2 Apple 24" LED LCDs 08 Mac Pro - Found a solution, may help others

[3282868]

You can connect multiple displays to a single displayport. It's packet switched and self-configuring. You can either split (hub) the displays, or daisy chain them if they have out ports. The upper bound is determined by the aggregate bandwidth of all displays attached.

^
Someone posted this on another thread.

I thought one of the main benefits to display port connections is you only need ONE for a computer, as you can connect as many displays as you want. Mainly this is done through daisy chaining. Apple's displays don't have a mini-displayport in which defeats the purpose of one of display ports points of use.

I have 1 24" Apple LED LCD, and 1 23" Apple CCFL LCD that is 7 years old and crapping out. As the 24" LED is soon to be discontinued I bought another one today before they're off the shelves to replace the 23" display (I'd rather have two of the same displays for consistency than another display with different specs). My 2008 8 core Mac Pro has the ATI Radeon HD 4870 and I thought you could connect two displays to that one port with a simple cable that splits that connection to two displays.

I searched for mini-displayport splitters and was surprised to find that there are no cables that simply split one mini-display port connection, but splitter hubs that cost $200-300 each.

Any thoughts/helps? Thanks!

 

[3282868]

Found one solution if this helps others in the same situation

I researched the GT 120 card that Apple sells for ~$149 online, it has a MDP and DVI connection. It is listed as only for the 2009 Mac Pro, but many have bought it for their 2008 Mac Pro and it works perfectly. In fact, someone on a blog showed that Apple once had it listed for the 2008 models then changed it to 2009 only (odd, maybe they wanted to sell more 2009's).

Hope this helps, I ordered mine just now, so I can drive two MDP displays and two DVI displays.

 

[degl]

I will wait for the Ati 5870 cause have 2 mini Displayport conectors for my 2 24" LED LCDs another option is the Gefen DVI to mini Displayport but 149$, prefer buy the Ati 5870.

My two cents

 

[3282868]

I will wait for the Ati 5870 cause have 2 mini Displayport conectors for my 2 24" LED LCDs another option is the Gefen DVI to mini Displayport but 149$, prefer buy the Ati 5870.

My two cents

Yeah that thought occurred to me. I have a brand new ATI 4870 that I can sell for $275 or so, and get the 5770 for ~$220 (it will work in the 2008 Mac Pro).

However, I was up till 5 am last night reading up on so much info on displays. I have the 24" LED already, and bought another one yesterday. I also bought a GT 120 512MB card from Apple to add another MDP and DVI port, so I'll have two graphics cards. But I don't really need another 24" LED with cam and sound. So I researched for HOURS and found that a lot of people like the 24" Dell U2410. It's an IPS CCFL LCD with Displayport, 2 DVI's, HDMI, 6 USB, a lot. for only ~$450 or so. I can get two of those for the same price as the 24" LED. So I'm thinking I may return the unopened Apple 24", and get two Dell U2410 and have a three display setup.

Only thing is, do I wait for the 5770 (don't need the 5870) or keep the $133 (w/ education discount) GT 120 to add to my system?