New Sonoma Build - 2K Monitor Question

[Richdem]

Hi All,

I have just successfully completed my new build with the following:

MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WiFI
I7-10700
32GB Crucial DDR4-3600
1TB WD Black SN770

This is quite the upgrade from my old faithful Haswell Hack that has served me well over the last few years and I couldn't be happier as everything works including Bluetooth & WiFI. I am looking to upgrade my old 27 inch 1080P 60Hz Asus monitor to a 27 inch 2K monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate. Currently I am only using the HD630 iGPU but have room for a Dedicated GPU down the road.

My question is will I be able to make use of the higher refresh rate of a 2K monitor?, I am not looking to push it to the max but it would be really nice to be able to get to 120Hz (I have been spoilt by the ProMotion display on my M1 iPad Pro LOL)

Would love to hear your input and anything I might have to do to achieve this.

Thanks in advance

 

[trs96]

Use your onboard DP output, not HDMI as that will only give you 60hz at best.
The MSI site doesn't say it's DP 1.4 but I would assume that it is since it's a 10th gen board.

also make sure you're running Ventura or newer macOS as that seems to make a difference.

 

[Richdem]

The MSI site doesn't say it's DP 1.4 but I would assume that it is since it's a 10th gen board.

Thanks for the reply,

The manual for the board says the max displayport resolution is 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz.

Will I need any special boot args to achieve the higher refresh rate? I also am running Sonoma 14.4.4

 

[trs96]

IDK if it will work but you could try the SwitchResX app to see if it offers a 120Hz refresh when using iGPU.
If not, then buy a graphics card to get 120.

 

[Richdem]

IDK if it will work but you could try the SwitchResX app to see if it offers a 120Hz refresh when using iGPU.
If not, then buy a graphics card to get 120.

I thought I would report back, I just picked up a Dell 27 Inch QHD 165Hz 1ms (G2724D) monitor to try, connected with the included DisplayPort cable and straight away resolution was set to 2560 x 1440 and I was able to select a refresh rate of 165Hz. Man it is night and day different from my old 1080P 60Hz Asus monitor.

This build has me smiling from ear to ear and is now going to be my daily driver instead of my Dell 3060 with Win 10. I must also be on a lucky roll, I picked up what I thought was a gently used wired full size Apple Keyboard for $20 CDN off FB Marketplace and it turned out to actually be a wireless Magic Keyboard !