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Qnix and X-Star monitors new timings and overclocking guide Club

178K views 471 replies 170 participants last post by  quakeulus 
#1 ·
Lawsons overclocking guide and custom timings for the Qnix and X-Star Monitors!

Also please read and consider my 120hz information at the bottom of my Guide when using a 120hz custom resolution

Important notice!
Use ToastyX new 1.3 AMD/ATI Pixel Clock Patcher optimized for the new AMD Omega (14.12) drivers!...Grab ToastyX new 1.3 AMD/ATI Pixel Clock Patcher HERE Thank you ToastyX

There are 2 methods that can be used to overclock your monitor depending on weather your are a Nvidia user or an AMD card user!...For Nvidia users using the NVCP with the Qnix or X-Star monitor driver is the best way to go!

For Amd card users you have to overclock using EDID overrides which are created using toastyx Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) Which you can download HERE

AMD cards must use toastyx Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) to create custom resolutions because the catalyst control center "CCC" does not support the creation of custom resolution like the Nvidia control panel NVCP does!


1: Overclocking using AMD cards is a simple process firstly you need to download Toastyx AMD/ATI Pixel Clock Patcher which will patch your AMD drivers!....You can down load this from HERE Once downloaded you need to run it to patch your drivers... Now move to step 2...

2: Once the drivers are patched you can now create your custom resolutions!...Open CRU and uncheck the include extension block in CRU and create your custom resolutions!.. Try my 120hz tightened timings below which if you have a 120hz capable monitor should allow you to hit 120hz with a pixel clock of 459mhz which will give you a strong signal!....However your cards memory will not down-clock using those timings as the vertical blanking values are to low....So If my tightened timings work you can also try my 120hz timings that will allow your cards memory to downclock on the desktop!....These timings run a higher pixel clock of 487mhz which i have also linked below!...

Also you can try using my 110hz timings which i am ruining 24/7 now as i can not tell the difference between 120hz and 110hz and using my 110hz timings you are only running a pixel clock of 453mhz which is only 3mhz above the pixelclock limit of 450mhz and these timings allows your card memory clock to downclock on the desktop!....Which to me just seems like the all round perfect solution!

If you are going to use a 96hz profile you do not need to use any custom timings for 96hz...just add a 96hz refresh rate for that custom resolution!...

Once you have created your custom resolutions you will need to reboot so that the EDID overrides can been seen by windows...Once back on the desktop go to CCC and expand desktop management and then click on desktop properties and you should now see your new refresh rates listed in the refresh rate drop down box....You are done now and all you need to do next is test!

Monitor drivers for AMD cards with my custom EDID refresh rates already added!, Both tightened and memory down clock-able drivers Include 96hz , 110hz and 120hz, using these drivers there is(No need to use CRU) Just patch your display drivers with ToasyX ATI Pixel Clock Patcher and install the monitor driver reboot and your 120hz 110hz and 96hz EDID overrides are Added!

Note:
These Monitor drivers only work if ,
1:
Your monitor is capable of using my tightened 120hz timings running a pixel clock of 459mhz, (using the Tightened timings Driver)

Or 2: Your Monitor can run at 120hz using my memory down clockable 120hz timings running a pixel clock of 487mhz! (using the memory down-clockable timings Driver) - This is the Monitor Driver i use
(I run 110hz 24/7)

I made these drivers as a quick way to reinstall my EDID overrides custom timings after a format or driver update etc without having to use or re-enter my timings back into CRU

You can always try these timings with CRU first and if your monitor runs one or both these timings then you can forget having to use CRU in the future and just install one of these Monitor drivers instead as a very fast and easy way to reinstall your EDID overrides after a driver update or Format/reinstall!

To remove theses EDID overrides use ToasyX reset-all.exe linked below and simply uninstall or roll back the monitor driver in control panel and reboot!

reset-all.zip 22k .zip file


120hz 110hz 96hz monitor driver using my 120hz tightened timings!
(120hz = 459mhz...110hz = 453mhz)

120hz110hz96hzmonitordriverusingmy120hztightenedtim.zip 1k .zip file


120hz 110hz 96hz monitor driver using my 120hz memory down clockable timings!
(120hz = 487mhz...110hz = 453mhz)

120hz110hz96hzmonitordriverusingmy120hzmemorydownc.zip 1k .zip file

Edit:
780 Ti GPUs do not need the patch at all if you're using the NVIDIA Control Panel to add custom resolutions. The regular patch is needed if you use CRU instead.


Step one of this method assumes that you have used CRU with a Nvida card and that you want to swap over from CRU to the NVCP method!....However you can still use this guide if have not used CRU and you have never overclocked your monitor before with a Nvidia card by Starting at step 2:

IF you are using CRU with Nvidia cards you need to uninstall Nvidia Geforce experience or import the blank extension.dat into CRU when creating your custom resolutions as Nvidia Geforce experience conflicts with CRU EDID overrides....However using Nvidia control panel to create your custom resolutions and a monitor driver overcomes this and is considered a better method for a Nvidia card!

1: Go to the CRU zip file and find the file reset-all.exe and run it...then reboot and go to step 2:

2: Not all Nvidia cards need to patch there drivers up to 96hz!...But over 96hz up to 120hz most will need patching! So far the only exception to this seems to be "Single" (not SLI) Nvidia GPU's of the 600/700 series, don't need the patch(s) at all. .. You can just use the monitor driver at first and then make your custom resolutions in the Nvidia control panel "NVCP" then test!...If your custom resolution are not being seen by windows then use the nvlddmkm-patcher.exe here and run it and reboot test again!

You must Patch your display drivers if you are running SLI and or if you are using a 400/500-series GPU using nvlddmkm-patcher-full.exe..Both the Nvidia patches can be downloaded from toastyx site HERE....Now once you are patched reboot again and go to step 3:

3: Download and install the Qnix monitor driver below..(Install using the Device Manager -> Monitors -> Right-click "Generic PnP Monitor" -> Update Driver Software... -> Browse my computer for driver software -> Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer -> Have Disk... -> Browse for the Qnix.inf file -> OK -> Next -> Install this driver software anyway)

If using windows 8 you need to turn off Driver signature enforcement for one windows session only to install the monitor driver..
You can use the bootuituner app linked below which is a handy little tools that allows you to quickly apply Advance start up in windows 8 and turn off and on windows Driver signature enforcement!.. Or you use this link and follow the instructions http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-can-i-install-hardware-with-unsigned-drivers-in-windows-8/

Go to Nvidia control panel and make your custom resolutions you can use my 120hz tightened timings below which if you have a 120hz capable monitor should allow you to hit 120hz with a pixel clock of 459mhz which will give you a strong signal!....However your ram will not down-clock using those timings as the vertical blanking values are to low....But if you can hit 120hz stable with the tightened timings then you might want to try 120hz using standard timings!.. Nvidia cards unlike AMD cards can use auto timings for both 110hz and 120hz and be able to down clock there ram on the desktop...But be aware that you will be running a higher pixelclock using auto timings for 120hz with your pixelclock being 483mhz.

If you are going to use a 96hz profile you do not need to use any custom timings...just add a 96hz refresh rate for that custom resolution!...

To see a full screen shot of the picture click on the picture and at the bottom right hand side of the pop up picture is a button called original click that to see a full size screen shot

120hz tighten timings for both Nvidia and AMD cards CRU screenshot (Pixel clock 459mhz)



120hz tighten timings Nvidia Nvidia screenshot (Pixel clock 459mhz)



120hz memory down clockable timings AMD cards only! (Pixel clock 487mhz)



110hz memory down clockable timings AMD cards only! (Pixel clock 453mhz)



Nvidia Screenshots from Tomcat (Thanks Tomcat)

Tomcats screenshots showing what Nvidia 120hz &110Hz NvCP Standard (default) timings that allows Nvidia cards GPU Ram to properly downclock @ the desktop and what Color Sustainer should look like.

Nvidia 110hz memory down clockable timings (pixel clock 443mhz)



Nvidia 120hz memory down clockable timings (pixel clock 483mhz)



Qnix and X-Star Monitor drivers

qnix.zip 0k .zip file


x-star.zip 0k .zip file


Bootuituner (Windows 8 Advanced start up tool)

Windows8Advancedstartup.zip 27k .zip file


Color Sustainer by yasamoka! Plus ICC Profiles
Overclocking your monitor shifts the gamma higher meaning the screen looks darker which is normal as they are not designed to run at higher refresh rates.....Windows color management is horrible and even if you don't have your own calibrator ... Many of us have found Yasamoka's program to be quite useful AND YaZ himself is here to help! Just be warned some of the older ICC profiles (like the Asus one) need a workaround found HERE, Yaz will help ... Feel free to try my 120hz and 96hz ICC profiles below created for my Qnix using my Spyder 4 pro colour calibrator..

Get "Color Sustainer" and support HERE

Interesting thread HERE and how Color Sustainer works with game profiles further proving how inadequate Windows is for color management!

Remember every monitor is different and there is no "Right or Wrong" color profile as it really comes down to personal preference ... Use Color Sustainer to apply the profiles...I calibrated these profiles at a brightness of 200 cd/m which is about 18 clicks up on the BRI+ button from a black screen for 120hz and 17 clicks up for 96hz...I will find Tomcats Favourite collection of ICC profiles and post them when i find them!

Note: Color Sustainer will allow you to load mulitple ICC profiles one for each custom resolution that you create and will change / apply these ICC profiles on the Fly when you switch between your custom resolutions!....This is just one of the many features that makes Yasamoka Color Sustainer the very best ICC profile handler out there and why it stand out from the crowd!...Thanks Yasamoka!

Nativedispcal120hz96hz200cdm.zip 26k .zip file


Tomcats favourite ICC profiles (Thanks tomcat for your profiles and Color Sustainer input)

FavoriteColorSustainerprofiles.zip 71k .zip file

Nvidia cards can also use lower vertical blanking values than any Amd card which means they are able to hit 120hz and 110hz using automatic timings without the need to use my memory optimized timings and still achieve memory downclock...However if you find that you can not hit 120hz with automatic timings then use my tightened 120hz timings which will give you a much stronger signal and a much higher chance of hitting 120hz!...But bear in mind that with these timings your cards memory will not downclock on the desktop so you may want to set 60hz or 96hz or even 110hz while on the desktop and not gaming!

Using 120hz timings read below!
Please take into consideration that the monitors display controller chip has a pixel clock design limit of 450mhz!...So using my 120hz AMD cards down clock-able timings will run a much higher pixel clock of 487mhz...And using NVCP standard 120hz timings will set a high pixel clock of 483mhz....No one knows the long term affect of running such a high pixel clock which is why i run 110hz 24/7 now as i can not tell the difference between 110hz and 120hz....However when i did run 120hz i used to use my tightened timings which bought my pixel clock down to 459mhz only 9mhz above the limit and i used to set a 96hz refresh rate when i finished gaming and was back on the desktop!.... I personally would advise the tightened timings option if you want to run 120hz!.. And not to use a 120hz custom resolution running a pixelclock of 487mhz or 483mhz !...we have tested that these timings are possible for some and have made them freely available for you all to try!.. but you all now know the facts so if you are going to use them then please use them at your own use at your own discretion!

BLB FIX
In the Link Below is a few posts of mine which explains how to fix BLB which is mostly caused by the panel which is sat in a bent frame....No tape is needed and in fact tape can make your BLB worse as it can add to pressure which is alreaddy on the panel from the bent frame....If your frame is stright your BLB will be 100% Gone!
BLB from My bent frame


Straightened Frame with no BLB..And no tape needed

http://www.overclock.net/t/1384767/official-the-qnix-x-star-1440p-monitor-club/12970

Also please remember that none of this is possible without the continued support of ToastyX and his Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) and his ATI and Nvidia driver patches!
ToastyX also has a donation link which can be found in the link below 3 sentences down.


http://www.monitortests.com/forum/Thread-AMD-ATI-Pixel-Clock-Patcher?page=1

post-flame-small.gif Lawson's Qnix/X-Star 60Hz-120Hz Overclocking Guide post-flame-small.gif

Code:

Code:
[B][CENTER][B][URL=http://www.overclock.net/t/1493929/qnix-and-x-star-monitors-new-timings-and-overclocking-guide-club]:clock: Lawson's Qnix/X-Star 60Hz-120Hz Overclocking Guide :clock:[/URL][/B][/CENTER][/B]
 

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#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by the9quad View Post

Awesome Job Man! Thanks so much for doing this.
No thank you man!...This was needed for quite some time i just needed you to kick me up the ass and make get on with it
thumb.gif


Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

Is there any risk of pushing the pixel clock above 450MHz?
Any long term affect no one knows of yet!....However the i have measured the extra voltage that the display controller draws from 60hz to 120hz and it is only drawing an extra just under 6 watts using my tightened timings of 459mhz which is only 9mhz above the limit so it show that the display controller is more than capable of drawing extra power when it is needed!....Also and i have found no sizeable difference in temperatures from the display controller from 60hz to 120hz....One could take from this that its perfectly safe to run over 450mhz as you wont get much over 490mhz anyhow without artefacts...However i just like to present the facts and let you decided what you think is best for your monitor
thumb.gif


Edit: I have to admit when i first bought my monitor i ran at 120hz 24/7 for a couple of months with no problems at all!...This is before i discoverd that my ram was not down clocking which was drawing an extra 60watts from the wall to run my top cards ram flat out all day long on the desktop doing nothing and adding 10c to my top card temp in crossfire.
 
#5 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

Is there any risk of pushing the pixel clock above 450MHz?
Well there is a limit of 330 via drivers, which is there for a reason I am sure. In addition I believe that it's really only rated for 450. BUT>......Keep in mind both Nvidia and AMD said in 2010 they would stop supporting DVI-D in 2013-2015 time frame in order to facilitate the adoption of HDMI and display port. SO if you wanted to faze something out, posing artificial limitations on it sure would be one way to do it.
 
#7 ·
I may not have the same monitor, but I think it uses the same controller. It's been running at ~450MHz longer than just about anybody else, no problems so far!

I haven't managed 120hz yet, but I may try again.

Fair warning to AMD users: the driver patcher tends to mess up flash, but most problems go away once you disable hardware acceleration. There are also some problems with pre-290 crossfire setups above 110hz, as the crossfire bridges aren't designed to transfer that much data! This is why they switched to XDMA.
 
#10 ·
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

How do I verify that the icc profile has been applied? I used color sustainer to associate the .icc file with the resolution and refresh rate. Seems like when I use lawson's icc profile 17 clicks is a little too bright and everything seems washed out.
Yes sound like you are using Color sustainer correctly!....No two panel's are the same and it is best to try a few ICC profiles to find one that suits you best...I have up loaded tomcats Favourite ICC profiles in the OP feel free to try any of those.
 
#12 ·
Sorry for being such a newb, this is my first time trying to OC my Qnix. But if I wanted to use 110mhz 24/7 like you do yourself, which settings and timings would I use for Nvidia? (I noticed you listed some timings for AMD) Any specific ones or just use auto? Thanks!
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azgalor View Post

Sorry for being such a newb, this is my first time trying to OC my Qnix. But if I wanted to use 110mhz 24/7 like you do yourself, which settings and timings would I use for Nvidia? (I noticed you listed some timings for AMD) Any specific ones or just use auto? Thanks!
For Nvidia cards using 110hz you can use Auto timings!...Meaning you can simply set 110hz as the custom resolution without the need to mess with your timings!

Dont forget to install the Qnix monitor driver
thumb.gif
 
#15 ·
Thanks Lawson! I have a new question. I'm using an nVidia 670 GTX and I only changed the resolution to 110 Hz and no other settings(120Hz immediately gives me green lines) I used the ISO 100 setting on my camera to check that there was no frame skipping, however on a certain color of beige, there seems to be some kind of purple ghosting issue. Could you help me out? Not sure if the picture is clear enough but the purple after image moves with whatever window I put on the right side and as far as I can tell, it's only when it's displaying that color of beige.

 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

Thanks Lawson! I have a new question. I'm using an nVidia 670 GTX and I only changed the resolution to 110 Hz and no other settings(120Hz immediately gives me green lines) I used the ISO 100 setting on my camera to check that there was no frame skipping, however on a certain color of beige, there seems to be some kind of purple ghosting issue. Could you help me out? Not sure if the picture is clear enough but the purple after image moves with whatever window I put on the right side and as far as I can tell, it's only when it's displaying that color of beige.

Are you getting this purple image at 110hz as well as 120hz?... And are using auto timings for your 120hz custom refresh rate or my tightened 120hz timings?
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

At 120Hz I just straight up get the green lines using auto timings. I followed your advice and tried 110 Hz instead because I wanted my card to downclock. I have only tried auto timings for 110hz and 120hz and 96hz
You maybe able to hit 120hz using my tightened timing as this will give you a stronger signal with a pixel clock of 459mhz which is closer to the 450mhz pixel clock limit than using auto timings which runs a pixel clock of 483mhz....However your cards memory clock will not be able to down clock on the desktop using the tightened timings but once you finished gaming you can set your 110hz refresh rate once back on the desktop!...

If the purple ghosting issue is present at both 96hz 110hz and 120hz and you have not left your screen static for some time then i am unsure why this is happening as i have never come across this!...It is possible to see Image retention and ghosting on these monitor once overclocked if you leave the screen static for some time!...Dropping back to 60hz for about 30mins resolves this and setting a screen saver to kick in after 10mins cures it...I use windows ribbons screen saver!
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawson67 View Post

You maybe able to hit 120hz using my tightened timing as this will give you a stronger signal with a pixel clock of 459mhz which is closer to the 450mhz pixel clock limit than using auto timings which runs a pixel clock of 483mhz....However your cards memory clock will not be able to down clock on the desktop using the tightened timings but once you finished gaming you can set your 110hz refresh rate once back on the desktop!...

If the purple ghosting issue is present at both 96hz 110hz and 120hz and you have not left your screen static for some time then i am unsure why this is happening as i have never come across this!...It is possible to see Image retention and ghosting on these monitor once overclocked if you leave the screen static for some time!...Dropping back to 60hz for about 30mins resolves this and setting a screen saver to kick in after 10mins cures it...I use windows ribbons screen saver!
It's only at 110Hz unfortunately. I think I'll stick to 96 Hz then. Thank you!
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

It's only at 110Hz unfortunately. I think I'll stick to 96 Hz then. Thank you!
Have you applied an ICC profile at 110hz?...If so is the purple image retention still seen?....Try my 120hz ICC profile it will be fine at 110hz...Also you could try my AMD 110hz timings if the ICC profile does not hide it and see if that removes it?
 
#22 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

Tried that and it only seemed to shift the purple area upwards but it's still there sadly.
If you can move the purple image retention using different timings then only thing you can do is manually mess with your timings and see if you can eliminate the purple image retention altogether at 110hz...However i have to say it looks to me like normal image retention that should go by resetting 60hz for 30 mins...it looks like your screen has been sat static for a while
 
#23 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawson67 View Post

If you can move the purple image retention using different timings then only thing you can do is manually mess with your timings and see if you can eliminate the purple image retention altogether at 110hz...However i have to say it looks to me like normal image retention that should go by resetting 60hz for 30 mins...it looks like your screen has been sat static for a while
I thought icc profiles had nothing to do with timing of the pixels? They're just calibrated for different refresh rates aren't they? Anyway I tried raising to 110Hz again and it was still there. It's ONLY at the right and ONLY with that brown-beige color. Any other color like white will not have that purple colored area.

Oh well. Thank you for helping me.
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

I thought icc profiles had nothing to do with timing of the pixels? They're just calibrated for different refresh rates aren't they? Anyway I tried raising to 110Hz again and it was still there. It's ONLY at the right and ONLY with that brown-beige color. Any other color like white will not have that purple colored area.

Oh well. Thank you for helping me.
You are correct ICC profile do have nothing to do with the timings however the higher refresh rate that you use on these monitors the higher the gamma shifts meaning the screen appears darker..ICC profiles correct this and to some degree help remove the resulting poorer screen uniformity and remove / hide some of the overclocking downside affects!...As Samsung never designed this panel to run at anything other than 60hz.
 
#25 ·
+rep, Thank You! Perfect timing for me as I'm finally ordering a QNIX next month.
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraine View Post

Thanks Lawson! I have a new question. I'm using an nVidia 670 GTX and I only changed the resolution to 110 Hz and no other settings(120Hz immediately gives me green lines) I used the ISO 100 setting on my camera to check that there was no frame skipping, however on a certain color of beige, there seems to be some kind of purple ghosting issue. Could you help me out? Not sure if the picture is clear enough but the purple after image moves with whatever window I put on the right side and as far as I can tell, it's only when it's displaying that color of beige.

One of my two monitors does this at 110Hz with memory downclockable timings but with a lower pixel clock it's fine.
The other does it at 120Hz even with a low pixel rate but it can run 110 just fine with your timings.

It's just a symptom of pushing the monitor further than it wants to go really.

Personally I have mine set to 110Hz and I can live without VRAM downclocking.
smile.gif

I'm still really impressed by these monitors for €240 each.

I also tend to get it in one section of the screen.
I'll get a picture with my webcam in a sec just to show you.

Edit: I have no software installed for taking still images with the webcam at the moment so I just drew something quick in paint.
What happens is similar to your issue, I get pinky-purple regions showing up on top of particular colours but only within a certain horizontal region of the screen.

It consistently displays purple, it's not a flashing thing like the green lines would be.
That part of the screen just basically displays the purple colour instead of a range of other colours.
I just realised yours is localised too.
 
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