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Studio XPS 7100, connecting a 4K monitor
I have just purchased a new 4k monitor to try to get a larger screen resolution. (Sadly not a Dell one as theirs had a delivery date of mid January). I was hoping it would be a straight forward swap just as when I updated the last monitor. However, when I go into the windows display resolution, the maximum size offered is 1920 x 1200. I need 3840 x 2160. I updated the monitor driver but no change.
I noticed that under Advance Display Settings, there is a Display Adaptor Properties button. It states that the monitor is connected to AMD Radeon HD 5450. Pressing the List All Modes button, shows only low resolution modes up to 1920 x 1200. On the assumption that this may also need a driver update, I went to the Advanced Micro Devices site - but it say that this model Display Adaptor is no longer supported.
So, have I made a mistake and that the best resolution I can hope for is 1920 x 1200? Or is it a (vary) simple solution to buy and fit a new Display Adaptor - and will that do the job?
Hoping to get an answer before I take the monitor back to the shop for a refund.
Thanks.
PC: Dell studio XPS 7100 running Windows 10 (64 bit).
New monitor: Lenovo L28u-30 connected by HDMI cable.
Display Adaptor: AMD Radeon HD 5450.
speedstep
8 Wizard
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December 6th, 2020 08:00
Best card for 4k that doesn't cost an arm and a leg along with your first born is GT1030.
I know what he is saying because I use a gigantic 50 inch 4k display to look at 2 spreadsheets side by side.
Remove all ati drivers.
Remove old card
Put in
install driver
done.
GV-N1030OC-2GI
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07646VQ6T
speedstep
8 Wizard
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December 7th, 2020 11:00
Go into control panel, add remove programs and the ATI Catalyst Control center will have a remove option.
"If it is uninstalled, presumably I won't be able to use the monitor to see what to do"
No it will use the default microsoft driver.
It wont be pretty but you will be able to see whats going on to install the new driver.
It can get really messed up trying to remove drivers when the card is already removed.
The cards from gigabyte come with a driver DVD so its easy to get the new driver going without being online.
RoHe
10 Elder
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43.6K Posts
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December 3rd, 2020 13:00
That AMD Radeon HD 5450 video card was released in 2010 and too old to support 4k.
The stock PSU is 460 watt so limits what new video cards you can install, especially any that support 4k...
@speedstep types faster than I do.
speedstep
8 Wizard
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December 3rd, 2020 13:00
5450 is still ok when you want to do 720p and light games under 30w
If you want to play newer games like Fallout 76 you have to have the 2 gig version. 512 and 1 gig version wont run that.
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/visiontek-radeon-5450-graphics-card-radeon-hd-5450-2-gb-ddr3-pcie/apd/a8763274/graphic-video-cards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncOsfDpeBo
speedstep
8 Wizard
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December 3rd, 2020 13:00
Cannot DO 4k with VGA or DVI
Must use HDMI 2.0 or Display port 1.4
Your video card has neither.
BARE Minimum Required is GT1030
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/graphics-cards/gt-1030/specifications/
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GV-N1030OC-2GI-Nvidia-GeForce-Graphics/dp/B07646VQ6T
Pascal based cards do not have VGA so if you still need vga you have to get an adapter for that.
https://www.amazon.com/Moread-Adapter-Gold-Plated-Compatible-MacBook/dp/B01MS611LJ/
speedstep
8 Wizard
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47K Posts
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December 3rd, 2020 13:00
Radeon 5450 is still supported but it DOES NOT support 4K video.
15.7.1 Catalyst is the final driver for a 5450 this card is legacy now.
Go to the link below to get your driver
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-15-7-1
The AMD Catalyst™ 15.7.1 driver is compatible with the following AMD products.
BorderReiver2
16 Posts
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December 3rd, 2020 13:00
Thanks for the prompt responses. I do not play games, I just wanted a bigger screen to make it easier to view two documents or windows side-by-side and a 4k monitor would give me plenty of room to play with. Obviously, I didn't want to have to add new hardware just to do so. I'm also not particularly familiar with the hardware side (as you can probably tell by my question).
Am I right in thinking that a graphics card is something different to a display adaptor (although, presumably, it does the same thing)? If I need a new graphics card, is there a simple way of determining which ones are compatible? (I'm concerned about the comment about lack of power).
BR
RoHe
10 Elder
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December 3rd, 2020 15:00
@BorderReiver2 - Are you saying 1920 x 1200 doesn't fill the entire screen on the new monitor? What's the "native" (aka, "recommended" or "optimum") resolution of this monitor?
Assuming 1920 x 1200 fills the screen, isn't that enough resolution for viewing docs, even side by side?
Open the Win 10 Display settings screen and check how resolution is set there. Then right-click an empty area of the desktop, and if you see an AMD Control Panel (or similar named entry) listed, select it and see how the resolution is set there.
Most new video cards require much bigger PSUs than the one in your XPS 7100, so unless you want to upgrade the PSU, you're limited to cards that require no more than a 460W PSU.
Graphics card = GPU = video card = video display adapter
Vic384
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December 3rd, 2020 17:00
My search indicates the maximum resolution of the AMD Radeon 5450 is 2560 x 1600 with the dual-link DVI port. Search also indicates the native resolution of the Lenovo L28u-30 is 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 60 Hz, so a graphics card with a higher maximum resolution is required. Since the monitor has HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 input ports also look for those types of output ports (especially HDMI since the monitor appears to ship with an HDMI cable) in a graphics card.
BorderReiver2
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December 4th, 2020 01:00
@RoHe, my existing monitor is Full HD (1920 x 1080), but I wanted to connect a 4k (3840 x 2160) to get more room on the screen to work with. The native resolution on the new monitor is, therefore, 3840 x 2160 but I can only get it to display 1920 x 1200 at maximum - not a good enough resolution to warrant buying a new 4k monitor.
I'll investigate low power graphic cards such as the GT-1030 mentioned previously and hope that it will fit. I have no intention on upgrading my computer as I do not play games and it is more than good enough for the sort of work that I usually do.
redxps630
7 Technologist
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10.4K Posts
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December 4th, 2020 07:00
ASUS has a relaunch of old GT710 card with 4 HDMI that does digital max. resolution:
3840×2160@60Hz for 1 monitor
https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Cards/GT710-4H-SL-2GD5/specifications/
BorderReiver2
16 Posts
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December 4th, 2020 10:00
@redxps630, thanks for the pointer. At first glance it looks as if it might do the trick. However, whilst the other Asus GT710 models all appear to fit in the PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (like my existing card), this one appears to require a PCI Express 2.0 x1 Interface. I do have a spare PCI express slot below the existing card, so could I simply use this slot instead?
BR
redxps630
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December 4th, 2020 18:00
a PCIe x1 card can be installed in x1,4,8, or 16 PCIe slot.
RoHe
10 Elder
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December 5th, 2020 13:00
Dell BIOS is probably not going to recognize a GPU card in any slot other than the x16 slot.
Assuming it recognizes an x1 GPU card in the x16 slot, is x1 going to give you suitable bandwidth (performance) for decent video, especially with a high res monitor?
BorderReiver2
16 Posts
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December 6th, 2020 01:00
As you can probably tell, I'm not particularly well clued up about these things. The spec. states that the ASUS GT710 card can handle 4k @ 50Hz. Since I will not be using it for gaming, nor for watching movies, I can only hope that it is good enough for my purposes as it seems to be one of the few options that I have in order to be able to use the new monitor.
BR