Nitro XZ322QU monito Higher refresh rate on DisplayPort causes monitor to go blank

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Nitro XZ322QU monitor. It states that it is capable of 1440p@165Hz on DisplayPort, however I am having trouble with this refresh rate.

When I plug the monitor into my PC with a compatible DisplayPort cable, and go into Windows Display Settings it correctly lists the available refresh rates - 60Hz, 144Hz and 165Hz. If I change to either 144Hz or 165Hz the monitor will go blank. It works initially until there is any movement on the screen - this could be just moving the mouse cursor - and then blank. I have to hard reset to recover, and Windows starts back up again at 60Hz.

Using HDMI I can successfully use 144Hz but no higher as this is the highest support refresh rate.

I have an Nvidia 1650 Super GPU, and confirmed that this uses DisplayPort 1.4a, which should be capable of displaying 1440p@165Hz. I ensured that I bought a compatible Display Port cable as well, that is certified to a higher DP version. I am on Windows 11. I've installed the latest Nvidia drivers.

I reached out to Acer Technical Support last month. However, they couldn't find any details of the serial or SNID in their systems, and wouldn't proceed without this verification. I sent through a picture of the panel on the back of the screen, along with my purchase receipt, at their request. They said they'd get back to me but never did - so I guess they just wanted to get rid of the ticket.

This panel also has terrible ghosting/response time with certain colours. It is especially noticeable with blacks on a dark background. The amount of blur is a bit like an early rear projection television set - very noticeable. It isn't so noticeable with other colour combinations though.

The problems with the DisplayPort, the hideous response time for certain colour combos and this monitor not being recorded in any Acer backend systems makes me super suspicious of the retailer. Have I ended up with some dodgy grey market refurb (advertised as new), is this a faulty monitor or is it really just complete garbage? Sure, it was very cheap for the feature set but I went from a 15 year old panel so I'm easily impressed and my expectations were set low - they just weren't set this far low!

Hoping someone in here might have some insight. Perhaps there is some settings I've missed somewhere and this monitor might be able to redeem itself :)

Thanks.

 [Edited the thread to add model name to the title]