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Advice on GPU with 2 Mini Displayports

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Oct 11, 2012
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187
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra
CPU
i7-9700K
Graphics
RX 580
Mac
  1. iMac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Hi Everyone,

I almost bought two Apple Cinema Displays last week, then backed out at the last second after I realized my GPU won't be able to run them. I don't want to deal with an HDMI/mDP converter, because it sounds like it's not a guarantee that they will work. For those that are unfamiliar, a GPU with a Displayport out can connect to a mDP in, so that's what I have running on my iMac (using it as a display). Anyway, the Apple Cinema Displays have a mDP plug, but I think I will only be able to use one with my ASUS GTX 660Ti.

So my options are to use that adapter to get one of them to work through the HDMI port, and the adapter can be anywhere from like $70 used to $200 new.

My other option is to find a GPU with two Displayports or two Mini Displayports, and not have to deal with any type of adapters. I know the new GTX 980 has like 3 Displayports, but that's way out of my budget.

I then came across XFX Radeon cards. A lot of the newer ones have two mini Displayport inputs, which would be perfect for me. However, the newest ones are like those R9-type cards, and I have read very mixed success on Tonymac's forum with those. I basically want full 2560X1440 resolution on two Apple Cinema displays. I was eyeing the R9 280X because it's cheap right now on Amazon (with a promo code). I read that anything < R9 290 is actually the same as a 7-series card. I was thinking of buying a used XFX 7970 or something like that. I was wondering if anyone knows if these 7XXX or R9 2XX cards work OOB for OS X (I just upgraded to Yosemite last week). The great thing about my current 660Ti was that it worked out of box with no issues. I'm wondering if I do get a 7979 or 280X, if it will work OOB and with full resolution on two Apple Cinema Displays (27" non-Thunderbolt versions). Any input is much appreciated!
 
If the 980 is out of your budget, consider the Palit 970, it costs about 330€ and therefore 220€ less and offers 1xDVI, 3xminiDP, 1xminiHDMI. The performance should be good as well after the newest nvidia webdrivers are supporting them - http://www.tonymacx86.com/buying-advice/141637-gtx-970-gtx-980-here-8.html.

With kind regards

Thanks for the advice! I've never heard of Palit before, but I don't know that much about graphics cards to begin with. I've been eyeing some used XFX cards on eBay, specifically the 7970 and R9 280X, but I do know that NVIDIA plays nicer with OS X these days, so I'll definitely take it into consideration. It's nice to see there are options out there for multi-mini displayport. Thanks again!
 
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