Connecting an external screen to P170HMx?

After spending a whole day today at the internet café, I was amazed with how different shooter games feel like when playing via 120hz screens compared to the laptops 60hz.

So I'm considering on getting this:
XL2420T/TX | The XL Journey | BenQ Gaming Monitor

Will it be possible to connect it to my latop and use it as my main screen?

EDIT:

Lol just realised this means I'm going to have to get a new keyboard. Lol I'm halfway towards a stationary PC. Well it doesn't matter fact remains is it possible?

 

Yep, it should work fine. It uses a DVI Dual Link port to get the best quality plus 3D Vision support, which the P170 has available. You can hook it up and Windows Key + P > Projector only to use it as your main/only display.

 

Also to build on what Malibal said, the HDMI port is version 1.4, so you'd be able to use that input as well, it'll support that higher refresh rate.

Also, for your keyboard, may I suggest Newegg.com - Logitech 920-000914 Black 106 Normal Keys USB Wired Ultra-thin Illuminated Keyboard

That is if you're looking for a backlit keyboard of course

 

Of note though, HDMI 1.4 will limit your FPS in 3D content. 1080p will only manage 24fps whereas 720p can do 50/60 fps. DVI can do it without limitations.

HDMI - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The problem is just that HDMI doesn't have the bandwidth for more than that.

 

God damnit I was writing something and then it got removed for whatever reason so here goes again:

@ MALIBAL #2, You mentioned the x7200, I can assume that's the Clevo model which the P170HMx is based on correct?

I'm not interested in using 3d vision at all, but thank you for addressing it though. 720p will be enough for 3d vision for me, but I plan to use the monitor 99% for gaming @ 1920x1080p and was wondering in short if my laptop can do so while benefiting from the 120hz refresh rate?

Also thank you J.P. for the keyboard suggestion, it seems really good and I'll prolly end up buying it. Do you know if one can hold down more than 5 keys without it "locking" itself up if you know what I mean?

Thank you for your replies!

 

Whoops, sorry that was a mistake on my part- the x7200 is a separate machine compared to the P170. The both have DVI Dual Link ports though so the info is still correct

You shouldn't have any problem gaming at 1080p with the 120hz refresh. It won't make that much of a difference overall.

 

Wow thank you for the super fast reply Malibal #2 (Kind of wish you had a name)

Personally, I can see a very noticeable difference when playing games on a 60hz screen compared to a 120hz. I do have one more question though, if the games I'm playing is running at around 50-60 fps, will the screen difference be void or is that "unrelated". I just want the "smooth" feeling the 120hz screen gives me.

 

If your game is only running at 60hz, then you won't notice the difference in the 120hz monitor. A vast majority of games will support the full 120hz though, so you shouldn't see that happen too often.

 

I'm sorry but I'm not sure I quite follow you here (note I'm pretty poorly informed when it comes to monitors).

When you say "if your game is only running at 60hz", do you mean 60 fps or 60hz in the game video resolution settings? Because as of now, I can only select 1920x1080 @ 60hz in BF3. I'm pretty sure though that once I hook up the mentioned monitor I can select the 1920x1080 @ 120hz in the BF3 Graphical options (as well as in Nvidia Control Panel for windows), or am I mistaken here?

 

Well the hz really wont matter for your FPS in the game unless you enable vsync . In general your FPS is going to be limited by the GPU , not by the monitor. If you are expecting the game to run twice as fast because of the monitor, that's simply not the case.

The point of vsync is to eliminate horizontal tearing that can happen with some games. As you move left or right the frames don't match up. I currently have vsync off and I am not noticing any tearing. But it can be subjective.

If none of this is making sense then here is a practical answer:

Leave the driver and monitor settings at their defaults unless you have any problems. Most components should "just work". Only worry about the specs if something isn't working the way you want it to.

 

Thank you for your reply.

Note that I'm not using Vsync (I don't get as "smooth" feeling when having it enabled) and I'm not getting any tearing. I'm also not looking to increase my FPS by getting a new monitor, I was just wondering if the FPS and HZ are in any way related. I apologize for not making this clearer.

All I'm asking is, will I get the "smoother" effect from playing on a 120Hz external monitor compared to the laptop monitor I'm currently using (Battlefield 3). There is no denying that there is a perceivable difference between playing on a 60Hz screen compared to a 120Hz. I'm just wondering if there is any relation to the fps and hz.

 

There's probably something like this somewhere else in these forums, but you may get something out of reading this guide.

 

Very nice guide! Much appreciated CSlacks, +1 rep.

Also if it helps at all, I played a bit of Skyrim on a 120Hz 46" LED TV over Thanksgiving break and it looked pretty awesome. I didn't notice too much of a difference from notebook screen to TV, but then again, I was playing via HDMI from my ASUS G53 model with a GTX 460M. I suspect a more powerful card could probably "match" the refresh rate (like CSlacks' link talks about) and get a much "smoother" experience.

 

Very nice post indeed. Rep given.

So I've read on different forums and there doesn't seem to be a general consensus.

Some people say that playing a game on 55-65 fps on a 120hz screen would be a waste, no extra "smooth" effect would be noticed (via DMI or whatever it's called not the HDMI one).

Other people claim the opposite, that even though you don't have the extra FPS to really benefit from the 120hz refresh rate, things will still seem to appear smoother because the screen obviously updates faster even though your fps I dunno something like that.

What is your opinion? I mean could it really be all in my mind? I gotta go back to that internet café and try again.

 

Update:

Just wanted to let everyone know that the screen works great. Although the Cable going from the monitor to the laptop isn't really the same (cable has some "line" in it while the port on the laptop has "dots"), 50% of the cable still "goes through" and it still magically works.

Playing on 120hz is such a great feeling, especially on counter strike.

I went ahead and bought a keyboard from corsair instead (the one with brushed metal and wrist support) since the store didn't have the one mentioned before in the thread.

Thank you all again for your input here guys!

 

I can't get my P170HM HDMI out connection to a TV (HDMI 1.3) to work. I tried to configure both extended and duplicate multiple displays but no success. Clicking the Detect button displays the 2nd display box with "Another display not detected". I had 1|2 Multiple Monitors display and 1920 x 1080 resolution reselected. My LCD TV (Samsung) is capable of displaying 1080p.

Is it due to the difference in HDMI versions? Are there any other ways to connect the P170HM to a TV monitor? Any help would be appreciated. I need to make this work since I am planning to play games hooked up to the TV monitor. Thanks in advance.

 

I figured it out and it's working now. For some reason the one that I use for my home theater isn't working - weird. It's a good thing that I have a couple of spare cables but it took some time for me to locate them. The HDMI connection to Samsung is now working using one of the spares. I'm getting 1080p at 120HZ. Isn't that awesome?

BTW, I found out that HDMI 1.4 is backward compatible at this link HDMI :: Manufacturer :: HDMI 1.4 :: FAQ for HDMI 1.4