I have a gaming laptop, and want to buy a 144hz monitor. I have a few in mind, but I've ran into a problem: What cable should I get?

[Phantonex]

My laptop has an hdmi port, and a usb-c port. Both of these options have been very confusing and I need to know if they will support 144hz.

 

HDMI: My laptop has a HDMI 2.0 port, and the monitor I am considering has an HDMI 1.4 port. Would an HDMI cable support 144hz in this scenario? Any specific cable I should get?
 

The other option is USB-C. My main question is whether or not my laptop's USB-C port supports video output. In the manual, it says it supports up to USB 3.1(SuperSpeed USB, 5 Gbps). Would a USB-C to displayport cable support 144hz in this scenario?

 

Which of these options is better? Thanks in advance. 

[AndreiArgeanu]

x

 

[Gamer4714]

6 minutes ago, Phantonex said:

My laptop has an hdmi port, and a usb-c port. Both of these options have been very confusing and I need to know if they will support 144hz.

 

HDMI: My laptop has a HDMI 2.0 port, and the monitor I am considering has an HDMI 1.4 port. Would an HDMI cable support 144hz in this scenario? Any specific cable I should get?
 

The other option is USB-C. My main question is whether or not my laptop's USB-C port supports video output. In the manual, it says it supports up to USB 3.1(SuperSpeed USB, 5 Gbps). Would a USB-C to displayport cable support 144hz in this scenario?

 

Which of these options is better? Thanks in advance. 

HDMI 1.4 would be able to handle 1080 144 hz no problem but 4k would not come out good. And you cannot be sure about whether or not that usb port can output video signal. If it's a fairly new laptop like from 2019 or 2020 most probably it could. But older than that chances are lower

[Senzelian]

9 minutes ago, Phantonex said:

Any specific cable I should get?

Nothing specific, but it should be of good quality. Any HDMI cable will support the standard, but only good ones will be able to transmit it without any issues.

[Phantonex]

1 minute ago, Senzelian said:

Nothing specific, but it should be of good quality. Any HDMI cable will support the standard, but only good ones will be able to transmit it without any issues.

Could you recommend a good cable on Amazon? A lot of the ones I'm finding only say they support 60hz, nothing about 144.

[Senzelian]

2 minutes ago, Phantonex said:

Could you recommend a good cable on Amazon? A lot of the ones I'm finding only say they support 60hz, nothing about 144.

Depends on where you live.
Here in Germany I'd say get it either from KabelDirekt or Lindy. I don't know of any good quality cables outside of Germany.

[Phantonex]

15 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

You didn't mention the resolution. But HDMI 1.4 can handle 1080p at 144hz. And unless specified it's unlikely your USB C is capable of outputting a display port compatible signal

Thank you, this is helpful. Would it be worth getting a monitor with HDMI 2.0 just to be safe? There's so much conflicting information regarding HDMI and 144hz, and while the chart says 1.4 supports 144hz, would it be worth getting the higher data rate just to be safe?

 

These are the two monitors I am looking at. The first has HDMI 1.4 and the second has 2.0.

 

https://www.amazon.com/VG248QG-G-Sync-Compatible-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B07TNM8L6S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&linkId=d4870f2dceb29ad22c9777188cefe7bb&language=en_US

 

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-VG240Y-Pbiip-FREESYNC-Technology/dp/B07VFPYRP3/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=144hz%2Bmonitor%2Bhdmi%2B2.0&qid=1624822524&sr=8-3&th=1

[Eigenvektor]

14 minutes ago, Phantonex said:

The other option is USB-C. My main question is whether or not my laptop's USB-C port supports video output.

Hard to say, since you didn't mention the laptop model. The USB port needs to support DP Alt-Mode, which isn't a given. 5 Gbps is the slowest USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 speed.

 

The lowest HDMI version determines the maximum resolution and refresh rate you can get, so in this case it would be the monitor (HDMI 1.4). You can check the forum's calculator to see what the maximums are.

[Phantonex]

7 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

Depends on where you live.
Here in Germany I'd say get it either from KabelDirekt or Lindy. I don't know of any good quality cables outside of Germany.

I'm in the US.

[Glenwing]

4 minutes ago, Phantonex said:

Thank you, this is helpful. Would it be worth getting a monitor with HDMI 2.0 just to be safe? There's so much conflicting information regarding HDMI and 144hz, and while the chart says 1.4 supports 144hz, would it be worth getting the higher data rate just to be safe?

 

These are the two monitors I am looking at. The first has HDMI 1.4 and the second has 2.0.

 

https://www.amazon.com/VG248QG-G-Sync-Compatible-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B07TNM8L6S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&linkId=d4870f2dceb29ad22c9777188cefe7bb&language=en_US

 

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-VG240Y-Pbiip-FREESYNC-Technology/dp/B07VFPYRP3/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=144hz%2Bmonitor%2Bhdmi%2B2.0&qid=1624822524&sr=8-3&th=1

Really any HDMI cable will work for 1080p 144 Hz. Most monitors will come with a cable included that you can use.

[Eigenvektor]

3 minutes ago, Phantonex said:

There's so much conflicting information regarding HDMI and 144hz, and while the chart says 1.4 supports 144hz, would it be worth getting the higher data rate just to be safe?

This depends on the resolution and color depth. HDMI 1.4 has a maximum bandwidth of 8.16 Gbps. If the combination of resolution, color depth and refresh rate requires less than this, then you can run it. Otherwise you can't. HDMI 2.0 has a higher bandwidth (14.4 Gbps), so it can run higher refresh rates at higher resolutions.

 

You can use the calculator to see what the limits are:

 

[Phantonex]

1 minute ago, Glenwing said:

Really any HDMI cable will work for 1080p 144 Hz. Most monitors will come with a cable included that you can use.

Which of these two monitors do you think I should get? I want to spend $200 or less. The first is up to 165hz and has G-sync but only has USB 1.4 and doesn't come with an HDMI cable. The second is 144hz with HDMI 2.0 and does come with an HDMI cable.

 

https://www.amazon.com/VG248QG-G-Sync-Compatible-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B07TNM8L6S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&linkId=d4870f2dceb29ad22c9777188cefe7bb&language=en_US

 

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-VG240Y-Pbiip-FREESYNC-Technology/dp/B07VFPYRP3/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=144hz+monitor+hdmi+2.0&qid=1624823020&sr=8-3