Help! Monitor Refresh Madness

[Kolgar]

I have a 19" Hitachi SuperScan Elite 751 monitor. With my refresh rate and desktop set to 70Hz, 1024x768x16, the monitor always resets to 82KHz/100Hz when I start up Q3A at 1024x768x32.

It's even worse when I play at 800x600x32: then my monitor resets to 91KHz/140Hz.

Is this normal? Is this going to damage my monitor? And if so, how can I fix it?

Thanks,
Kolgar

[RobRich]

Have you installed the proper monitor driver? Check out:

http://www.windrivers.com

Could also be a driver situation. I know you run 3.77 with 5.14 OGL. Did you suffer this problem with the other driver sets, or is it just this revision?

[OuTpaTienT]

Ok, first...go get HzTooL, here: http://hem.spray.se/doxx/
That will give you total control over refresh rates in every resolution.

Next, ...(ok I gotta think how I'm gonna phrase this 'cause I tend to be sarcastic which come off as rude,...I try to be the kinder, gentler OuTpaTienT)... Help me understand exactly why you would set your desktop refresh rate at 70Hz. If that were the max of the video card or monitor then fine. But if it's capable of much more...then why not? I mean, isn't it annoying? Doesn't it hurt your eyes after extended periods? Give you headaches? 70hz is such a **** poor refresh on ANY monitor, but on one as large as 19".....and you want that?

Just noticed, you don't just have any old 19" monitor, you have a very nice one. I'm sure it's capable of resolutions and refresh rates that are equivalent to orgasms for the eyes. Have you ever even experienced 120hz or more refresh rate? It's to die for! I'm finding this VERY difficult to withold my sarcastic nature here. I might explode or something.

(sigh) But alas, I shouldn't fret over it...I see people like this every day. Ya know the type, the guy driving the Porsche 911 (type 993) twin-turbo, all-wheel-drive, 6-speed-gearbox, 450hp, 0-60mhz in 4.5 seconds, ... and he's in the slow lane on the freeway doing 55mph. I just wanna *****-slap those prudes. If you're gonna drive it like a Ford Escort, then GET a Ford Escort...and give me the Porsche 'cause I know how that car wants to be driven.

Damnit. There I go with that dreaded sarcasm. Oh well, we're free to do as we please I guess. The anal Lamborghini driver is free to never take his car over 60mph if he wants (which would mean he'd never get out of 1st gear!), and I'm free to ***** about it. Such is life. And don't take offense Kolgar, if you're happy with 70hz, then I'm happy your happy.......kinda. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif

[Kolgar]

Haha! That was hilarious, Outpatient. No offense taken; I laughed my **** off!

First, RobRich: Yep, I've got the proper monitor driver installed. But I'll check the site you mentioned to see if there's a more recent version.

Also: Yes, I've experienced this phenomenon with other driver sets before. I believe things were a bit better with the 3.84 Detonators, as NFS:PU only jumped to 100Hz during certain screens as opposed to 150Hz.

Too bad I didn't have such great luck with my D3D performance, or I'd have switched back already.

Now, Outpatient: Thanks for saying such nice things about my monitor. The reason I set her down to 70Hz was because I'd been getting all these crazy jumps up to 140Hz and 150Hz when playing certain games. I figured that if I were to tinker with my standard refresh rate (i.e., bring it down from 75 or 85Hz), it might not jump as high in the games.

However, I was wrong. It's still jumping.

So yes, I've had the "pleasure" of playing UT at 100Hz and Q3A at 140Hz quite often, and yes, the rock-solid image is sweet. I'm just worried about damaging my monitor. After all, I'm not setting it to those rates, it's jumping on its own. And being the untrusting soul that I am, I just wondered if it really knew what was best for itself.

If this HzTool does the trick, however, I'm golden. Free to run my games at 100Hz in any resolution I please, obstained of all guilt and worry.

Thanks, guys--thank you both! (Boy, I really like this forum!)

Kolgar

[Kolgar]

WOW! Hz Tool rocks! It really did the trick--and it's easy to use, too! Thanks so much. This is great!

Kolgar

[Diode]

Talking about refresh rates, what monitor has the best refres rate for its price?
Looking at eithere 17 or 19.

The reason I ask is because I was looking to get the new Gladiac and a pair of 3D Revelator glasses, and I need high refresh rates to get the most out of the glasses....

140 would actually be 70 with those glasses on.

-JP

[Kolgar]

My 19" Hitachi performs pretty well for the price. I bought it last year for around $450 because all the reviews said it was one of the better performers in its price range.

Here's what HzTool says is my maximum refresh rate at the following resolutions:

640x480: 160.0 Hz
800x600: 144.7 Hz
1024x768: 114.9 Hz
1280x1024: 87.5 Hz
1600x1200: 75.2 Hz
2048x1536: 59.3 Hz

Hope this helps.

Kolgar

[OuTpaTienT]

Cool. Glad that worked for you. And now I at least understand where you're coming from about the refresh rates. That makes sense.

HzTool is great, huh? I remember feeling the exact same about when I first discovered it. It's one of the rare utilities in a Windoze enviorment that just "simply works".

Note: While HzTool is open, if you let the mouse cursor hover over the refresh rate input field for each chosen resolution, then you should get a 'pop-up' that will tell you your hardware's maxium refresh rate at that res. I thought I'd mention it to you, because I had used HzTool for over a year before I stumbled upon that nifty feature.

[Chainsaw]

Thanks OuTpaTienT!
Very Cool HzTool!!
Just downloaded it, I like the AutoDetect mode, I was trying to figure out exactly what my monitor was capable of, says I'm ok to 89.3 Hz @ 1280x1024, looks like 85Hz is about as far as I can go, but now I know.
I couldn't figure anything out from my monitor manual.
Very cool and useful download.
Thanks,
c:::CHNsaw