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April 18th, 2025 06:58
Will G-sync Ultimate work via Thunderbolt WD22TB4 Dock using DP cable?
Hello community,
I have the following products:
- Dell Thunderbolt Dock - WD22TB4
- Alienware 34" Curved OLED Monitor - AW3423DW (G-Sync Ultimate)
- Aftershock VAPOR 15X - 12TH Gen
They are connected and setup like so:
- Dock connected to Thunderbolt 4 port on my Vapor 15X 12th Gen Aftershock laptop (confirmed bandwidth of 40Gpbs up and down - Gen 3 dual lane)
- Monitor connected to Dock via DisplayPort cable, plugged into DisplayPort 1.4 port
- Monitor connect to Dock via USB Upstream cable, plugged into USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port
From what I understand, bandwidth isn't the limiting factor here. I don't have multiple displays (just the internal laptop display and the external Alienware curved monitor).
When I use the On Screen Display menu of the monitor, the G-Sync section displays 'Normal' - but I don't know if that actually means it is on or not. At least one post somewhere on the internets suggests it should say 'Ultimate' if G-Sync is enabled another suggests it should say 'G-SYNC' (instead of 'Normal') if it's enabled. The Nvidia Control Panel doesn't have a Display section at all and doesn't have any G-Sync related options appearing, so my gut tells me that G-Sync is off/not working via the dock.
Has anyone had any success getting G-Sync Ultimate to work if the G-Sync Ultimate certified monitor is plugged into a powered Thunderbolt dock?
Any advice would be much appreciated - was pretty bummed to find out that after 2 years of using this monitor I probably didn't have G-Sync enabled the entire time.
GrayedFox
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April 23rd, 2025 03:49
Hello there Jesse, thanks for taking the time to post.
I can enable G-SYNC when connected directly via HDMI to the laptop. I did some research and realised that the problem is the Thunderbolt port on the laptop interfaces with the integrated Intel Iris graphics chip. That means that even if running a DisplayPort to Thunderbolt cable directly from the monitor to the laptop, if I use the Thunderbolt port and not the DP port, I cannot use G-Sync Ultimate.
I don't know for sure whether or not the Thunderbolt dock supports G-Sync passthrough or not but I won't be able to test that with my current setup. Right now I'm just hoping that my laptop really does have a 2.1 HDMI port instead of a 2.0 port which would net me the bandwidth needed to run 175HZ at 4k.
DELL-Jesse L
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April 21st, 2025 12:19
Follow the information below.
* Remove the WD22TB4 from the troubleshooting
* Test the AW3423DW HDMI in port connected directly to the Aftershock Vapor 15X HDMI 2.1 out port
* Open the Nvidia Control Panel and try to enable G-Sync
If it works, then reconnect the WD22TB4. If at that point you cannot enable G-Sync, then that shows us that the WD22TB4 is not G-Sync compatible.
To receive assistance from Dell chat support, they need to verify the warranty status and ownership. Then you must troubleshoot with them. Click the "Get Help Now" icon on the right to start a live chat session. If already out of warranty, click here for the Dell out of warranty offering.
GrayedFox
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April 23rd, 2025 04:00
A transcript with someone from Nvidia technical support confirms that the Thunderbolt cable connects to the integrated Intel Iris graphics chip and thus G-Sync via that port isn't possible: