[SOLVED] Why isn't my monitor displaying at 165Hz like it's supposed to?

[twool1939]

Just got a new monitor, the MSI AG32C
I know it's not exactly the latest and greatest monitor, but it is 32 inch 1920x 1080 which is all I plan to game at because I have a GTX 1060 and if I go any higher resolution it will drop frame rates by quite a bit, either way that's beside the point.

The specifications for this monitor are 165Hz 1080p, that is ideally perfect for me, the only problem I am having with it is the fact that it will only display at 120Hz when the specifications says that it will display at 165Hz. I have seen screenshots of nvidia control panel showing that it will display at 165 but for some reason my nvidia control panel only shows it at 120Hz. This monitor came with an HDMI cable and a display port cable, I was unable to use either one of the cables because they were short around 3 feet and I needed a little bit longer, so I bought a 6 foot HDMI cable and I am using that instead. I am wondering if anybody knows why or if there is any way I can fix this to make it display at 165Hz like it's supposed to. Do I need to use the included cables to make that work properly or is the HDMI cable that I bought and I'm using right now not good enough? I might be wrong but I do believe it is HDMI 2.0.
I don't know… Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Barty1884]

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824475004

1 x HDMI (v1.4)

You'd need to use DisplayPort to drive 165Hz.

 

[Glenwing]

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824475004

1 x HDMI (v1.4)

You'd need to use DisplayPort to drive 165Hz.

Product page says HDMI 2.0 and specifically mentions it supports 165 Hz over HDMI.

https://www.msi.com/Monitor/Optix-AG32C/Specification

The specifications for this monitor are 165Hz 1080p, that is ideally perfect for me, the only problem I am having with it is the fact that it will only display at 120Hz when the specifications says that it will display at 165Hz.

If you are trying to set the refresh rate from the NVIDIA control panel, make sure you are selecting from the "PC" section of the list, not the TV section.

Otherwise, try setting a custom resolution as described in Section 6 here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3675170/connect-120-display-construction.html

 

[Barty1884]

Hmmm, weird. I thought Newegg's info was supplied by the manufacturer.
Curious.

What GPU do you have OP? Anything 900 series or greater (or RX on the AMD front, which probably makes the most sense with a FreeSync monitor) should have HDMI 2.0 support.

 

[twool1939]

Okay I went and double checked the Nvidia control panel and you were right, I was looking at the TV section of that list so I scroll down a bit to the PC section and when I highlighted 1920x1080 it showed the refresh rate as 144Hz and not 165Hz. 144 is obviously good enough for me but considering the fact that I paid a little bit more than $300 for this monitor I would really like to get it working at the full potential that it's supposed to.
As for the other question, I answered it in my original post but I will answer it again, I am using Nvidia GTX 1060

 

[Barty1884]

Sorry, didn't see 1060 when I read the post (somehow!).
I'm gonna duck out of this thread at 0/2:lol:

 

[twool1939]

LOL, no need to duck out of this thread, a mistake is a mistake, happens to everybody they might have missed something small. Either way, anything at all would be really appreciate, I'm kind of a newbie at this topic, but I do know the basics and can learn fairly easily this stuff that I don't know, I just can't figure out for the life of me why my monitor is only driving at 144Hz when it is supposed to be 165 and as far as I can tell, I am using a sufficient HDMI cable. I don't know… Maybe I will just have to settle for 144 and not the 165 that my monitor is capable of.

 

[Barty1884]

For the purposes of troubleshooting, why not try the DP cable that shipped with the monitor? See if 165Hz is available at that point?

As Glenwing linked, MSI do state that 165Hz should be achievable via HDMI.
I have seen some limitations due to the specific HDMI cable used.... Glenwing's own article goes into some specifics:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3675170/connect-120-display-construction.html#20840974

It may simply be that your 6ft HDMI cable isn't up to the task of driving >144Hz.

 

[twool1939]

Yeah I guess that's what I'm going to do, is just try that DP cable and see if that makes any difference, I can't do that right now though, long story short, my computer desk set up doesn't let a 3 foot cable connect from my monitor to the PC, so I'm going to have to get a new cable, thankfully they don't cost much, just really frustrated and annoyed that this monitor is not working exactly like it says it should.
As for the HDMI cable, it was only at cheap $10 cable I got off Amazon a couple months ago, but it was 2.0, at least that's what it says on the packaging. I suppose trying a different HDMI cable wouldn't hurt.

 

[Barty1884]

Couldn't you simply move your monitor or desktop temporarily, for troubleshooting purposes? Save spending money if it turns out not to be necessary?

Unfortunately, many cables on Amazon (and other places) falsely advertise what they can do. Same with "active" adapters, or fake dual-link DVI cables etc.

Not saying it's definitely the cable here, but sounds like a good place to start.

 

[Glenwing]

LOL, no need to duck out of this thread, a mistake is a mistake, happens to everybody they might have missed something small. Either way, anything at all would be really appreciate, I'm kind of a newbie at this topic, but I do know the basics and can learn fairly easily this stuff that I don't know, I just can't figure out for the life of me why my monitor is only driving at 144Hz when it is supposed to be 165 and as far as I can tell, I am using a sufficient HDMI cable. I don't know… Maybe I will just have to settle for 144 and not the 165 that my monitor is capable of.

You may need to enable to 165 Hz refresh rate in the monitor's internal menu. Most 165 Hz monitors (including my Dell S2417DG) are limited to 144 Hz until you select to enable the 165 Hz from the monitor menu. Then the option will appear in Windows.