Is My Computer Ready for a 4K Monitor at 60 hz?

[og5]

Hi, I'm looking to pick up a 4K monitor or even TV in the future for the extra screen area. The large screen space helps me for business/productivity reasons and is preferred over a multi-monitor setup.

I'm not sure if my current laptop specifications will be enough to support a 4K monitor that can run at 60 Hz. Here is what I have:

This is from a Lenovo G700 laptop, I did a quick search online and the release date was June 15, 2013 for one of their models. So I assume that my laptop probably has HDMI 1.4 or even earlier. I don't know if buying a new HDMI alone cable will fix that, or if I need to upgrade the laptop itself.

I'm also concerned about the video card, I've heard you need a beefy one, and I'm not sure what upgrade options I have with a laptop. (This is of course assuming the Intel HD 4000 is not sufficient)

Thanks for any feedback!

PS: In case it plays a factor, I'm not concerned about color precision (it's not important for my work)

 

[carnageX]

https://communities.intel.com/thread/30360?start=0&tstart=0

Sounds like needs to be run through DisplayPort to get to 2560x1440, and not HDMI.

 

[iParanormalx]

https://communities.intel.com/thread/30360?start=0&tstart=0

Sounds like needs to be run through DisplayPort to get to 2560x1440, and not HDMI.

HDMI :: Manufacturer :: HDMI 1.4

HDMI supports 4096x2160 you just need version 1.4 HDMI cable.

I'm not sure if my current laptop specifications will be enough to support a 4K monitor that can run at 60 Hz.

I notice you're running a Intel graphics; depending on how much is happening on the screen you may notice a judder or a loss of frames even in a windows environment but it would still be 4k res.

 

[carnageX]

HDMI :: Manufacturer :: HDMI 1.4

HDMI supports 4096x2160 you just need version 1.4 HDMI cable.

Yes, HDMI 1.4 supports it, but it depends on the graphics drivers as well (looked into it further and provided a link below).

@OP: I guess you can get it to work through HDMI, but you have to set custom resolution/refresh rate through the driver config utility:

Here's how to set custom resolutions to get it to work (look at the section for Ivy Bridge):
2560x1440 or 2560x1600 via HDMI - NotebookCheck.net Tech

 

[iParanormalx]

Yea I just read the entire graphical release of 1.4 HDMI and I'm wrong.

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

It says: 3840x2160 @ 24,25, 30hz
4096x2160 @ 24hz

 

[og5]

Do you guys know if I can just buy a HDMI 2.0 cable in order to receive an HDMI 2.0 signal from the monitor/TV? I tend to doubt it, as I know USB 3.0 requires USB 3.0 ports. I assume most connection technologies would work the same way.

Based on what I've read though, it only sounds like you need a cable to go to HDMI 2.0.

PS the reason I'm asking about this is because HDMI 2.0 can achieve 60 Hz. HDMI 1.4 can only achieve 30 Hz.

 

[carnageX]

Depends what connection the laptop has I'd assume.

 

[PP Mguire]

To correctly answer the question, no your laptop won't do 4k @ 60hz due to chipset limitations. You're limited to 1200p.

 

[og5]

Thanks, I'm not quite clear on which chipset is the bottleneck. Is there an upgrade path available?

with what I have, could I do 4K at 30 Hz?

Thanks

 

[PP Mguire]

No, like I said you are limited to 1200p. The HD4000 can only do a maximum of 2560x1600 through Display Port 1.2 in which your laptop doesn't have. The highest you can do via HDMI regardless of 1.4 or not is 1200p due to the single link limitation of the HD4000 itself. There is no upgrade path unless you buy a USB video chipset. If you had literally anything higher than HD4000 you could do 4k.