?

Why on earth didn't Alienware put a DP on the back, instead of HDMI? Makes no sense to me; they've deliberately limited the ability to use the on board discrete graphics.

They've managed to make the specs look good, but on closer inspection, none of the configurations are optimal.

Tried this?

linustechtips.com/.../

"Even though HDMI 1.3/1.4 have enough bandwidth for 1080p at 144Hz, the HDMI Specification did not officially list support for anything greater than 1080p 60Hz until HDMI 2.0 (technically 1.4b, but that version never saw widespread use). The only official feature that used HDMI 1.3’s additional bandwidth was 3D. This means that even if a display supports 1080p 120Hz+ and has HDMI 1.3 or 1.4, when connected via HDMI the monitor may not report 120Hz as a supported mode to the operating system, and the option for 120Hz will not appear in settings. This can be bypassed in Windows by using the Custom Resolution Utility or NVIDIA Control Panel to set a custom resolution, which overrides the EDID (the list of supported modes) sent by the monitor. This will make the option for 120Hz or 144Hz appear in the operating system."

In this thread, en.community.dell.com/.../19983212

en.community.dell.com/.../alienware_2d00_alex (Alienware-Alex) said:

"The unit officially supports 1 external screen plus the LCD. USB C + DP adapter isn't officially supported (neither are any other adapters). "

I'm having trouble understanding the external display configurations, what permutations we get, can you please clarify.

On the face of it, Alienware-Alex' statement seems to contradict your statement above.,

I couldn't agree more. I have a $500 laptop that has a Display Port, but somehow a $2,000+ high end 17" gaming laptop they couldn't find room?

I ordered a USB-C Display Port adapter and should have it tomorrow. I will try it out and post my results back here.

FYI, I chatted with an Alienware sales rep today who says that the USB-C to Display Port adapter will support a 1440p 144hz G-Sync monitor...There is so much conflicting information from Dell that no wonder everyone is confused.

Actually, the case as presented here is one of the worst possible combinations: the HDMI port can use the relatively capable GTX970M but is not HDMI 2.0, and in any case is HDMI-limited in resolution and display rate, while the possibly supported (we aren't really sure of the status here) Thunderbolt should be capable of higher resolutions and rates (who knows?) but is running off the integrated graphics.

The optimal configuration, for us, is to spend a lot of money on a GA and desktop card, and deal with the extra bulk, power consumption and noise.

Wow.

Really, really hoping that a lot of the information we've been presented with here is wrong (so much is conflicting) and Alienware really did put some sensible people on the team that came up with this configuration.

This is the same team that in Australasia offers 4K displays on the 15R2 but not the 17R3. Hmm...

I'm using the hdmi to an older lcd in portrait mode, and the display port to a newer 31inch panel, but it's 60hz, not 4k or anything fancy. In this configuration there's a nvidia utility that shows whats using the gpu. It shows the nvidia is driving the hdmi connected panel only, but I can run games on any panel using the nvidia gpu. I suppose this is different from controlling the panel and taking advantage of gsync. While I can pick games that use the gpu, I haven't looked to see if I could change what drives a panel.

Hi, can you share what cable/adapter you used?

I remember seeing a post in these forums that explained the integrated graphics is used for the actual output, even if the Nvidia GPU is used for the processing. Didn't know that there was a difference between the HDMI and DP output.

So...my USB-C Display Port cable arrived today and tried firing up the Dell S2716DG 1440p 144hz G-Sync monitor and FAIL! I can confirm that the Alienware rep above who said this would work is 100% wrong. I even called technical support and spent over 1 hour on the phone with them trying to troubleshoot it. The rep had to escalate the issue twice because they said it should support it...clearly they were wrong. I am outside of the 30 day return policy for the laptop and unfortunately am stuck with it. This is my first and last Alienware purchase. I am very disappointed in the lack of support knowledge that both the sales agents and technical support agents have about their own products. For $2,000+ I expect more. Shame on you Dell!

What wouldn't work? What was the setup actually capable of?

From http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-530.148358.0.html

"Displays can be connected via DP 1.2 / eDP 1.3 (max. 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz), whereas HDMI is limited to the older version 1.4a (max. 3840 x 2160 @ 30 Hz). However, HDMI 2.0 can be added using a DisplayPort converter. Up to three displays can be controlled simultaneously."

Does this reflect people's experience with external displays? Looks like the max through the display port, where the HD530 is used for rendering, is going to be 4K at 60Hz, regardless of whether the Nvidia GPU is used for processing, or not.

Is this what we are getting from the DP?

Any ideas what the the rear HDMI port is actually capable of?

The rear is HDMI 2.0 which is great and theoretically support 1440p 144hz; however, there are almost no monitors on the market that support that as an input. Instead you are required to use Display Port. The thing that really upsets me is that I had three seperate Dell reps tell me that I could usee the Thunderbolt 3 Port to run the 980M processor using a 1440p 144hz G-Sync enabled monitor. Only to find out after I make the purchases that if you use the Thunderbolt port it only uses the Intel GPU and not the Nvidia 980M (which is necessary to get through performance needed for gaming). This is a gaming laptop...yet Dell puts non-friendly gamong technology in place...