The Best VGA Adapters to Connect a CRT Monitor to a Modern Gaming PC

In this video we will talk about DisplayPort to VGA adapters. Such an adapter is needed to connect a CRT Monitor to a modern Gaming PC. There are a lot of differences though and sadly most adapters do not support high enough Hz or MHz to really utilize the full potential of your CRT monitor. Luckily, a few years ago, I found an adapter that can do everything you need, and in that regard, I'm going to show you what crazy stuff I'm going to do with it.
00:00 Intro
00:53 Testing a cheap random VGA to DisplayPort Adapter
02:07 Testing my DeLock Adapter
05:17 Searching the internet for Adapters
07:12 Found my Adapter
Join our new Discord to chat and exchange Pictures about CRTs, Retro Computers and other stuff: / discord

[@agfa1854]

Best ones to use are the Delock you mentioned as well as the Startech DP2VGAHD20 which reliably does 375mhz, if you are lucky you can find a Sunix DPU3000 or the Delock/IcyBox clone which does 535mhz but less reliable for some than the startech. For HDMI the best right now is a LK7112 chipset based adapter you can find being sold from turkey. Good video

[@RetroGamingBase]

Best info right there! Thanks! This will help a lot of us! 👍🍻

[@rnbdc]

Thanks for the info, just what I needed!

[@tvndno6023]

Startech has troubles with dithering

[@imam-icereyan5471]

i am from turkey. Which adaptor lk7112 used?

[@tvndno6023]

@@imam-icereyan5471 Alfais AL4547

[@nathanddrews]

I think I spent over $100 USD for two Delock adapters shipped from Germany almost 10 years ago and I still use them to drive my CRTs. It's nice not to be limited by the adapter.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Yeah exactly! Good adapters are worth the trouble

[@myolgiden]

Although you are focusing speed of hz on CRT monitors in your channel, but what really is amazing about CRT monitors are their amazing picture quality, sharpness and natural colors. Seriously... LCD monitors are trash compared to CRT monitors if quality of screen matters.

[@RetroGamingBase]

That’s so true bro! Take a look at my first video, there I use a special AA technology to make very low resolution gaming look pretty acceptable 😀 I just love how on a CRT 1024x768 looks like full HD or how 1680x1050 on a Sony FW 900 easily looks like 4K 🍻👍

[@whinstonwolfe2958]

@retrogamingbase, may i ask what special AA tech you use? I recently got a viewsonic g225f and would like to tinker with what it can do

[@adamplechaty]

If you own a GPU with USB-C you can use a cheapo converter that will do what all the expensive HDMI or DP converters do. Like my Vention which was about 20 bucks.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Nice! Good to know 👍

[@tvndno6023]

What model of the Vention you have?

[@terrytees]

The best DAC to use were the Sunix DPU3000, Icy Box IB-SPL1031, and DeLock 87685. The common thing with them is they all contained the Synaptics VMM2322 chip. Now there is a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter - USB Powered - made by startech Product ID: MDP2DVID2 Intresting thing about this is in the specs it also contains the Synaptics VMM2322 chip. It's a Dual link DVI but going analgoue DVI to VGA isn't a issue. I have never used this adapter but it maybe worth a try as it is the VMM2322 chip thats key and even a chip swap would work.

[@Yajirobi17]

Thanks for the video i really needed that. i am currently using a gtx titan x from 2015 bc it has dvi analog but i want to upgrade my gpu. greetings from deutschland

[@RetroGamingBase]

Schönen Gruß zurück 🍻

[@ByeBaybe]

valuable information. thank you for testing and spending the money so i don't have to.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Haha yeah, I wanted to know that a few years ago and I was a bit shocked that there are so few who can do it 👍

[@TheBardOfTheRedHand]

I love the CRT community coming together to publish information and test products. We have to get rid of all of the scams out there that want to take our money. I don't have a PC CRT yet but I have two CRT Teles. One is a standard SD set for my older consoles and the other is a massive 34" Sony Trinitron beast. I have disabled it's internal scaler so that it's passing the 1080i signal correctly at 8ms of latency. Hoping to grab a downscaler/interlacer one day so I can pass my PC signal to just to enjoy 34" CRT PC gaming as a novelty.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Oh wow! Yeah I would love to see how PC Gaming on that would look like! Maybe better than on many modern TVs 👍

[@TheBardOfTheRedHand]

@@RetroGamingBase While waiting to purchase the downscaler for FPS games, I have used it for single player games where the latency isn't as critical. Alan Wake II is a very good use case. It's almost like Doom 3 back in the mid-00s. The use of light and shadow to create contrast and dark areas where you can't see without a flashlight really plays to the strengths of the CRT. Obviously a modern OLED would also look stunning with this game, but something about Remedy Entertainment and their style just lends itself well to being experienced on CRTs. They have a ton of references to analog tech in the game already (same in Control too) so it feels just right playing it on CRT.

[@linde5657]

Since windows 11 lets you choose the gpu for each program, I got an old AMD gpu with a VGA output, and use it with my RTX 2070! It's important to note that two GPU's of the same manufacturer from different generations dont work together!! For my setup I'm using my crt at its max resolution of 1280x960 @120hz interlaced :D

[@RetroGamingBase]

Yeah totally true and a nice resolution/hz combo 👍

[@joman104]

I my tests with my crt, im usally bottlenecked by the horizontal frequency(lowering horizontal resolution to get higher refresh rate.) . by using a more narrow aspect ratio(4by 3 is native, but 16 by 9, 16 by 10, and 21 by 9) allow to retain better image quality while still pushing higher refresh rates.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Nice! Yeah makes sense! 👍

[@silvereyeraven]

You know how in games there is super cool & mysterious ancient tech that is for some reason better than the modern that the characters have? Well CRT is like this but in real life. Tech that is more than half a century old, yet still better than modern monitors.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Absolutely right! And yeah that phenomenon is really true here also in RL 👍

[@melon7592]

im using the Startech DP2VGAHD20 for 800x600 163hz, works nice as far as i can tell

[@RetroGamingBase]

Awesome! Good to know Startech also has one that works! 👍

[@melon7592]

@@RetroGamingBase it has a problem though where it does not connect properly the first time you boot your pc, you gotta unplug and re plug the adapter for it to kick in to the correct resolution, otherwise its in the wrong resolution and blury, but other than that it works fine

[@ricarnuninho80]

Me too. 😁🤗

[@xguitarist_]

I can also vouch for this one, at least for my 96kHz display it let me max it out

[@tvndno6023]

Startech have troubles with dithering

[@BobDoodlesmoth]

interesting. I've been using a cheap no name adapter without any problems but my crt is limited to a 70kHz horizontal refresh rate.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Yeah at that KHz you won’t get problems with any adapter 👍🍻

[@Q36BN]

Whats the music played in the middle of the video?

[@RetroGamingBase]

That’s Mechwarrior 4 Music, both songs

[@CompuforceWally]

Excellent video! I have the Delock 62967 display port to VGA adapter for my LaCie electron 22 blue model II PC CRT monitor. My video card is the 1050ti GTX OC edition low profile model. I have noticed you are using the Nvidia's control panel to set custom resolutions. What about using using CRU by ToastyX app? Can it handle more custom resolutions or I can just use the Nvidia's control panel? Thanks in advance!

[@RetroGamingBase]

CRU is good to force the resolution in every game. Most of the time Nvidia Panel is totally enough though.

[@modology]

I do wonder if you can try out 320 x 240 @interlaced mode at 500hz....would that make 1000hz effectively?

[@RetroGamingBase]

Yeah there are some crazy things possible with interlaced 😅👍

[@modology]

@@RetroGamingBase Can you try it out?

[@WingmanLive]

Can you mod a crt for freesync or gsync? I seen a while ago there was a version of cru that lets you make freesync resolutions that even work with non freesync monitors.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Would be very interesting to explore but asfaik it has never been done

[@kaeyse]

Actually would be interesting even in non Retro application. As an esport enthusiast, I wonder if you could drive the monitor in 200+hz in a more reasonable resolution. I'd actually consider that for my VALORANT/CS Sessions.

[@RetroGamingBase]

It can do 800x600 @200hz and that resolution is still officially supported by windows 11 and is totally useable in all games. Especially if you use sparse grid anti aliasing it will look like full hd on a CRT. Check out my very first video on this channel and see how you like the looks. The resolution there is only 640x400@255Hz and it also still works good in games 😀

[@tvndno6023]

What adapters do you use? The best adapters are all bought out now with hightest pixel clock, Sunnix DPU 3000

[@RetroGamingBase]

Yeah I think my video has helped to make them even more rare then they already were… I use the Delock one that I show here and I bought a few of them years ago.

[@tvndno6023]

@@RetroGamingBase I have also delock

[@tvndno6023]

@@RetroGamingBase buy another delock because there is only few units of this model on the market, almost bought out

[@blazuma111]

I have that same delock adapter as you and no matter what I tried, I could not get it to work with any custom resolutions on my windows 7 laptop with Nvidia NVS 5100M. It will just say that the resolution is not supported with this display. It also tells me that this device is not HDCP capable and I am guessing that is why it won't work? Also, even if I use Custom resolution utility and try to run restart, it won't let me and a message will come up saying Failed to restart graphics driver. Unfortunately, I do not own any other device that has a displayport output, so it's etheir the delock itself, or my laptop that is not letting me set up a custom resolution. Can you please tell me how you got yours to work? Thanks!

[@RetroGamingBase]

Hey this sounds like a issue with your GPU or the way your Monitor is set up in Windows. Normally it just works, there is nothing special you have to do. Just go to custom resolution and enter a resolution that you want. Maybe try and change the Monitor to something that can 100% do the resolution that you try. It does not even matter if the Monitor is the correct one, I often just take Mitsubishi TUX 1107 no matter what is actually connected.

[@blazuma111]

@@RetroGamingBase I guess I'll be buying a new computer then. I've seen your videos before and I know that you like pushing the limits of the iiyama CRT monitor that is said to be the fastest CRT monitor in existence, but have you ever tried to run interlaced resolutions on it before? I have a HP laptop from 2022 with Intel UHD graphics 600. I am using a Benfei HDMI to VGA adapter and can push it up to 2040×1400 as that is the max interlaced video resolution that it will accept and looks amazing on my Viewsonic Ultrabrite E70f+. Now I am not sure if newer Intel GPUs still support interlaced video as both big makers Nvidia and AMD seemed to have dropped it years ago, but on Intel's official website, they claim that their newest line of GPUs, Arc works with interlaced video resolutions, which would be absolutely insane if they do. I highly suggest that you give any Intel GPU a try, [to be safe, Intel UHD 600 series or lower since that is what I have been able to prove that works] (even laptop GPUs) just be sure to use Custom Resolution Utility to make a custom interlaced resolution, otherwise it won't work.

[@musguelha14]

I think you should have said that the cheaper adapters, like the Rankie one you had at the beggining, are actually fine if you have a more basic CRT, like the very typical 17" 1024*768 @ 85HZ models that are easeir to find at reasonable prices (or free). If that's all your monitor can do, don't waste money on more expensive adapters.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Oh yeah! A valid point! I was really talking about 21“ CRTs since those are the ones I use.

[@MikeLindquist]

The cheap ones like Rankie usually have an AG6200 chipset, which actually produce pretty poor color accuracy and lose a lot of shadow detail

[@silfrido1768]

Is there any other crt’s that have the capability of being pushed to around 300-360hz ?

[@RetroGamingBase]

Yeah I think so. Some people in our Community have written about it. It was either in comments here or on our Discord. One used a Nokia for 400Hz I think

[@silfrido1768]

@@RetroGamingBase when you get a chance can you try to see what model it was, I’m looking to buy a crt soon :)

[@mr.electronx9036]

BUT...can it run crysis at 500 fps?

[@RetroGamingBase]

It sure could! The question will be, can you still see something to shoot at 😅👍

[@Dodex45]

what is the maximum resolution that can be obtained with nvidia dsr and the maximum refresh rate? or using interlaced scanning?

[@RetroGamingBase]

Some people in our discord have done some crazy things with interlaced. Personally, I have not done much there yet sadly, so I can’t answer that, sadly

[@Dodex45]

@@RetroGamingBase I would like to see experiments with this, especially on Sony GDM FW 900

[@RetroGamingBase]

@@Dodex45 Yeah! I’m currently planning to do exactly that 👍🍻

[@iambarnabas_]

Anarchy Online OST in the background, sooooo good. Did you play the game?

[@RetroGamingBase]

Haha awesome! I was not sure someone would notice that 👍 Yeah I played a Agent and a MA back in the day and later on I was one of the first keepers at max lvl 😅😎

[@iambarnabas_]

@@RetroGamingBase Epic! I still have my main MA from 2005. Almost every year I resubbing for a month just to mess around for a couple of days, stopping even before the sub runs off. I think i will do a subway run soon again, just to get that nostalgia rush :D

[@rnbdc]

Any adapter that goes to a pixel clock of 360 to 370 MHz ? I have a Samsung 1100MB capable per spec of up to 160 Hz Vsync, 130 kHz Hsync, and 360 MHz pixel clock bandwidth. Does 2048x1536 at 80 Hz just fine, for example. In reality it can go a bit higher, but even per spec it's high enough for me. Just need a decent adapter to use it with a modern computer.

[@RetroGamingBase]

Read the pinned comment 😀 apparently there seem to be adapters that can do what you need 👍🍻

[@rnbdc]

@@RetroGamingBase I find some Nvidia Quadro cards with 400 MHz RAMDACs (integrated), but no adapters... Apparently there are some that go to 300 MHz only. Currently I'm driving the monitor from an old HP laptop capable of 400 MHz also. But that won't run Windows 11, for example.

[@Uboo3]

Hi do you have a link for the delock adapter?

[@RetroGamingBase]

I could only give you a link for Germany if that helps? I just googled Delock dp to vga adapter and searched for the correct box art. Be careful! Delock also has a cheaper one who is not good enough. You need the 2500x1600@60Hz one

[@Uboo3]

@@RetroGamingBaseI live in Germany that would be perfect

[@Uboo3]

I also tried to look for the cable but only found a 20 m cable

[@Uboo3]

@@RetroGamingBase I cannot send links can you maybe put the link in the video description

[@RetroGamingBase]

www.otto.de/p/delock-62967-adapter-displayport-1-2-stecker-zu-vga-buchse-schwarz-computer-kabel-display-port-displayport-S098D0HV/#ech=28618109&variationId=S098D0HVCXUU I found it here

[@JohnSmith-iu8cj]

The important question is, how much lag does this converter add?

[@RetroGamingBase]

A valid question. Would be interesting to know but I don’t know how to really test that. Maybe someone in the community knows more. 😀

[@silfrido1768]

With how fast his monitor is I doubt there is any lag coming from the adapter

[@MikeLindquist]

No scaling = no lag a human could ever perceive (a couple microseconds)

[@yazi2879]

I just connect the vga to dvi-i adapter to my titan x and that to my vga iiyama vision master easy

[@RetroGamingBase]

Totally true and great setup 👍

[@ricarnuninho80]

Yeah. But StarTech is better. I've a GeForce RTX 4090 GPU + StarTech DP to VGA adapter and... I can work 2560x1600@60Hz! - my video on 19th may 2023. 😍😁🥰

[@RetroGamingBase]

Good info! 😀 I need 100Hz at least though, or my eyes hurt. This Delock here can also do the 2560x1600@60Hz. At least it says so on its box, as you see in the video 😅

[@ricarnuninho80]

@@RetroGamingBase ok. 50Hz doesn't hurt my eyes, sorry but this is for TV or videos of 50fps only because we get pure smooth motion ( = single image). 😍😋😚👌👌 At 100Hz, we get double-image because any video has only 50fps capped. 😅😊

[@RetroGamingBase]

@@ricarnuninho80 oh yeah TV is ok. Just at computer monitor CRTs you need more Hz to make it flicker free 😀👍 Especially in bright pictures or while in windows you notice flickering below around 85hz. At least most people do 😅

[@ricarnuninho80]

@@RetroGamingBase 😊 But I don't like any real CRT 'TV' due to the weak focus, to the dirty picture (color, ghost...)... 🤮😅 I want any CRT 'monitor-computer' at 50Hz for excellent focus, for clear color... 😍👌🤗

[@jasonfallel8829]

You cannot play games in such resolution , this is a waste

[@RetroGamingBase]

Yeah you are right ofc. On the other side, people use ice to overclock CPUs to 10GHz or so just to run one benchmark 😅 sometimes it’s what’s possible that counts I guess 🤷‍♂️