Can the 2014 Razer Blade 14" output to an ultra widescreen monitor?

Most of the ultra widescreen monitors seem to be 2560x1080 but a couple are 3440x1440. Can the new Razer Blade 14 output to either or both using HDMI?

 

It works fine on my Dell U2913WM @ 2560x1080/60Hz.

 

Yea? No issues whatsoever? That's good to hear

Anyone know if 3440x1440 would work?

 

I think its fair to say you're good up to 3840x2160 with the GXT 870M
GeForce GTX 870M | Specifications | GeForce

 

It's more a limitation of the HDMI output then GPU.

 

I would assume the HDMI port is not the bottleneck; it'd have to be pre-2010 spec (pre 4k standard)

However, I also assumed it would be HDMI 2.0 on the new blade, but it's actually 1.4a.
You're still good though, 1.4 + is what brought up to 4k (3840×2160) support.

 

One thing to watch though is while we know the blade can drive 4k at 30 hz, where is the limit of where it can drive 60 hz? (2560x1440?) and can any custom resolutions be added beyond whatever that limit is to get anything higher than 30 hz?

I will know that answer tomorrow when my 4K display arrives, but that will not answer your question about the ultra wide screen I'm afraid.

 

Yes, that is my main concern: Driving 3440x1440 at 60hz with HDMI 1.4a. If anyone knows for certain that would help me greatly in deciding which monitor to buy

 

I will try that resolution and let you know what I come up with. I just don't know what resolutions will be available by default and if I can create a custom one like you mentioned.

 

Awesome! I look forward to the results and appreciate the help!

 

My reading of several sources of 1.4a information (Wikipedia.org, hdmi.org) suggests strongly to me that anything over 1080p will be limited to something less than 60hz refresh rates - various resolutions up to full 4k are supported by the standard at 24hz, 25hz and 30hz.

If you buy a high-end external monitor with over 1080 resolution and high-refresh rate capabilities, be aware that with the Blade's HDMI 1.4a limitation you may not be gaming at those resolutions beyond 30hz - not exactly ideal for a $3k+ gaming experience.

Have a look at this, in particular:

http://www.hdmi.org/download/press_kit/PressBriefing_HDMI1_4_Final_083109.pdf

On page 26, it contains the following information:

Same resolution as many state of the art digital theaters
Up to 4 times the resolution of 1080p
3840x2160 24Hz |25Hz |30Hz
4096x2160 24Hz

 

So found some info about the hdmi 1.4a and oculus:

"Since the Rift outputs two 900x1080p images, it's not outputting full 1080p twice... It's outputting slightly less than 1080p once.

We're fine. Nothing to worry about."

So 75hz should work?

 

Not sure if this helps but to give you perspective, I was unable to run an external with a res of 2560x1440@60. Intel drivers would complain of exceeding the available bandwidth. I believe the highest I got was 2560x1440@58. Considering you plan on something wider than what I have, you may be able to push the resolution but at the cost of lower frame rates.

 

You can't configure 2560x1440@60 on the internal display using the Intel software's custom-resolution profiler, either. Same error message. Seems very odd, since it seems perfectly happy to drive the panel's 3200x1800@60 native resolution. One would think that would require a great deal more bandwidth than 2560x1440@60 (about 1.5 times more, if my math doesn't fail me).

You also get the insufficient bandwidth message for 2560x1440@48 and 2560x1440@40, which I tried since the device capabilities for the panel list 60/48/40 hertz versions of each supported resolution.

 

That doesn't bode well I guess I'll be limited to a 2560x1080 monitor if I want 60Hz.

 

I had no issues choosing 2560x1440@60 from the standard resolution list.

3840x2160 was of course 30hz max due to HDMI 1.4

I was able to add a custom resolution of 3440x1440@40 (and 30) but even though it accepted it, and allows you to pick it and apply, the screen never changes. I think the reason why is the "maintain display scaling" option is checked and you can't uncheck it. I can switch to another standard different aspect ratio and change that setting, but it's just not there for certain resolutions.

The fact that it accepts it and shows up is something I suppose. I tried to force anything above 30 hz at 4k and they all say "exceeds bandwidth. I think there are driver limitations otherwise you should be able to push it a little further. My HDMI cable is over double the bandwidth needed for 4k so it should be able to do much more than 30hz without some sort of driver limitation.

Honestly the little I've played I may actually be happy using the 30hz as long as it doesn't drop below. If I get headaches or it bothers me I will use 2560x1440@60, it looks great on this display.

I wish I knew how to mess with the advanced custom resolutions more, I still think there is hope for higher refresh rates at 4k or even custom modes like the 3440x1440. It's definitely a driver sort of limitation because you can't choose selections that are much less bandwidth and it still give that exceeds bandwidth error.

*edit* Got it! I had to uncheck the box that said "hide modes that this monitor cannot display".

Confirmed it will do 3440x1440@44 hz I couldn't get anything higher than that. I would say that's totally usable unless you're sensitive to lower refresh rates on modern displays.

I also got 4k going at 33 hz, hey its not much, but 10% more

3200x1800@37 worked too

 

44 hz is much better than 30! I really appreciate the research you've done! Thanks a lot!

 

Good to know since I'm running the same monitor and was worried about getting a letter boxed picture when I finally get a Blade.

 

How well do games run at that resolution on the Blade?

 

Depends on the game but I would think it would struggle a bit with today's games on Ultra settings but some older titles should be playable if they support that res.They might be OK on high or medium settings.
Just guessing though since most games struggle with native res and I haven't tried it myself.