Can't go over 1920x1080 on new 4k monitor :( help?

[BTC_Predictions]

Hey guys,

So I just bought this new sexy 28 inch 4k resolution monitor. I hooked it up to my laptop (MSI GE70 running Windows 7) using the hdmi cable and the max resolution available was 1920x1080. When I tried using the DisplayPort it went up to some resolution in the 2k range but still could not reach 3840x2160. I talked to support for both the monitor (Samsung) and the laptop (MSI) for a while and still haven't gotten the problem solved. The HDMI cable DOES support 4k, as does the HDMI port in my computer.

I believe the issue might be that the computer uses this integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 instead of the dedicated NVIDIA geforce gtx 660. It uses the dedicated card for graphics intense applications such as games, but for everything else it seems to use the integrated card.

I tried to solve this problem by forcing the computer to use the NVIDIA card. I changed settings in the NVIDIA control panel to prefer the NVIDIA processor. This didn't work, so I tried to go into the BIOS to force it to use the NVIDIA card but there was no option for determining the primary GPU.

Does anyone know if I am on the right track here or if I am missing something? Has anyone encountered this problem before? It's getting pretty annoying -_-

I appreciate any help I can get. Thanks,
Kevin

 

[rhysiam]

HDMI 1.4 will only drive 4K @ 30hz. So you won't get what you want over HDMI, you'll need displayport.

I suspect, from your description, that you're using "Nvidia Optimus". It uses the (low-power) onboard graphics for basic tasks and reverts to the discrete GPU when you fire up a game. If I understand Optimus correctly, it actually routes the output from the discrete GPU through the integrated graphics. In other words it's actually the Intel HD Graphics which is sending the video to the display. You should be able to disable Optimus and (hopefully) have the GTX 660M itself send the signal via displayport, which should expose the full 4K options.

 

[Paul NZ]

Which GE70 is it?? The 4 I've checked only have Nvidia gfx not both. And none of them have a 660 adapter

Only 650M, 765M, 860M, and 750M

You sure about that? Because the other system here a desktop says it supports 4K but it doesnt say @ 30 mhz, it says 60

It doesnt have displayport. But it does say via HDMI or displayport on the site

 

[BTC_Predictions]

HDMI 1.4 will only drive 4K @ 30hz. So you won't get what you want over HDMI, you'll need displayport.

I suspect, from your description, that you're using "Nvidia Optimus". It uses the (low-power) onboard graphics for basic tasks and reverts to the discrete GPU when you fire up a game. If I understand Optimus correctly, it actually routes the output from the discrete GPU through the integrated graphics. In other words it's actually the Intel HD Graphics which is sending the video to the display. You should be able to disable Optimus and (hopefully) have the GTX 660M itself send the signal via displayport, which should expose the full 4K options.

Yeah I know that it only goes up to 30hz for 4k resolution through hdmi. Unfortunately this laptop doesn't have displayport, but 30hz should be fine.

Yes it is using Optimus. I believe that is what the problem is - it is using the integrated card instead of the NVIDIA card. That is why I was trying to figure out how to force the computer to use the NVIDIA card. I'll do some research to see about disabling Optimus though.

 

[BTC_Predictions]

Which GE70 is it?? The 4 I've checked only have Nvidia gfx not both. And none of them have a 660 adapter

Only 650M, 765M, 860M, and 750M

You sure about that? Because the other system here a desktop says it supports 4K but it doesnt say @ 30 mhz, it says 60

It doesnt have displayport. But it does say via HDMI or displayport on the site

I'm not sure which GE 70 it is but it's definitely a GE 70 (says it in big fancy letters on the computer) and it definitely has the nvidia geforce gtx 660m. When I talked to support at MSI they said the hardware definitely supports 4k resolution through hdmi.

 

[TheAterix]

it can run 4k, but it cant do it at anything more than 40hz, unless its hdmi 2.0 which only the gtx 970 and 980 Gpus have...

 

[Pr3di]

You can check for more details here:
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=172680.0

I`m really curious if there is any work`around for this, but for now, it doesn`t seem to be any work-around that will force the dedicated GPU to work full-time.

 

[BTC_Predictions]

Okay so I've figured out what is going on. I was able to get it to 2560x1440 by going into the intel graphics hd 4000 control panel and creating a custom resolution. I tried creating a 3840x2260 custom resolution but it wouldn't let me do it unless I used interlaced option and low hertz. When I set the monitor to use this resolution, some of the colors seem to be kinda messed up and things don't render properly. Obviously, this is because the graphics are rendering with the intel card instead of the nvidia card.

So I called MSI to try to figure out how to override this stupid NVIDIA Optimus thing and make the computer JUST use the dedicated card, and basically he told me it's impossible. The HDMI output is hard wired to the intel integrated card, so there will always be that bottleneck of the Intel card. This seems like a ridiculously stupid design idea to me -_- but whatever, I'll live with 1440p until I buy a new computer in the next couple weeks.