Connecting my GE Force 560 Ti to a new monitor

dmcmillen

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My Samsung SyncMaster 226BW 22" monitor is failing and I need to replace with a new monitor (24"). It will be connected to a GeForce 560 Ti which has Dual Link DVI-I connectors. The 226BW has a DVI-D dual link connector and is currently connected to the 560Ti via a DVI-D dual link cable.

I'm finding very few monitors with DVI connections. Most that I have looked at so far have HDMI, DisplayPort, mini-DisplayPort, or USB-C or a combination of those.

What is the best way to connect from the DVI-I on the 560Ti to whatever new monitor I choose assuming it does not have a DVI input?
 

That, again, is the other way around as well :)

DVI to DisplayPort adapters as you would suggest, are very uncommon, and the ones that do exist are quite unreliable.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IPYTFQM/#customerReviews
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007XQQ92M/#customerReviews

Whereas DVI-HDMI passive adapters are extremely reliable, since it is effectively the same as a straight HDMI connection with no adapters at all, so it works basically every time.
https://www.amazon.com/BlueRigger-Speed-Adapter-Cable-Meters/dp/B004S4R5CK/
 

dmcmillen

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My main concern and why I posted the question is loss of capability in the conversion. The dual link 560Ti DVI-I is a 24 + 4 pin output. The 4 pins are for analog which I don't use and the 226bw doesn't support. HDMI is 19 pin and DisplayPort is 20 pin. I haven't looked at the 5 pin difference between DVI and HDMI, but I suspect for my needs this would not be a problem. The descriptions for DisplayPort pins don't compare to the pin descriptions for DVI or HDMI so without further study I wouldn't know how to compare. My gut feeling at this point with my limited knowledge is to stay away from DisplayPort.

In my 40+ years of experience, I have never had the occasion to use a powered adapter, but I have used a lot of passive adapters.

Think, the customer reviews on the DisplayPort adapter would tend to scare me off.
 
HDMI is an extension to the DVI standard. The extra 6 pins on a DVI connector (besides the analog pins) are for Dual-Link connections. In the case of a DVI-HDMI passive adapter, these pins would simply remain unconnected, and it just becomes an 19-pin Single-Link DVI / HDMI connection.
 

dmcmillen

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So the 560Ti supports dual link 2560 x 1600 output. If the adapter reduces that back to a single link, isn't that also giving a max of 1920 x 1080 which would mean I couldn't take advantage of a WQHD monitor, e. g. Keep me honest here.
 

dmcmillen

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Upon a closer look, the 560Ti does have a mini-HDMI port. The 560Ti specs site a caveat for HDMI support:

3 - Support for HDMI including GPU accelerated Blu-ray 3D support (Blu-ray 3D playback requires the purchase of a compatible software player from CyberLink, ArcSoft, Corel, or Sonic), x.v.Color, HDMI Deep Color, and 7.1 digital surround sound will be added in a Release 260 driver. Upgrade your GPU to full 3D capability with NVIDIA 3DTV Play software, enabling 3D gaming, picture viewing and 3D web video streaming.
 
So the 560Ti supports dual link 2560 x 1600 output. If the adapter reduces that back to a single link, isn't that also giving a max of 1920 x 1080 which would mean I couldn't take advantage of a WQHD monitor, e. g. Keep me honest here.
That is correct. You said you were looking for a 24" monitor so I assumed you weren't looking for more than 1080p.
 

dmcmillen

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Glenwing, that's a reasonable assumption. My 226bw is a 1680 x 1050 monitor. Since I was moving from a 22" to a 24" I figured a 1080 monitor would be fine. I don't want anything greater that 24" or 25" because it requires too much head movement. Right now I'm just keeping my options open, reevaluating how I work. I also have a Dell Latitude and a Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga that I would sometimes want to hook up to the new monitor.

Anyway you've been very helpful in helping me get my head around how this works.