[SOLVED] Can A DVI to HDMI cable work for gaming?

[Kaid Kaid]

I recently built a pc but my monitor is kinda old so I needed to use a VGA to HDMI converter. But whenever i play games the screen kinda flickers. Now my friend wants to get the MSI Mech RX 5500xt but his monitor only supports dvi and the graphics card only supports dp and hdmi so he said he'll get a dvi to hdmi cable. My question is, will he end up with my same situation where it flickers when gaming, or does that only happen to me because im rocking vga to hdmi and dvi to hdmi is more reasonable? please help he's counting on me lol

 

[IamBestDuuD]

DVI -> HDMI works. Just single-link though. What that means, is that you are locked at 60 Hz. Yes, this is still very playable and usable for gaming. This is limited, due to HDMI having 19 pins compared to DL-DVI's 29 pins.

If your friend wants a better experience, please tell him to get DP -> DL-DVI. (144Hz refresh rate max, instead of SL-DVI's 60Hz)

 

[InvalidError]

If your friend wants a better experience, please tell him to get DP -> DL-DVI. (144Hz refresh rate max, instead of SL-DVI's 60Hz)

If his monitor is so old that it only has DVI inputs at best, then it is extremely unlikely to support more than 60Hz.

 

[LinuxDevice]

I recently built a pc but my monitor is kinda old so I needed to use a VGA to HDMI converter. But whenever i play games the screen kinda flickers. Now my friend wants to get the MSI Mech RX 5500xt but his monitor only supports dvi and the graphics card only supports dp and hdmi so he said he'll get a dvi to hdmi cable. My question is, will he end up with my same situation where it flickers when gaming, or does that only happen to me because im rocking vga to hdmi and dvi to hdmi is more reasonable? please help he's counting on me lol

There are both analog DVI-A, and digital DVI-D (and sometimes dual link DVI-I):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

You'll have better performance with DVI-D. The DVI-A is more or less just a different cable on the same old VGA. DVI-D adds not only a way to stay digital, this is where "plug-n-play" started for video (see the DDC channel/wire part of this). Analog is more likely to have flickering problems. The purely digital and plug-n-play has advantages both within a video mode and when changing modes.

Others have mentioned limitations on bandwidth (such as via mention of frame rate or resolution) from DVI in general. Beware that if you use the analog side of DVI, then you also have other loss of quality that the digital version has improved upon. It isn't until you get to HDMI and/or DisplayPort that this digital side really took off and showed the weaknesses of analog video. A DVI to HDMI adapter, in which the digital part of DVI is used is helpful, but in the long run if there is any way to shift to a true HDMI or DisplayPort the results would be significantly better.

 

[IamBestDuuD]

If his monitor is so old that it only has DVI inputs at best, then it is extremely unlikely to support more than 60Hz.

Yes, I know that. I was just mentioning it because DL-DVI is far more capable than SL-DVI.

 

[InvalidError]

Yes, I know that. I was just mentioning it because DL-DVI is far more capable than SL-DVI.

It isn't any more capable when the monitor it is being used on likely has single-link due to being 1920x1200p60 or less which doesn't need it. Can't even use the "futureproofing" argument for blowing extra money at a DP-DVI-DL adapter when most newer monitors have zero DVI inputs.

A $5 passive HDMI-DVI adapter or ~$15 equivalent cable should be all he needs.