Please suggest a converter or a graphics card

jhadipak

Guys,

I have a DELL OPTIPLEX 7010 - I7-3770 3.40GHZ in a SFF chassis. This has an "Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 2500/4000" graphics card with 2 VGA and 2 displayport outputs. As per documentation, any of these displayports should be able to offer a 2560X1440 resolution that my 27' Samsung monitor supports. However, I need to pass the display connection through a HDMI-only KVM switch and therefore have been forced to use a displayport to HDMI cable for this PC.

I have tried everything but can never get a resolution of more than 1920X1080 with the above set up. An office laptop connected by HDMI cables through the same KVM switch merrily offers 2560X1440. Can someone suggest a solution? Is there a displayport to HDMI cable/converter that works without compromising on the resolution?

If not, the only option then, seems to be to buy a PCIe graphics card that supports 2560X1440 over HDMI.

Can someone suggest a cheap graphics card that will do the job. I am a programmer with NO gaming requirements.

Regards,

Dipak Jha

EndlessWaves

It's likely that your cable is what's called a passive adaptor. It uses a DisplayPort feature called Dual-Mode (aka DP  ) which allows the DisplayPort socket to output a DVI or HDMI signal and they only change the plug. DisplayPort 1.1, which I believe is the highest your CPU supports, is limited to 1920x1200 via Dual-Mode output.

2560x1440 support was only added in Dual-Mode 1.1 in 2013 which is generally implemented on DisplayPort 1.2 devices.

The alternative is an active adaptor which allows the socket to output a DisplayPort signal and then converts it to the HDMI protocol itself. They are substantially more expensive (£10 instead of £1) but still cheaper than a graphics card.

jhadipak

EndlessWaves,

You are spot on! My PC indeed has a normal (non-DP  ) port needing just a simple active displayport to HDMI convertor to preserve the resolution. This kind of a convertor is available for about £10 but to play safe, I opted for this one which seems to be of slightly better quality and costs £14. The thing worked like a charm, resolving my problem without the hassle of a graphic card which may have come with its own surprises.

Thank you very much.

Regards

Dipak Jha