I recently built my first rig and been using the hdmi cable that came with the MSI Optix G24C6 144hz monitor, which should be 1.4b. But now I remembered that the monitor is G-Sync compatible. Through googling I found out that majority prefers display port over hdmi but since I don’t have DP, I’m not exactly sure if it’s worth it (and hdmi 1.4b seems to support 144hrz anyway). What exactly does G-Sync do and should I get the DP for it?
Also, my gpu is AMD RX 5700, if that helps.
It’s a 1080p monitor, so you won’t be hitting the limits of HDMI vs DisplayPort bandwidth.
The product spec page says
- Display Port: 1920 x 1080 (Up to 144Hz)
- HDMI™1.4: 1920 x 1080 (Up to 144Hz)
Freesync can be used seemingly from DisplayPort 1.0, or with HDMI 1.2+ (protocol extension) or HDMI 2.1+ if your monitor supports it.
G-Sync must be through DisplayPort 1.2 or higher.
If you render at 144 Hz you won’t be needing or seeing anything noticeable from variable refresh rates. It’s most useful at lower framerates. So it depends on how (fast) your games/engines will render moreso than the refresh rate and cable.
You said in a comment your monitor supports Freesync, so HDMI 1.4 is likely useable for variable refresh rates through Freesync. Either way you can skip it with a high refresh rate of 144 Hz.
So I should be fine with HDMI, thanks
If you don’t have an Nvidia GPU you can’t use GSync. You can use FreeSync if you have it but variable refresh rates need at least HDMI 2.0.
What it does: your monitor relays a certain refresh rate to your gpu and if you turn on VSync, your gpu will not render more frames than your monitor can display. GSync and FreeSync make the monitor able to relay different refresh rates, making it possible for your gpu to render less frames whilst still showing a consistent picture.
So in short: if you don’t have a DP on your monitor you can’t use variable refresh rates anyway and GSync is out of the question.
I’ve looked up your monitor specs, if you really want to you can use FreeSync over displayport. It’ll require some setup in Windows and in your games.
Thanks! This monitor does support FreeSync. So the only option here is to either get hdmi 2.0\displayport or don’t use vrr, right?
Edit: I’ve seen your update, thanks a lot
To be clear: hdmi 2.0 is not a cable spec. The ports on both your gpu and your monitor can have a hdmi spec like 1.4 or 2.0 or 2.1. Cable specs are High Speed, Ultra High Speed or Ultra High Speed with Ethernet. Essentially they all work with all hdmi port specs.
Similar goes for displayport except the main cable just has one spec. Your monitor has HDMI 1.4 (no vrr) or DisplayPort 1.2. Your gpu does HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4. They are backwards compatible but the default to the lowest spec, so connecting HDMI means you can only use HDMI 1.4 spec and connecting DP means you can get DP1.2.
DisplayPort has a much higher bandwidth. Without going into detail I’d say for PC gaming DP is always better. Look up HDMI vs DP for more on the subject.
I actually went down this same path with my new monitor, I despise screen tearing (that vsync fixes), but I also hate the slight input latency (that vsync introduces). I ended up getting a display port cable and setting up FreeSync, which was a one time setup and now as long as I turn off vsync in all my games freesync is just permanently on, it’s great!
Just really depends how much you care or notice those two things, being screen tearing or vsync’s latency.
