15 R3, AW2518H, stuck at 60Hz!

Question

I recently bought an Alienware AW2518H G-Sync 240Hz monitor. I connected to my 15 R3 GTX 1060, i7-7700HQ via mDP to DP. But, I cant seem to run the advertised 240Hz? I am stuck at 60Hz regardless of what cable I use, HDMI or DP. I checked the Nvidia control panel and display properties in Windows but the max refresh rate is still at 60Hz. Can someone run me through this? Everything is actually working as it should like G-Sync except for the higher refresh rate option. Things I did are the following =

1. Changed the cables
2. Tried four different GPU drivers
3. Installed the AW2518H monitor driver
4. Played with the settings in the Nvidia control panel
5. Tried to make a custom resolution from the Nvidia control panel but it goes black and nothing happens
6. Switched main Display here and there

Please help! I am out of ideas already!

MikeB2308 · Answer

You might have a bad DP cable...Forget HDMI.....Won't work with that refresh rate....

jphughan · Answer

G-Sync only works on DisplayPort anyway. Depending on the revision of HDMI your display and system support (and the resolution you want to run), HDMI can sometimes offer higher refresh rates, but not G-Sync variable refresh rate. In terms of the issue itself, if memory serves, the AW 15 R3 has both Intel and NVIDIA GPUs installed. NVIDIA Control Panel will show you which display outputs are wired to which GPU, I believe either in the PhysX or multi-display area of the application. If the DisplayPort output is wired to the Intel GPU, then you can't use G-Sync at all because G-Sync requires the NVIDIA GPU to have direct control of the display output; it can't be used through NVIDIA Optimus, which is the technology whereby the NVIDIA GPU can act as a render-only device that passes completed video frames to the Intel GPU for output to displays. And I'm not certain about this, but it's also possible that the Intel GPU is limited to 60 Hz, and/or that Optimus only works at 60 Hz.

If the system's DisplayPort output is in fact wired to the NVIDIA GPU and you're already using the DisplayPort input on the display, I agree with the suggestion above to try a different cable. 1080p at 240 Hz requires the same bandwidth as 4K at 60 Hz, and not all DisplayPort cables can carry that reliably.