Single link vs dual link DVI

M

merc141

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 24, 2007
Messages
194
I currently have a 6600GT and a 1680x1050 Viewsonic LCD and have been using single link DVI. Hopefully I will be upgrading to a 8800GT pretty soon. Besides the dual link DVI being necessary for higher resolutions, is there any real difference? Would it be necessary to upgrade my DVI cable too? Thank you.
 
There is no additional benifit. The second link is only enabled when the bandwidth required exceed what is possible with a single link. At your resolution, it is way under the limit, so it will only operate in single link mode even if you have a dual link cable.
 
At resolution 1920x1200 you will still be using Single-Link only. If you have a 30" monitor that can output 2560x1600 or something like that then you will need dual-link.
 
Just to clarify, 1920 x1200 @ 60Hz is single-link, 1920 x 1200 @75Hz will require dual-link, so there is some benefit at this resolution, but not for anything lower.
 
Jeep333 said:
Just to clarify, 1920 x1200 @ 60Hz is single-link, 1920 x 1200 @75Hz will require dual-link, so there is some benefit at this resolution, but not for anything lower.
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Unless you have the 1920x1200 CRT, I don't think there are any 1920x1200 LCD monitor on the market that can output 1920x1200@75Hz.
 
RB30 said:
Unless you have the 1920x1200 CRT, I don't think there are any 1920x1200 LCD monitor on the market that can output 1920x1200@75Hz.
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does this mean that all 22 to 28 LCD users should forget about 75 refresh rate?
 
firas said:
does this mean that all 22 to 28 LCD users should forget about 75 refresh rate?
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I would think so. It costs extra for the monitor manufacturers to include dual-link. If the monitor doesn't need dual-link to display the resolution at 60 Hz, then you can bet they won't include it.

In fact, this cutoff of single-link DVI is the reason there's such a huge jump between the two resolutions (1920x1200 vs 2560x1600). They have to offer a HUGE increase in resolution to justify the extra expense of getting a dual-link capable card. Once dual-link becomes ubiquitous, even on integrated chipsets, I expect this gulf will disappear.
 
firas said:
does this mean that all 22 to 28 LCD users should forget about 75 refresh rate?
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Even though they haven't traditionally been designed to go above 60Hz, there are a small number of 1920x1080 LCDs for which 72Hz+ has been done over SL-DVI.

With newer LCD TVs touting 100Hz/120Hz display, there could be a chance that 75Hz input may happen ... but I'd still expect it to be a tricky thing to get happening.

For 22" LCDs, there is one CMO module that is designed to do 1680x1050@75Hz, but the display manufacturers may not actually deliver that capability in the final product.

More details (and an argument or two :) here.
 
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