So is there a problem/disadvantage/etc to "overclocking" a monitor?

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Sycraft

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It seems like a lot of the Gsync IPS monitors these days come with the ability to "overclock" themselves. Like they'll do 100Hz native but can be OC'd to 120Hz. So is there any issues or risk with doing this?
 
Overclocking to 120Hz from 100Hz isn't that much different from raising it from 100 to 120Hz on a supported native panel, the difference is merely that it's operating above its specs. Various panels typically start to drop in contrast at various refresh rates or come closer to various sidebugs as a result and often it's more of a drastic impact when it starts reaching beyond the panel's specs, not always but yea. There's no reliable long term statistics of this yet but I'm very doubtful this is much more different than overclocking a CPU that lasts perhaps 20 years unclocked and 15 years overclocked, like who keeps the same monitor for 15 or whatever years anyway (it's likely not that much of a difference either, but it's beyond the point).
 
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Those gsync monitors that advertise as overclockable make it seem more like a marketing buzzword than an actual overclock. If the monitor is guaranteed to actually support that signal natively it isn't an overclock IMO. There is nothing to worry about when using the higher refresh rates.

There are monitors that can actually be overclocked to higher refresh rates than they support by manually adding a custom resolution. And there really isn't any risk in doing that. The monitor typically just accepts the signal or doesn't. If it does accept the signal sometimes it will have frame skipping where it is basically just ignores the extra frames instead of displaying them. So you may think you have a working overclock but really don't. I've never heard of anyone damaging a monitor through overclocking though.
 
Cool. I'm just weighing monitor options right now. I have a really, really nice display (NEC PA301W) that I love... except for the fact that it doesn't do Gsync or high frame rate. So I'm debating getting something that does but trying to find one that looks like it is good quality seems sketchy. I'm considering Dell's new Alienware 34" since in my experience at work Dell makes quality monitors and stands behind them. Not sure about 21:9 though, or about losing hardware calibration.
 
sharknice said:
Those gsync monitors that advertise as overclockable make it seem more like a marketing buzzword than an actual overclock. If the monitor is guaranteed to actually support that signal natively it isn't an overclock IMO. There is nothing to worry about when using the higher refresh rates.

There are monitors that can actually be overclocked to higher refresh rates than they support by manually adding a custom resolution. And there really isn't any risk in doing that. The monitor typically just accepts the signal or doesn't. If it does accept the signal sometimes it will have frame skipping where it is basically just ignores the extra frames instead of displaying them. So you may think you have a working overclock but really don't. I've never heard of anyone damaging a monitor through overclocking though.
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From what I understand those are not guaranteed to hit their overclock with out issue.
 
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