Acer ConceptD CM100-51A How to connect a monitor?

snoopy48
snoopy48 Member Posts: 6

Tinkerer
edited April 2021 in ConceptD Laptops, Monitors and Desktops
Hi there, bought the above desktop just today and puzzled as to how to connect a monitor. I see a current similar question!   I rang Acer helpline today and the advisor mentioned that my monitor may be incompatible with my new Acer PC. All he could confirm was that I need a HDMI cable 2.1

You can see from the picture that, going from top to bottom, there are two regular HDMI ports that are actually sealed off with what looks like a black card. Below that is a normal VGA port that has a removeable plastic cover that says 'do not remove'! 

At the bottom, just under the colour coded audio plugs, are four what I believe is 'mini' or 'micro' HMDI ports.

My question is are the two upper 'covered' regular HDMI ports usable, if indeed you can remove the covering which does not look like it should be removed?  

And what about the covered VGA socket below those, will that work is used?

And finally about the four bottom what look like 'mini' or 'micro' HMDI ports, are they intended to use for monitor connection, and are they mini or micro?  My monitor only has a regular HMDI port so can I buy a cable with regular HMDI to mini/micro HMDI connectors? 

Appreciate any help on this as the supplied/on line help is not telling me anything!  I am in the UK   Thanks guys!


Answers

  • snoopy48
    snoopy48 Member Posts: 6

    Tinkerer
    Hi Guys!   Just to add some GOOD NEWS on this one!   Today I contacted Currys on their tech help, it was a zoom call on my iPad but only using the microphone although I could see him.  The guy was not familiar to begin with but he was excellent in working it all out and stated that despite Currys advertising this Acer as having 2xHDMI and 1xVGA, they had actually been sealed off as access to the dedicated graphics card can ONLY be accessed via those four small ports at the bottom, these are actually called MINI DISPLAY PORTS and what I needed to buy to connect my existing monitor was a Mini Display Port to HDMI cable and he found those on Amazon for me ( apparently Currys don't sell them … yet! ) .  I was really impressed .  So problem solved, just a shame that Acer do not add this information into the packaging and that their customer service advisor should know about! 


    https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=mini+display+to+hdmi+cable&i=computers&crid=1IATJ1407HVG&sprefix=MINI+DISPLAY+,beauty,153&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-a-p_3_13
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,246 Trailblazer
    Yeah, different SKUs of the ConceptD CM100-51A have different features. In your case you have a Quadro P620 card installed, so the motherboard ports are disabled and the four ports on the card allow you to connect up to four monitors. In other SKUs there is either no GPU card, in which case the onboard ports are used, or a GT 1030 card, in which case the ports on the card are used. Yours is the more powerful option... You can use a miniDP to HDMI convertor cable like you link, but you'll get a little better performance by using miniDP to DP instead.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • snoopy48
    snoopy48 Member Posts: 6

    Tinkerer
    Thanks for the update billsey!   When you talk about better video performance by using a mini DP to DP/mini DP cable, am I assuming that it's only later monitors would allow this type of connection? When I spoke to the customer service at Acer, all he told me was to use a HDMI 2.1 cable ... do you understand the significance of that and can the options discussed be bought in '2.1' standard?  
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,246 Trailblazer
    Hmm, I don't see anything in the specs for the Quadro P620 that talks about HDMI 2.1. I'd sick with the mini DP to DP in order to get all the DP 1.4 features. It's capable of running four DP displays at 4K 60Hz.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • hell0itsbecky
    hell0itsbecky Member Posts: 1 New User
    Thanks so much for this post - I've just received my Acer ConceptD CM100 today and have the same issue with the 2 blocked off HDMI ports! mini DP to HDMI cable is on order! 
  • snoopy48
    snoopy48 Member Posts: 6

    Tinkerer

       So glad this came in useful for you!  The supplied set up guide is really bad here and it was only the Curry Tech guy who helped me out with specifics here. The Acer helpline was like talking to someone in a parallel universe and even when I emailed them, they replied after 14 days with 'have you sorted it yet!'.  Such a shame as the Acer desktop is just right for me!  ;) 

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