HDMI 2.1 is not necessary for achieving 1440p at 120Hz on the Alienware AW3225QF. The monitor currently does not support 1440p at 120Hz for consoles like the Xbox Series X, which is a limitation of the monitor itself rather than the HDMI version being used. It can support 4K at 120Hz with these consoles, but 1440p at that refresh rate is not available due to hardware constraints.
While HDMI 2.1 provides the necessary bandwidth for higher resolutions and refresh rates, the AW3225QF's inability to support 1440p at 120Hz is a fixed limitation, not an issue of connectivity. Users have expressed hope for a firmware update to enable this feature, but as of now, it remains unsupported, and the monitor's native resolution is 4K[1][2].
Citations:[1] https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/alienware-desktops/aw3225qf-future-firmware-1440p-120hz/65c3bf7672830b7e23ee3568
[2] https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/alienware-desktops/aw3225qf-hdmi-21-g-sync-issue/65a6f8c6c833c24319f7cbeb
[3] https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/compare/dell-alienware-aw3225qf-vs-msi-mpg-321urx-qd-oled/46677/47132
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/OLED_Gaming/comments/194apz4/aw3225qf_connectivity/
[5] https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/dell-alienware-aw3225qf-32-review-curved-4k-240hz-qd-oled.284787/