27" iMac displayport Input

Hi guys,
What about the gtx 680? Can anyone confirm these work?

I have a gtx 680 card and a mini Displayport to Displayport cable. But it doesn't work. The display properties on Windows show the second display as being detected, but it is impossible to switch to the second display.
At this point I don't know if the problem is with the iMac, the cable or the PC graphics card.
 
Will not work with thunderbolt equipped iMac. Try pressing command+f2 on the iMac to force it to switch to display mode. Also try winkey+p on the PC to switch to extend or mirror mode.
 
Will not work with thunderbolt equipped iMac. Try pressing command+f2 on the iMac to force it to switch to display mode. Also try winkey+p on the PC to switch to extend or mirror mode.

iMac late 2009.
I've tried, it does not work. The iMac's screen goes black for a few seconds and then returned to the mac OS screen.
 
I dont have space on my work table so since ive got imac i wanna make it (also) to be my monitor of my PC.

PC spec (that matters for this case): i5 processor , and GFX card Saphire ATI RADEON HB 5850 1gb link of the card:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?psn=000101&pid=286&lid=1

Mac specs are:
Processor 2.8 GHz Intel Core i5
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024 MB
Memory 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Software OS X 10.8.1
27-inch, Mid 2010


Okey now the problem, after i tried with DVI to miniDP adapter (FAIL!!), ive readed that this setup is not compatibile, and that only way to make this work is DP to miniDP cable . In my country i couldnt find miniDP-DP cable only some sort of addapter , pic of it: http://www.cable-trader.co.uk/images/items/mini_displayport_to_displayport.JPG


So now my setup is like this a display port cable is inserted into GFX card on pc then other end of cable is into montioned "adapter" then that adapter is inserted into miniDP in iMac.

NOTICE: On previous setup i had with DVI-miniDP when i pressed cmd+f2 , nothing happened!

Now after all is pluged in everything i start pc and imac (*pc is also connected in the same time with dell monitor with hdmi cable) , after they are both loaded in their OS , when i press cmd+f2 screen goes black on imac and on PC for few seconds (15) working something they return to native OS, i even noticed on windows screen in ati catalyst center (before it goes black) that it appear 2nd screen as untiteled or something and then both go black :mad::mad::(:(

This is my nightmares

So now my questions are, what im doing wrong?
a) Do i need setup something in catalyst?
b) Maybe my ATI 5850 is not compatibile with imac 27?
c) Maybe is an issue in adapter that cant support so high res or anything related to this "adapter"?
(*notice on the box of the adapter (made in china ofc unknown) is only written: support display port connector, supports 8 and 10 bit deep color, support the videon and audio bandwith up to 10.8gbps,support the 1mbps bidirectinoal auxiliary channel,supports 1 lane, 1 direction,four line connection)
d) Maybe i need to do some setup on iMac that im not familiar with?

So can anyone here please write me back to help me solve this issue , of course if is cable issue i can order corect cable thats no problem but i have to know that is the issue, also if issue is gfx card i might change it to working one (which??), but then again would be nice to know if some1 can help me before i invest into this "repair"

THank you everyone for your time and needed help :/
 
a. Nope, it should be automatic...when you have a compatible card.
b. As you might have seen by reading this page earlier in the thread, the 5700 and 5800 series are not compatible unless they are Eyefinity models... There is something wrong with the implementation of DisplayPort in the older series cards that the iMac rejects the signal.
c. If not for your video card, I believe that adapter should work.
d. No setup. The only thing you can do is cmd+F2, which of course didn't work.

Time for a video card upgrade?
 
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a. Nope, it should be automatic...when you have a compatible card.
b. As you might have seen by reading this page earlier in the thread, the 5700 and 5800 series are not compatible unless they are Eyefinity models... There is something wrong with the implementation of DisplayPort in the older series cards that the iMac rejects the signal.
c. If not for your video card, I believe that adapter should work.
d. No setup. The only thing you can do is cmd+F2, which of course didn't work.

Time for a video card upgrade?
Thank you very much ive been reading all over the inet and yes seems among all the cards in the world , my sapphire 5850 aint supported (event its a great card!!), however i managed now after i press cmd+f2 to get some black screen on imac and dell monitor for few seconds then returns to native OS on both screens (even in catalyst it say unknown monitor for a while!!), but i guess it still doesn't work....

Anyhow yes im checking the video cards investment and can you confirm me that this card will work please:
Asus HD7870-DC2-2GD5
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/HD7870DC22GD5/

Thank you a million for your reply
 
I can say that my 7970 works, and I have a very similar iMac to yours (mine has 32GB of RAM, and I have not downgraded to Mountain Lion).

I haven't seen any posts with someone using a 7870 and confirming it to work on the 2010 iMac, but since it's so similar to the 7970, it's very likely that it will work. All you need is a miniDP to miniDP cable.
 
I can say that my 7970 works, and I have a very similar iMac to yours (mine has 32GB of RAM, and I have not downgraded to Mountain Lion).

I haven't seen any posts with someone using a 7870 and confirming it to work on the 2010 iMac, but since it's so similar to the 7970, it's very likely that it will work. All you need is a miniDP to miniDP cable.

Well thats what im hoping for , in the end miniDP to miniDP (no adapters between) is a logic connection if you ask me, then again i can say that 7870 (300euro here) high end graphic card and its not compatible with that one then i dont know which one they expect to work and to use for decent games ....

However what you mean by downgrading OSx , shouldn't mountain lion is latest os?
And how you can have 32gb ram , isnt imac 2010's maxed on 16gb?
 
Sorry, that was a little jab at Apple. I consider Lion 10.7 to be a downgrade from Snow Leopard 10.6 (mostly because they totally screwed up Spaces+Expose+Dashboard). Mountain Lion, although the latest version of Mac OS X, has not fixed the deficiencies that I found in Lion.

The iMac 2010 is specified to only accept up to 16gb of RAM, but I have found that it can take 32gb. That's 8gb in each of the four slots. I ordered two of these 16gb packs when they were on sale a few months ago, and they work like a charm
 
Sorry, that was a little jab at Apple. I consider Lion 10.7 to be a downgrade from Snow Leopard 10.6 (mostly because they totally screwed up Spaces+Expose+Dashboard). Mountain Lion, although the latest version of Mac OS X, has not fixed the deficiencies that I found in Lion.

The iMac 2010 is specified to only accept up to 16gb of RAM, but I have found that it can take 32gb. That's 8gb in each of the four slots. I ordered two of these 16gb packs when they were on sale a few months ago, and they work like a charm

Good to hear then i might take 32gb as well i suppose its really good along with some SSD.
Anyhow you think maybe my mountain lion 10.8.1 causing this toggle mode not working?

Thank you btw for caring!
 
Glad to be of assistance!

The way I understand it, DisplayPort Input is a firmware thing and not an OS thing, as Apple released an SMC firmware update long ago to address issues with DisplayPort input compatibility (unrelated to the 5700/5800 issue). So, it should have survived the transition to 10.8.1. I can't find anything saying 10.8.1 breaks DisplayPort Input on these iMacs.
 
I can say that my 7970 works, and I have a very similar iMac to yours (mine has 32GB of RAM, and I have not downgraded to Mountain Lion).

I haven't seen any posts with someone using a 7870 and confirming it to work on the 2010 iMac, but since it's so similar to the 7970, it's very likely that it will work. All you need is a miniDP to miniDP cable.

Ive been bought today Asus HD 7850 when i connect pc and imac 27" with miniDP to miniDP cable (ont he bad iits written ThunderBolt cable 2m <official apple cable) (mid 2010 , mountain lion 10.8.1) after pc is in windoes and imac in mac os x , i press cmd+f2 and nothing happens!!!

Do you have any clues wht to do? Also do you make some setup in catalyst on windows PC before pressing cmd+f2 or some setup before? Thank you very much im passing trough ****....

Thank you for your time....
 
Ive been bought today Asus HD 7850 when i connect pc and imac 27" with miniDP to miniDP cable (ont he bad iits written ThunderBolt cable 2m <official apple cable) (mid 2010 , mountain lion 10.8.1) after pc is in windoes and imac in mac os x , i press cmd+f2 and nothing happens!!!

Do you have any clues wht to do? Also do you make some setup in catalyst on windows PC before pressing cmd+f2 or some setup before? Thank you very much im passing trough ****....

Thank you for your time....

Your post is difficult to understand. But I can say that DP cables are not the same as Thunderbolt cables. Not sure which you're actually using, because you say it's both...
 
Your post is difficult to understand. But I can say that DP cables are not the same as Thunderbolt cables. Not sure which you're actually using, because you say it's both...

I have this cable (from apple)
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQsG6zv783TX3KyEV2csBctV2TubH0wKO7eJvnsNqmkv0RTFKqjYQ

On the bag is written (thunderbolt cable (2m) )

Isnt mini-display cable same as thunderbolt cable (cause jack is same ) oO? If they are not same can u tell me how miniDP cable looks like, cause i dont know where to search it....

Thank you for your answer

UPDATE: Seems my issue is because im connecting (mid 2010) iMac with my PC with thunderbolt cable (didnt know they arent same :( ) so should this be okey?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-F2CD...I326/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346094740&sr=8-1
 
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The physical connection is the same, because Apple uses Thunderbolt for Display Port pass through. That is by design. The biggest difference between Display Port Cables and Thunderbolt Cables is that Thunderbolt Cables are active. Display Port cables are just copper, Thunderbolt being active include circuitry not present in Display Port cables.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

Just purchase a regular Display Port cable and see if that fixes your issue (make sure you buy the right one...)
 
The physical connection is the same, because Apple uses Thunderbolt for Display Port pass through. That is by design. The biggest difference between Display Port Cables and Thunderbolt Cables is that Thunderbolt Cables are active. Display Port cables are just copper, Thunderbolt being active include circuitry not present in Display Port cables.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

Just purchase a regular Display Port cable and see if that fixes your issue (make sure you buy the right one...)
hey i already ordered this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-F2CD...I326/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346094740&sr=8-1

Is this one allright?

Thank you
 
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Should be fine, provided that your 7970 takes Mini DP. I think most nVidia/AMD products use the Mini size as opposed to regular, but I'm not particularly familiar.
 
Should be fine, provided that your 7970 takes Mini DP. I think most nVidia/AMD products use the Mini size as opposed to regular, but I'm not particularly familiar.

Hey mate thanks for great help really!

Anyway i have 7850 , which has miniDP as well so fingers cross, once ive get the cable ill write!!

Thank again
 
One thing to also check is that you have the miniDP cable as the only monitor connection coming out of the video card. If there is another monitor already connected, then it may be using it as the primary monitor, in which case you'd need to change the monitor configuration in Windows after it has started up.

I just use the iMac as the PC's only monitor, so mine involves no setup, works in BIOS and "DOS" mode, etc.
 
One thing to also check is that you have the miniDP cable as the only monitor connection coming out of the video card. If there is another monitor already connected, then it may be using it as the primary monitor, in which case you'd need to change the monitor configuration in Windows after it has started up.

I just use the iMac as the PC's only monitor, so mine involves no setup, works in BIOS and "DOS" mode, etc.

I know, but when i connect it with (thunderbolt cable <WRONG!>) , its doesnt even appear 2nd monitor in windows options, so it means no signal!
So it means when i get proper cable i should start PC with not (i have Dell monitor) Dell connected , just iMac and then cmd+f2?
 
Yes, shouldn't even need to do cmd+F2, the iMac will switch automatically when it sees signal coming to the miniDP port on the back.
 
Yes, shouldn't even need to do cmd+F2, the iMac will switch automatically when it sees signal coming to the miniDP port on the back.

Thank you for support, once cable is here ill write back how it went (hopefully fine, fingers cross!)
 
I have searched for a while it seems that it won't work but one last hope before I spent money on a new monitor for my gaming pc

I have 27 inc mac mid 2010 with ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics card.

On my pc am planning to buy asus-gtx670 256bit-nvidia-geforce

Is there anyway to make target display mode.
 
IIRC Target Display Mode only worked via Thunderbolt over the last iMac. I doubt it's any different now, if the feature still even exists.
 
I have searched for a while it seems that it won't work but one last hope before I spent money on a new monitor for my gaming pc

I have 27 inc mac mid 2010 with ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics card.

On my pc am planning to buy asus-gtx670 256bit-nvidia-geforce

Is there anyway to make target display mode.

The GTX 670 will work fine with target display mode on the iMac 2010 (make sure you got the right cable, DP to miniDP - if I'm not mistaken, the DP ports on the GTX 670 are full-size not mini).

The problems referred to in this thread with the 5000 series Radeons is when that is the card in the PC, not in the Mac. The Radeon 5670 in the Mac can receive DisplayPort signals just fine from any card that outputs them correctly.
 
thanks very much for your fast reply. I have one last question I have been searching for a minidp to dp and in my country I have no luck. would it be possible to use mdp to dvi instead. My video card on pc has DVI port
 
thanks very much for your fast reply. I have one last question I have been searching for a minidp to dp and in my country I have no luck. would it be possible to use mdp to dvi instead. My video card on pc has DVI port

Unfortunately, no, those adapters are for mDP output (on the computer) to DVI input (on the monitor). The miniDP to DVI adapters work in that direction because the video card detects and changes its output signals to DVI. To get from DVI output to miniDP input, you would need an active converter such as the Atlona AT-DP400, much more expensive and likely harder to find than a DP to mDP cable/adapter.

That GTX 670 you mentioned has one DisplayPort connector on it, so all you need is this cable:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10246&cs_id=1024606&p_id=6007&seq=1&format=2

See if Monoprice will ship to your country for a reasonable rate. Add it to cart, then in the cart view, click the "Other Countries" option and select it.
 
thank you very much for your feedback. I have ordered the cable. I have one last question.

In this link http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924

it says on the bottom of the page the following statement.

To use these iMacs as an external Windows display:

Connect your Windows capable Macintosh as described above.
Restart in Boot Camp.


So to use my imac 27 display (as monitor) for my gameing pc should I start the imac 27 with bootcamp? or is it misleading info
 
So to use my imac 27 display (as monitor) for my gameing pc should I start the imac 27 with bootcamp? or is it misleading info

No. The instructions state to restart the external computer being hooked up to the iMac, not the iMac itself.
 
Hello everybody

First of all, I have to excuse for my bad english! :(

I try to explain my issue:

I build a new PC with the ASUS GTX 670 with Displayport and with a Displayport to Mini-Displayport cable the PC is connected to my iMac late 2009.

When i startup the pc and then i press cmd+F2 the targed mode works fine. If i press again cmd+F2 to stopp the targed mode, and than i shut down the PC, i can normally restart the PC.

And now the problem:
When for exaple Windows 8 goes in power saving mode, then i press the mouse button, a key on the keyboard or the power button on the chassis, the PC doesn't start again. The only things who happen is that the FANs started and stopped for a few times within 20 - 30 second. Then PC ist "dead". At the beginning i had tho do a cmos reset, to be able to restart the PC. In the meantime a have a new workaround: i unplug the displayport from the GTX 670 and also the power cable, after a few seconds i put in the power cable again and i'm able to start the PC normally (without displayport cable), when the PC is up, i plug the displayport cable again and i press cmd+F2 and i'm back in the targed mode.
The same thins happend if i shut down windows 8 when i'm still in targed mode.

anyone of you encountered a similar ot the same problem?

any idea what i can do to solve the problem?

i'm seriously thinking about to sell the iMac and buy a PC-Monitor, but i don't know if the PC-monitor will have the better image quality.
 
Sorry to revive a dead-ish thread, but just in case anyone is curious (or searches for this at a later date), I just upgraded my gaming PC equipped with an EVGA GTX 780 and it worked great (after I found my displayport -> mini displayport adapter).
 
Interesting, I was just thinking about this the other day. About time to upgrade my somewhat long-in-the-tooth graphics card and was wondering what mid-range current gen card could output to the iMac.
 
I wish there was thunderbolt out on high end cards to do this with with the newer iMacs. :\
 
Mike, which iMac are you connecting the EVGA GTX 780 to.
I am just about to purchase a 780 to use with my late 2009 i7.
Thanks!
 
Has anyone tried any other newly released cards lately?

I just tried this on a iMac with mini-DP input with 4 cards, two worked, two did not, with a no-name DP to mini-DP cable. One that worked was the intel onboard graphics in a Lenovo ThinkCenter. The other was an EVGA Geforce 750 Ti SC 2GB.

The two cards that did not work were an XFX Radeon 5870 and a pair of Geforce 650 Ti Boosts in SLI. They didn't work no matter the configuration, SLI, non-SLI, just one card in the box, etc. I really wish the 650's would work, but trying to engage target mode did *nothing*. The 5870 would flicker a few times when I hit Cmd-F2, but no display.

The 750Ti through the iMac looks beautiful though, and seems to have enough power to run what I want (Path of Exile at 60fps, LOTRO in the 80's) with all the options turned on. The box I'm using isn't even that great, a Core i3-530 with 8GB RAM, no OC. For the cost, I'm really impressed with the 750Ti.

This makes me really want to drop my 3x1600x1200 nvSurround in favor of one 2560x1440 display.
 
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