What is needed to run a 4k monitor at 60hz

[Daniel Young]

I have an alienware X51 that I purchased at the end of 2015, and I haven't changed any of it's hardware. I recently purchased an LG 4k monitor, and it works fine at 30hz, but I'd like to run it at 60hz. As far as I can tell, the X51 was not designed to run 4k at 60hz, so I'm thinking I may need to upgrade the graphics card or something like that. I'm not used to making hardware changes to my computer, so I'm seeing what you guys have to say about this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[beers]

Use displayport instead of HDMI. If your card doesn't support HDMI 2.0 then you're stuck at 30 Hz.

What GPU do you have?

 

[_Kyle_]

If you want to improve things without expenses:
Go with what beers said.

If you want an upgrade:
If you are gaming a GTX 1070 or RX 580 8GB would be optimal. The 1070 would be a better purchase though because of AMD prices. For a bit cheaper get a GTX 1060 6GB. If you have a larger budget ($600+) get a GTX 1080 or GTX 1080ti if you want some serious power.

If you are not gaming and just watching 4k video an GTX 1050 or RX 560 is suggested.

 

[Daniel Young]

I do use the computer mostly for gaming so I'll take a look at those graphics cards. Edit: I cannot try a DVI since the monitor doesn't have that input. I've tried a displayport, but it makes my computer shut off at random times and require a hard reset (yes I have updated the drivers). I've been told that an HDMI 2.0 would be better, but then I realized that the computer doesn't have a 2.0 port. It sounds like the best choice would be getting a new graphics card with HDMI 2.0, I just want to check that it's an easy switch since I haven't made phisical changes to my computer before.

 

[beers]

I think the X51 is too small to install an internal card. They sell an external graphics card dock but it's pretty expensive.

 

[_Kyle_]

They sell an external graphics card dock but it's pretty expensive.

Yeah, and the bandwidth would limit the card.

Oh, and I looked some things up and found this. The x51 does support a internal GPU.

 

[Daniel Young]

So it looks like a GTX 1070 should be good, but there are so many options to choose from. Your video says to get the founders addition, but that is currently sold out on the NVIDIA site. Is there a good brand to go with?

 

[_Kyle_]

So it looks like a GTX 1070 should be good, but there are so many options to choose from. Your video says to get the founders addition, but that is currently sold out on the NVIDIA site. Is there a good brand to go with?

Any card will work. I prefer with these three brands though: MSI, EVGA, and ASUS. A good card though is below these words, if you catch my drift. VVVVVVV

It's rhymes with: EVGA ACX 3.0

 

[Daniel Young]

The GTX 1060 works great, in case anyone else runs into this problem. For some reason, the HDMI 2.0 didn't work, but using a display port with the new graphics card worked. Thanks for the help guys.