A few days ago I bought a gaming monitor. I just took my old HDMI cable and plugged it in the new monitor. Later I found out that I was never so mistaken.

Aside from the HDMI cable, there is a DisplayPort. It is a cable that became popular in the mid-2010s and was created specially for computer games.

If you use your monitor mainly to edit Word documents at work you won't see the difference because you don't need G-Sync. The G-Sync technology eliminates screen tearing which is important in computer games. After I started using the DisplayPort my games ran much more smoothly.

So, what are the benefits of the HDMI and DisplayPort and when use each of them?

HDMI cable

The main benefit of HDMI is that almost all your devices are likely to support it. Of course, the different versions of HDMI have their specifics:

HDMI 1.4 supports:

- 4K (4,096 by 2,160) at 24Hz
- 4K (3,840 by 2,160) at 30Hz / 1080p at 120Hz

HDMI 2.0 (both (HDMI 2.0a and 2.0b) support 4K at 60Hz

HDMI 2.1 supports a 10K resolution at 120Hz including HDR with dynamic metadata and 10K resolution at 120Hz

HDMI supports AMD's FreeSync technology which is the same G-Sync technology in Nvidia. So, if both your graphics and monitor use FreeSync you won't have to use a different port. In my case, the FreeSync monitor worked with G-Sync, so I had to switch to DisplayPort.


DisplayPort cable

It looks similar to HDMI but is more common on PCs than TVs. Which is more, it has different standards:

DisplayPort 1.2 supports:

- 4K at 60Hz
- AMD's FreeSync

DisplayPort 1.3 supports:

- 4K at 120Hz
- 8K at 30Hz

DisplayPort 1.4 supports:

- 8K at 60Hz and HDR

DisplayPort has the following advantages:

- it supports AMD's FreeSync and Nvidia's G-Sync. It means you can have a tear-free gaming experience if your monitor supports this technology. But no matter which brand of card you use.

- one DisplayPort connection can drive multiple monitors

- USB-C ports on laptops can send DisplayPort signals

So, if your monitor supports both of the technologies and you like playing games it worth buying the DisplayPort cable for a better gaming experience. You can look for affordable monitors on Swapix Nigeria classifieds board.



Which monitor do you use? Did you notice the difference using these cables? Please, share your experience in the comments section below

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