Question Noob Question About Changing Resolution

Jun 12, 2019
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So I used to use a pre-built gaming PC with a 1050ti and a 4K monitor but I played all of my games at 2160x1440. I built my new computer myself and upgraded to a 1080ti, but I've encountered a new problem and I don't know what's causing it. My games no longer let me enable 1440p, I'm stuck at 4K and the next option I'm given is 2048x1536, which I've never seen before and looks awful. I've tried using a custom resolution using NVIDIA's control panel but when I try it that way it looks blurry and stretched or I get black bars on the sides. Any advice? I have no idea what the hell I'm doing at this point. I'm assuming it's my GPU because I'm using the same monitor and I've never had this issue.
 
First, reset the BIOS to reset the hardware tables.

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. During that five minutes, press the power button on the case for 30 seconds. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.


Next, do a clean install of the Nvidia drivers, and by CLEAN, I do not mean just RE-install or just "install" a newer driver. Use the DDU and do a CLEAN install.

If there are any steps listed here that you have not already done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.


Second,

go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory tab. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.


Fourth,

Make sure the problem is not just a bad cable or the wrong cable IF this is a no display issue. If it is NOT related to a lack of display signal, then skip to the next step.

This happens a lot. Try a different cable or a different TYPE of cable. Sometimes there can be issues with the monitor or card not supporting a specific specification such as HDMI 1.4 vs HDMI 2.0, or even an HDMI output stops working but the Displayport or DVI output still works fine on the graphics card. Always worth checking the cable and trying other cables because cables get run over, bent, bent pins or simply were cheap quality to begin with and something as simple as trying a different cable or different monitor might be all that is required to solve your issue.


The last thing we want to look at,

for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.


If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.

 
What are your full system specs including OS version and build number?

CPU, motherboard, memory, Windows version, etc.?

Did you buy that 1080 TI new, or used? Was it a mining card and has possibly had the BIOS altered or flashed with a modified version?
 
Jun 12, 2019
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Win 10 Home Version 10.0.18362 Build 18362
i9-9900k
ASRock Z390 Taichi Ultimate
16GB RAM

I bought the 1080ti used from a reliable seller, ran at factory settings and never overclocked. I don't understand the last question though when it comes to BIOs or flashed. All I know is everything in this computer is brand new with the exception of the GPU.

EDIT: I'm not sure if this information would be pertinent but I thought I would include it just in case.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/17612626
 
Jun 12, 2019
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All of the above. When I first started playing some games I noticed in the graphics option menu’s I couldn’t find the 2160x1440p that I used to choose. Then I tried the windows options then I tried using the Nvidia control panel. Like I said it looked blurry when I tried the custom resolution option, it was strange. I don’t have a top of the line monitor like those super high refresh rate HDR displays but it’s native 4K. I’m obviously a layman when it comes to this stuff if that, but I have to assume it’s the GPU since my 1050 ti didn’t have this issue
 

TJ Hooker

Titan
Ambassador
When you say a 4K monitor, I'm assuming you mean a 3840x2160 (16:9) monitor?

2160x1440 is a 3:2 aspect ratio, that's pretty unusual, are you positive that's what you were running at previously? Because there's no way to run that on a 16:9 monitor without black bars or having it look stretched/distorted. Same things goes for 2048x1536 (4:3).
 
Jun 12, 2019
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100% sure it was 2160x1440p. It didn’t look stretched or blurry at all. That used to be the next option after 3840x2160 and it was an option for all of my games. I’m using an Acer Gaming Monitor 28” KG281K if that matters at all. I used an MSI GTX 1050 ti and 1440p was always an option for my games but with my 1080 ti it forces to to use 4K or the next option is 2048x1536, which I have never even seen until now.

If it is an issue with my GPU is there some software I could use to maybe reset it or something?
 

TJ Hooker

Titan
Ambassador
It is physically impossible to display a 3:2 image on a 16:9 monitor without some distortion/stretching (not sure what the best word would be) or black bars. I don't know what else to say. I don't know why it would appear different when you set it via a custom resolution now compared to how it was before.
 
Are you SURE you don't mean 2560 x 1440? Because now that I think about it, 2160 x 1440 isn't even listed as a configurable size on any of the common resolution lists for displays. Just to be sure, I've checked and double checked (Don't know why I didn't think of it previously but just assumed on a quick scan that your numbers were right) and it isn't possible for you to have had a 2160 x1440 resolution appear in any standard resolution listings.

It's just, not. And there are no 1440p resolutions that would look normal on a 4k display because 4k is 1080p x4, so there is no divisor for 4k that results in any resolution at or near 1440 at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_display_resolution