If I Buy a 4K 144hz 32" Monitor Can My Laptop Support It?

wmxc on 21/11/2022 - 20:36

Hi all,

I have got a Dell laptop. External ports are:

  • One Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C) port
  • One HDMI 2.0 port

I know HDMI 2.0 will not be able to do 4K 144 hz. But can the thunderbolt 3 do 4k 144 hz? I am planning to buy the Gigabyte M32U.

I also have another Samsung monitor that I would connect to the HDMI port 2.0 and use it as a secondary 4k 60 HZ monitor.

So, I guess my other question is would I be limited to 60Hz on the Gigabyte M32U, if I were to also simultaneously use a Samsung 4k 60 hz monitor?

Thank you in advance!

Computing

Comments

  • baronorder on 21/11/2022 - 20:51
    +1

    Check the version of displayport that your machine supports over TB3 as it can be anything from 1.2 at a minimum to 1.4 if you are lucky. 1.2 is not going to cut the mustard for 144hz @ 4K and 1.4 will still need DSC support on the laptop to get there.

    Bigger question will you have enough GPU (or old / low end enough games) to be getting 144hz at 4K or would you be happier running at a lower res until you get something newer?

    • wmxc on 21/11/2022 - 21:01

      Hey thanks for the reply.

      Can I ask, why can I not use a USB C to HDMI cable (USB C connects to the laptop and HDMI to the monitor)? Would it not work?

      Also this is the quote from the specifications page from the Dell page:

      Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C) port

      Supports USB 3.1 Gen 2, DisplayPort 1.2, Thunderbolt 3 and also enables you to connect to an external display using a display adapter.

      Provides data transfer rates up to 10 Gbps for USB 3.1 Gen 2 and up to 40 Gbps for Thunderbolt 3.

      • baronorder on 21/11/2022 - 21:10

        You can use a USB C to HDMI adapter and it would work exactly the same but it will still be subject to the same bandwidth limits so you will be able to do 4k@60hz without issues (with the right adapter) but getting to 144hz is going to be impossible.
        Most adapters simply act as a conversion between the displayport output on the USB C port and HDMI so there is really no way of bypassing that limitation without using something like an external thunderbolt GPU dock and connecting directly to the output of the external GPU (which would hopefully support HDMI2.1 / DP1.4).

        • wmxc on 21/11/2022 - 21:13

          Right, thank you. I have got a lot of thinking to do now. Its either buy the 4k 144hz M32U monitor and wait to upgrade my laptop in the future that would make full use of the monitor.

          Or just buy one more 60 HZ 4k monitor..hmm

          • baronorder on 21/11/2022 - 21:26

            @wmxc: You are much more likely to replace the laptop / machine much more often than the monitor so monitor purchases with an eye to the future are always a good idea.
            If you are looking to splash on something for gaming then you might be better off looking a little up the gigabyte stack as you can grab an OLED FO48U for about $1450-1550 at the moment. That would give you a nice bump in size, the ability to be flexible about resolution as you can easily run sub native res without scaling in games along with much better perceived overall performance compared to the M32U as 120 on the OLED is going to look a lot better overall than 144 on an IPS panel provided you have the right light control in the room.

  • frondono on 21/11/2022 - 22:20

    4K 144hz is a lot of monitor to push with a laptop. Just look how cheap the 1440 144hz monitors are compared to a few years ago. 144hz 4k you need to be looking at the top of the tree of the new gen for that kind of performance. 4090, 7900xtx.

  • plmko on 21/11/2022 - 22:21

    The answer is no.

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