M17x with a 30" dell monitor

Today i bought a hdmi cable and a hdmi to dvi adapter so i would be able to run my dell 30" monitor with my M17x laptop, i plug it in and am only able to run some absurdly low resolution (1400x800 maybe?) not the 2560x1600 i was hoping. Anyone know why?

im running 2 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 cards

 

you should be able to manually force the resolutution that you want. I do not have the ati cards, but there should be a setting in your cc panel..

 

Alienware M17x HMDI Plug is 1.2 and will only Support 1600x1200 (Or less Im not sure.) You can search around the forums. There is someone else posting about it.

Edit; found the post.

Link here; M17x HDMI

 

so if i run it through the display port will i be able to get 2560x1600 res?

 

Yeah your outta luck cause the M17x don't have a display port! The HDMI would only maxx out at 1920x1080 for TV res only. Most of the newer Computer Displays do come with HDMI in but it's ideal for DVD/Blue Ray connectivity. And most of them that has that is a 1920x1080 screen.But in your case the 30in monitor would not work at full res!

 

The m17x does have a Display Port.

 

Oh??? Wait, what was I thinking... you mean the USB look alike next to the HDMI?? I was thinking about another thing...never mind...It has a D on top of it...thanks for the referesh!!! I didn't even notice it, until I look at it agian!

 

I didn't either... lol I remember it has it , but I never knew how it looked like, till I looked at it closer.

 

sooooo i found out that its 1.3 HDMI, not 1.2.... sooooo they said it was because the hdmi to dvi adapter was a class a adapter and i need to buy a class b adapter... thoughts?

 

buy an hdmi to dvi cord not adapter? i have one and it works way better.

 

k will give that a try, thx

 

didn't work.... anyone have any other suggestions?

 

how did you find out it is hdmi 1.3...?

because this all points to the 1.2 being the limiting factor

 

Hi,

If you want to use the display port, you will need this:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Cables/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=330-5521

The Ati cards (in contrast to Nvidia cards) are able to output that resolution. Note, this *should* work but I have not tested it myself.

 

ouch 100$, seems like the best solution thou... i'll give it a try

 

when you get it to work post some giant screen shots and tell us the fps you were getting!

 

M17x does not have Display Port. The input that "looks like" Display Port is USB + eSATA.

 

Thats incorect, the M17x does have a display port connection.

Please reference: http//support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/M17x/en/M17x_ComprehensiveSpecs_EN.zip

 

+ rep for you later when I can

 

well i got it working guys and it looks great, playing Global Agenda L4D2 and ME2 on highest video settings 2560x1600 with a min FPS of around 30 usually hovering around 40, if i put the video setting on medium ive got a min framerate of around 55 ingame... i'll post pics when i can find my camera... thanks for the advice

lovin this laptop

 

so the SLI 280 cards do not support the 2560 x 1600 res ????

 

That's great and all, but what did you do to get it to work?

Would help others out as they helped you....

 

I just have a new issue that came up. I received a 24in Dell external screen today and here is what is happening.

When plugged through the D-Sub port, I am able to get 1920x1080 but when plugged through the HDMI port, I am able to select 1920x1080 but the screen is not full screen. There is like a 1in margin all around.

I tried different drivers and played around in switching in between main screen and second screen but nothing will do.

Did anyone have this sort of issue?

 

Here is a pic to help understand:

 

should that screen not support 1920 x 1200 ?

which model is it

 

It's the ST2410. It's 1920x1080

But when connected with the D-Sub it is full screen.

Of course I checked different drivers and settings always making sure full screen is selected. I don't get it.

 

For ATI cards you need to open up CCC, go to display, properties, scaling - then set the overscan to 0%

For nvidia cards I believe there is a similar setting in the nvidia control panel - something like scale windows to fit my screen or something..

 

10 char....

 

Ok, just installed the 9.12 Catalyst and it's there. It works. Thanks +1 rep

 

OK, one more stupid question...


Sorry, I just have never used HDMI connection before.

The sound is now going to the screen but the screen does not have all the plugs for all my speakers.

How do I just send the video to the screen and leave the audio on the PC?

 

control Panel - Sound options

Select the Audio output - to what ever device you want

 

I usually just right-click the sound icon, select playback devices, and enable/disable or set a default sound device from there...

 

Yep that works great. Thanks for the help guys.