[SOLVED] How to tell if my computer would support a 1080p monitor

Michael Piziak · 02-18-2021, 07:53 PM

What do I need to know if my older HP computer could properly display a 1080p monitor?
Do I need to check which video card I have in it? If so, what terminal command line would I enter please.

p.s. Currently it's displaying 1600x900 (16:9) on a 20" hp monitor.

Attached is the info I have now from a gui program.

berndbausch · 02-18-2021, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Do I need to check which video card I have in it? If so, what terminal command line would I enter please.

This is on a VM:

Code:

# lspci
...
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: VMware SVGA II Adapter
...
# lspci -v -s 00:02.0
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: VMware SVGA II Adapter (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: VMware SVGA II Adapter
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 64, IRQ 18
        I/O ports at d010 [size=16]
        Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=16M]
        Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2M]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [disabled] [size=128K]
        Kernel driver in use: vmwgfx
        Kernel modules: vmwgfx

On a physical system, you will get useful information about your video hardware. Plug it into DuckDuckGo, and voilà.

mrmazda · 02-19-2021, 12:03 AM

You have an Intel Haswell GT2 class. Here's an example of what you should expect from it. In short, absolutely yes, and two at once should you wish. To check current status (not ultimate capability), from an Xterm or other GUI terminal:

Code:

inxi -CGa

The graphics device ID it reports you can look up. Since yours is integral to the CPU, it's actually the CPU model you should look up to get a report akin to above link.

1920x1080 actually predates 1600x900 by many years, as it represents what is marketed for Television as "Full HD", which was spec'd out last century.

This too is Intel Haswell GT2:

Code:

> inxi -CGa
CPU:       Info: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-4150T bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Haswell family: 6 model-id: 3C (60)
           stepping: 3 microcode: 28 L2 cache: 3 MiB
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 23998
           Speed: 3000 MHz min/max: 800/3000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3000 2: 3000 3: 3000 4: 3001
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
           Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
           Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
           Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 4th Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: i915
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:041e class ID: 0300
           Display: server: X.Org 1.20.3 driver: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa alternate: intel display ID: :0
           screens: 1
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1200 s-dpi: 120 s-size: 406x254mm (16.0x10.0") s-diag: 479mm (18.9")
           Monitor-1: HDMI-1 res: 1920x1200 hz: 60 dpi: 94 size: 518x324mm (20.4x12.8") diag: 611mm (24.1")
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Haswell v: 4.5 Mesa 19.3.4 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes

Michael Piziak · 02-19-2021, 08:01 AM

ok, thanks to both of you for the information. As long as I can run a modern 1920x1080 monitor, I'm gold....

just an fyi, here's the info terminal reported back

Code:

michael@michael-HP-EliteDesk-800-G1-SFF:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 06)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 06)
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller (rev 06)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI (rev 04)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:16.3 Serial controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family KT Controller (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection I217-LM (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Q87 Express LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
michael@michael-HP-EliteDesk-800-G1-SFF:~$ inxi -CGa
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-4570 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Haswell family: 6 model-id: 3C (60) stepping: 3 microcode: 28 
  L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 
  bogomips: 25540 
  Speed: 2996 MHz min/max: 800/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1596 2: 1596 
  3: 1596 4: 1596 
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported 
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion 
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled 
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
  Type: spec_store_bypass 
  mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
  Type: spectre_v1 
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, IBPB: conditional, 
  IBRS_FW, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode 
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  chip ID: 8086:0412 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
  compositor: compiz v: 0.9.14.1 resolution: 1600x900~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4600 (HSW GT2) 
  v: 4.5 Mesa 20.2.6 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes 
michael@michael-HP-EliteDesk-800-G1-SFF:~$

pan64 · 02-19-2021, 08:22 AM

https://www.thailand.intel.com/conte...-datasheet.pdf
see page 36

mrmazda · 02-19-2021, 12:09 PM

1920x1080 is from last century, not modern at all.

"Modern" would include 4k, 2560x1080, 2560x1440, 2560x1600, 3840x1600, 3440x1440 and more, some with curved panels, some supporting more than one input at once, some that can be daisy-chained (multiple displays from only one computer DisplayPort).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Piziak

Code:

...
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-4570
...

i5-4570 supports 4k (3840x2160) using HDMI or DisplayPort, "merely" 1920x1200 using a VGA port.

Enjoy!

Michael Piziak · 02-20-2021, 10:45 PM

i5-4570 supports 4k (3840x2160) using HDMI or DisplayPort, "merely" 1920x1200 using a VGA port.

Enjoy![/QUOTE]

My computer has no HDMI ports, so 1920 x 1080 from the VGA port is what I'm hoping for (anyways).
To the other post about 4k and such being modern. There are still a lot of t.v.'s and monitors being sold that are only 1080p

mrmazda · 02-20-2021, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Piziak

My computer has no HDMI ports

Surely it must have something other than one VGA port. If there is neither DisplayPort connector nor HDMI connector, then very likely there is a DVI connector masquerading as an HDMI port. What does xrandr --listproviders report?

Michael Piziak · 02-21-2021, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Surely it must have something other than one VGA port. If there is neither DisplayPort connector nor HDMI connector, then very likely there is a DVI connector masquerading as an HDMI port. What does xrandr --listproviders report?

Code:

michael@michael-HP-EliteDesk-800-G1-SFF:~$ xrandr --listproviders
Providers: number : 1
Provider 0: id: 0x47 cap: 0x9, Source Output, Sink Offload crtcs: 3 outputs: 5 associated providers: 0 name:modesetting

The computer is the HP EliteDesk G1 800 sff, specs are at: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03832938

mrmazda · 02-21-2021, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Piziak

Code:

michael@michael-HP-EliteDesk-800-G1-SFF:~$ xrandr --listproviders
Providers: number : 1
Provider 0: id: 0x47 cap: 0x9, Source Output, Sink Offload crtcs: 3 outputs: 5 associated providers: 0 name:modesetting

Is that the entire output? It should list existing outputs. The Haswell PC I'm typing this on lists all three physical outputs:

Code:

# xrandr --listproviders
Providers: number : 1
Provider 0: id: 0x45; cap: 0xf (Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload); crtcs: 3; outputs: 3; associated providers: 0; name: modesetting
    output VGA-1
    output HDMI-1
    output HDMI-2

My PC in fact has VGA, HDMI and DVI connectors.

Quote:

The computer is the HP EliteDesk G1 800 sff, specs are at: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03832938

It's hard to be sure because that "model" appears to have multiple sub-models. It seems to show you have one or two DisplayPorts. A DisplayPort output can be used with an HDMI display input via a short dongle adapter and standard HDMI cable, or a DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter cable.

Michael Piziak · 02-21-2021, 10:41 AM

Yea, that's the entire output for that command line.

Attached is more info. It certainly lists hdmi in it, but I didn' recall seeing hdmi on the back of the computer.

Michael Piziak · 02-21-2021, 10:47 AM

It's hard to get back there, so I tried to take a pic of it. It looks like 2 hdmi ports I think (maybe?)

kilgoretrout · 02-21-2021, 11:03 AM

It looks like you have 2 display ports to me. From your spec sheet:

Quote:

(2) USB 3.0 ports, stereo audio out, line in, RJ-45 Ethernet, PS/2 mouse and keyboard, VGA, (2) DisplayPort with multi-stream4, power connector, RS-232 serial port

Michael Piziak · 02-21-2021, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout

It looks like you have 2 display ports to me. From your spec sheet:

Display ports certainly look very similar to HDMI ports, eh. I guess that little symbol next to them is a "D" for Display port(s)?
Curious though why my HardInfo app reports HDMI though

mrmazda · 02-21-2021, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Piziak

It looks like 2 hdmi ports I think (maybe?)

Definitely!