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Howdy Fellow Gerbils! I'm having trouble with a new 4K display and I'm wondering whether the problem is with the video card or with something software side.

I purchased the display that was featured on the frontpage as the $404 4K display. It looks very nice, but I can only get my computer to output 1920x1080 to it. I don't see any resolution options beyond that. I'm using the HDMI cable that came with the display, which was labeled as a "UHD HDMI" cable. I'm concerned that perhaps the problem is that my graphics card is not capable of outputting 4K because it lacks HDMI 1.4.

My card is this one: http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1271&psn=&lid=1&leg=0
Sapphire's page on my card says that the HDMI is "3D Ready", but this 6950 page says that it's HDMI 1.4a compliant: http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1041&pid=1021&psn=&lid=1&leg=0
Is there a way to definitively find out what HDMI version my card supports? I'll buy a new GPU if that's the problem, but I would like to be sure before I go out and buy one.

Thanks for any help!

According to AMD's product page for the 6950 (click here, then click the Specifications tab), the maximum HDMI resolution is 1920x1200.

I know that some 6950 cards support 4K. The Sapphire site specifies 1.4a, which is a standard. Is there a way to know whether my card isn't 1.4a for sure?

I think you are out of luck if the card oes not support the correct HDMI rating.

But I think you could use a $30 UltraAV DisplayPort 1.1 to HDMI 1.4 Active Adapter - AMD Eyefinity Certified to connect to the 4k tv with your HDMI cable and this adapter. Your card is display port 1.2 but it should be backwards compatible and work fine if people are using these adapters to get their macbooks to wook on seiki TV's.
Here is the link to what I am 90%sure will let you do 4k at 30fps.
http://www.amazon.com/Accell-B086B-003B ... ewpoints=1

Also I have to say that 6950 has one heck of a cooler on it with those 5 big azz heatpipes and it is very wide also. Also I cannot tell from the pictures but does that card have a bios switch on it? if it does you might be able to flash it up to a 6970 and get some free performance out of that father of the 7950 but I do not know if the 1 GB cards Unlocked....its been a long time.

It would really be pertinent to make sure the GPU actually supports 4K and not just the other features of the HDMI 1.4a standard before spending more money on a card that might simply not be able to drive that resolution.

I'm far from an expert, but the googling I did turned up several reports of the 6950 not supporting any single monitor resolution above 2560x1600 regardless of the connection used, and not a single conflicting report saying that it does support 4K.

AMD's site seems to indicate that the card does not support 4K. I guess I'll be ordering a new graphics card.

Was thinking of talking by new boss into letting me buy one of these screens as a 'signing bonus' for my new promotion. Going to run off of the dock for a Lenovo T420. Any idea if it would work? Intel HD 3000 graphics onboard.

TurtlePerson2 wrote:

AMD's site seems to indicate that the card does not support 4K. I guess I'll be ordering a new graphics card.

You could email Sapphire first to make sure, but it looks like that's what you'll have to do.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

Was thinking of talking by new boss into letting me buy one of these screens as a 'signing bonus' for my new promotion. Going to run off of the dock for a Lenovo T420. Any idea if it would work? Intel HD 3000 graphics onboard.

A quick google says no. See here: Detailed specifications - ThinkPad T420. Maximum external resolution is 2560x1600, and you need to use DisplayPort to get that.

Melvar wrote:

TurtlePerson2 wrote:

A quick google says no. See here: Detailed specifications - ThinkPad T420. Maximum external resolution is 2560x1600, and you need to use DisplayPort to get that.

Well darn. Trying to get the specs on the port replicator, and failing at that too.