Apple 27" LED Cinema Display

Ankle said:
According to powercolor's support it is their firmware and they didn't seem to care one bit. I'd avoid them if you are looking to use it with the ACD unless you want to risk dealing with returning it.
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Thanks everyone. So I was choosing between the Power Color HD 6990, Sapphire HD 6990, and Asus HD 6990 4gb/256bit+256bit ddr5. Could anyone confirm if the sapphire or the asus brand works fine? Couldn't find any xfx brand here in my place, I saw someone confirmed that his xfx 6990 didn't have any issues.
 
ian1285 said:
Thanks everyone. So I was choosing between the Power Color HD 6990, Sapphire HD 6990, and Asus HD 6990 4gb/256bit+256bit ddr5. Could anyone confirm if the sapphire or the asus brand works fine? Couldn't find any xfx brand here in my place, I saw someone confirmed that his xfx 6990 didn't have any issues.
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I have an ASUS Radeon HD 6970 2Gb with my 27" ACD. Never tried Sapphire as I've always heard terrible things about the warranty and RMAs.
 
Just ditched my triple Dell U2410's for the 27" Apple Cinema Display today. I was able to track down a new 2010 model at Frys. Hooked this up to my PC with a ATI 6990 through the mini displayport and no issues. Really impressed so far, image quality is much nicer than the Dell, the glossy screen vs the AG coating make a massive diference. Everything is super bright and colors pop like they didn't before. My only complaint is the lack of any height adjustment. Otherwise its a stunning monitor, probably the nicest I have ever used.
 
Ankle said:
Beware what brand you buy. Powercolor 6970s wouldn't work with my ACD whereas XFX did.
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Power Color HD 6970 2gb/256bit ddr5 - so this won't work

can somebody confirm if these other two brands will work with a 27 inch ACD: please... i want to make sure before i buy one.

Sapphire HD 6970 2gb/256bit ddr5
Asus HD 6970 DirectCU II 2gb/256bit ddr5

anybody tried any of these?
Sapphire HD 6990 4gb/512bit ddr5
Asus HD 6990 4gb/256bit+256bit ddr5 - will work confirmed by Ankle :)
Power Color HD 6990 4gb/512bit ddr5
 
I love my ACD.. bought a refurb from apple for $850.. the only pixel-perfect apple display I've ever had.. and easily the nicest monitor I've had..

Sucks to hear that some manufacturers of ATI cards aren't sticking with the reference design and it is causing compatibility issues.
 
ian1285 said:
Power Color HD 6970 2gb/256bit ddr5 - so this won't work

can somebody confirm if these other two brands will work with a 27 inch ACD: please... i want to make sure before i buy one.

Sapphire HD 6970 2gb/256bit ddr5
Asus HD 6970 DirectCU II 2gb/256bit ddr5

anybody tried any of these?
Sapphire HD 6990 4gb/512bit ddr5
Asus HD 6990 4gb/256bit+256bit ddr5 - will work confirmed by Ankle :)
Power Color HD 6990 4gb/512bit ddr5
Click to expand...

My ASUS is the 6970. Reasonably safe to assume the 6990 of the same brand will work and I'll find out next month as I'm looking to upgrade to one for BF3 at this resolution. I need some 4x MSAA to stand playing it.
 
I've plugged my ACD in to several XFX desktop cards - 6850, 6870, 6950 and a 6970 - and I've also used it on several laptops that have displayport out using a dongle. All work fine.

There really is no reason for it not to work. The one person that didn't get it to work - it's possible they just had a faulty miniDP port.
 
thanks guys, really appreciate it, i love this forum! :) :) :)


Power Color HD 6970 2gb/256bit ddr5 - so this won't work

can somebody confirm if these other two brands will work with a 27 inch ACD: please... i want to make sure before i buy one.

Sapphire HD 6970 2gb/256bit ddr5 - will work confirmed by bdr529
Asus HD 6970 DirectCU II 2gb/256bit ddr5 - will work confirmed by Ankle

anybody tried any of these?
Sapphire HD 6990 4gb/512bit ddr5
Asus HD 6990 4gb/256bit+256bit ddr5
Power Color HD 6990 4gb/512bit ddr5
 
thanks @three4seven, i don't know why i couldn't find any xfx here in Manila, but thanks for the info. :)
 
three4seven said:
There really is no reason for it not to work. The one person that didn't get it to work - it's possible they just had a faulty miniDP port.
Click to expand...

According to support it was a known firmware issue if you mean the powercolor I tried. It worked with my other displays but wouldn't work at all directly with ACD or through my KVM. I always figured any of them would work but now I'm leery about straying from XFX in the future. The powercolor support was all pretty shitty - awful nice to know they don't give two shits about it working with my display.
 
Do you guys have any suggestions for a non Apple monitor comparable to this for the CustoMac I am building for my wife?

Apart from the glossy coating what stands out is the full glass design without a bezel.

Are there models out there with a bezel which does not stick out?

What about the color of the stand and bezels?

I have a 20" Dell TN Dell with a silver Bezel at home. Other options?
 
I have a question regarding the atlona converter.

I noticed there are two there:

AT-DP200
http://www.atlona.com/Atlona-DVI-to-Mini-DisplayPort-Converter-p-17859.html

AT-DP400
http://www.atlona.com/Atlona-Dual-Link-DVI-to-Mini-DisplayPort-Converter-USB-Powered.html

I'm just wondering which one to get (they look similar to me). Currently have a 8600GTS card and looking to acquire a 24" LED ACD. Not planning to do any type of gaming so I am hoping this card is sufficient for normal day-to-day use.
 
modiablo said:
I'm just wondering which one to get (they look similar to me). Currently have a 8600GTS card and looking to acquire a 24" LED ACD.
Click to expand...

DP200 does single-link DVI and is limited to 1920x1200 or less. DP400 does dual-link DVI, allowing it to do 2560x1440 for the 27" iMac and 27" ACD.
 
modiablo said:
I'm just wondering which one to get (they look similar to me). Currently have a 8600GTS card and looking to acquire a 24" LED ACD. Not planning to do any type of gaming so I am hoping this card is sufficient for normal day-to-day use.
Click to expand...

Hi modiablo,

For a 24" LED ACD, the AT-DP200 would work fine. That being said, the AT-DP200 is $59.99. For the exact same price (after rebate), you could just buy a new nVidia GeForce 440 with a DisplayPort input. The 440 is a much faster card than your 8600GTS, plus you wouldn't have to hassle around with Atlona converters.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500191
 
Thanks.

Since the resolution on the 24" is 1920x1200, it looks like I can just go for the DP200 adaptor.
 
Ashok0 said:
Hi modiablo,

For a 24" LED ACD, the AT-DP200 would work fine. That being said, the AT-DP200 is $59.99. For the exact same price (after rebate), you could just buy a new nVidia GeForce 440 with a DisplayPort input. The 440 is a much faster card than your 8600GTS, plus you wouldn't have to hassle around with Atlona converters.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500191
Click to expand...

Don't I also need a mini-display port to displayport adaptor as well? THe card only accepts a displayport while the ACD is mDP?
 
modiablo said:
Don't I also need a mini-display port to displayport adaptor as well? THe card only accepts a displayport while the ACD is mDP?
Click to expand...

Ah ya, you would still need a $20 DP to mDP cable like:
http://www.atlona.com/Atlona-6-inch-Male-DisplayPort-to-Female-Mini-DisplayPort.html or
http://estore.circuitassembly.com/p...Female-to-Displayport-Male-Adapter-Cable.html

So you would save a little getting just the DP-200, but overall the $20 cable + new video card might give you more bang for the buck.
 
Is there still no more elegant way to change settings on these, when used with a PC?
 
Hi guys, I have a macbook pro connected to a 27inch ACD. I'm planning to connect a gaming PC to the ACD as well. How do you do this? Can I simultaneously use both? Is this even possible? Is there like a connector wherein all I need is a keyboard shortcut to switch systems?
 
the display only has one input. so they'd have to share, unless theres some sort of switch.

btw I figured it out, if control panel doesn't work, your cd drives must be on IDE mode, in bios. It was explained already but I had a feeling a few people didn't get it.
 
Ashok0 said:
It's not quite as elegant as a keyboard shortcut, but Atlona sells a mDP KVM switch to toggle between 2 displays with a button press:
http://www.atlona.com/Atlona-2x1-Mini-DisplayPort-KVM-Switch.html
Click to expand...

I have that Atlona AT-MDP21 and it can be a very fickle bitch with the 27" ACD. Switching between the two inputs will frequently make my Windows box complain there is a displayport link failure and lower the resolution to 1280x720 or lower. Usually switching back and forth several times (annoying and time consuming) will fix it. With the included cables it would never do above 1280x720 on my Mac mini - switching the cable out for one from monoprice fixed it.

Looks it was discontinued and Atlona has no DP/mDP KVMs anymore which only leaves much more expensive KVMs on the market (all of the 2 others last I looked).
 
elvn said:
mine works fine with ahci and using the exe in administrator mode. There is another method posted in this thread too
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Still have no clue how to do it.

Even went into Admin mode, and still got that error.

#2) You have to create a shortcut to the EXE itself, and in the shortcut box change the part that points to the EXE itself (Not the 'Start In" area) Change to: "C:\Windows\System32\runas.exe /user:test C:\AppleControlPanel.exe" (Or whatever/whereever your ControlPanel filename is...If shortcut is in the same folder as Exe you do not need to enter a harddisk or filepath before AppleControlPanel.exe)

How do I do this?

Edit: Finally, figured it out. Set brightness to 80, it looks soo much crisper, feels like I juts bought a new monitor.
 
Last edited:
Hi everyone and thanks for the great info.

I am currently using a late 2009 iMac but planning on going back to a gaming PC and switching to a MacBook Pro for my projects. Both would be connected to the Apple Cinema Display.

Could you confirm the following? If I connect a keyboard (wired Apple Aluminium Keyboard), wired mouse and USB drive to the 3 USB ports at the back of the ACD, will they work in the Windows 7 PC? This assuming that the 3 USB ports are working, with the USB cable going between the ACD and the PC.

Are there power issues with the ports on the back of the ACD when connected on a PC? has anyone tried connecting a USB drive there, or large USB sticks? I've had sometimes errors in Windows telling me that there wasn't enough for the device (something like that), where if I reboot under OSX with the exact same hardware, it was working just fine.

If the ACD USB ports work fine then that would leave me with "only" the USB/MiniDisplayPort cables to switch between gaming and work sessions... which is not very practical, but bearable (especially that the MBP remains usable while the PC is connected on the ACD).

The KVM switch thing appears to be out of production. Are there other options, if one doesn't need to switch while the machines are on, perhaps? I only need to switch when shutting down the PC and booting OSX, and vice-versa.
 
faB said:
Could you confirm the following? If I connect a keyboard (wired Apple Aluminium Keyboard), wired mouse and USB drive to the 3 USB ports at the back of the ACD, will they work in the Windows 7 PC? This assuming that the 3 USB ports are working, with the USB cable going between the ACD and the PC.

The KVM switch thing appears to be out of production. Are there other options, if one doesn't need to switch while the machines are on, perhaps? I only need to switch when shutting down the PC and booting OSX, and vice-versa.
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Hi,

I've never had a single problem with the USB ports in Windows. Never had any power issues. My wired Apple keyboard, wired mouse, and USB drives all work fine on my PC using the USB ports on the back of the ACD27" display.

I bought the Atlona KVM switch and it works perfect with my ACD27" @ 2560x1440, but dang... you're right, it's discontinued. The Gefen DisplayPort KVM Switcher works with the ACD27" with an mDP to DP cable, but the Gefen is $300 on eBay. :-(
 
Anyone have the display driver? I'm getting just a generic plug and play monitor in device manager with no hdcp support... grrr....
 
There is no display driver. Windows autodetects it as 'LED Cinema'. If you are having trouble, try installing the latest drivers for your video card.
 
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