Apple Cinema Display LED 27" to PC

[DanGallagher]

So, about a year ago I got a Thunderbolt Display for my MacBook Pro, but recently I decided to switch back to PC. I got a thunderbolt motherboard, but getting it to play nicely with my Graphics Card is a pain. So, I had this idea. Maybe someone would trade me their Cinema Display for my Thunderbolt display. And, Great! Someone will. Having said all this, before I go through with the trade, is there ANY reason why this wouldn't work on my PC? My Graphics Card is an Nvidia GTX680. It has a DisplayPort, um, port, so all i'd need it a MiniDisplayport to Displayport adapter, right? The only reason I ask is because all the advice I've found on the web says, "Get a MiniDisplayPort to VGA adaptor" , or MDP to DVI, or MDP to HDMI. No one says get a MiniDisplayPort to DisplayPort adaptor and this seems like the most obvious solution.
Am I wrong and stupid? Other than for switching to PC, which you probably already think since this is a Mac board.

 

[DLary]

My understanding is that the Mac Thunderbolt display will only accept a Thunderbolt input. You can use a Thunderbolt - Displayport adapter to connect a Thunderbolt output to a Displayport input, but not the other way around.

Have you tried using the Thunderbolt video output on your PC? You should have one if it is a Thunderbolt capable motherboard. This will use the GPU built into your CPU, which is probably not as powerful as your video card.

You might be able to use something like Virtu MP to enable your Graphics card through the Thunderbolt output.

http://www.lucidlogix.com

 

[DanGallagher]

No, no, not what I'm asking. I understand that Thunderbolt only works with Thunderbolt and I've gotten my monitor to work with my motherboard in iGPU mode, but Virtu is buggy and unreliable and, seeing as how I'd like to use my good graphics cards I traded my thunderbolt monitor for a non-Thunderbolt Cinema Display. I now have a Mini-DisplayPort Apple Cinema Display LED 27" and I want to plug it directly into the DisplayPort socket on my graphics card. The issue I'm having is that I'm using a mini-DisplayPort to Regular DisplayPort adaptor, and my PC still isn't recognising it. And I'm just wondering why that might be.

Trouble Shooting

Not the Problem:
1. The display isn't broken, because I saw it work.
2. The Graphics Cards aren't broken, they work with my HDMI TV and DVI monitor.
3. I'm sure it's a regular Cinema Display. It only has 3 USB in the back rather than USB, TB, FW and Ethernet.

Possible Problems:
1. Adapter might be broken.It was cheap. I only have one adaptor, and I don't have another MDP monitor so I can't cross check.
2. Some conflict with Window 8.

 

[cosmicjoke]

So, about a year ago I got a Thunderbolt Display for my MacBook Pro, but recently I decided to switch back to PC. I got a thunderbolt motherboard, but getting it to play nicely with my Graphics Card is a pain. So, I had this idea. Maybe someone would trade me their Cinema Display for my Thunderbolt display. And, Great! Someone will. Having said all this, before I go through with the trade, is there ANY reason why this wouldn't work on my PC? My Graphics Card is an Nvidia GTX680. It has a DisplayPort, um, port, so all i'd need it a MiniDisplayport to Displayport adapter, right? The only reason I ask is because all the advice I've found on the web says, "Get a MiniDisplayPort to VGA adaptor" , or MDP to DVI, or MDP to HDMI. No one says get a MiniDisplayPort to DisplayPort adaptor and this seems like the most obvious solution.
Am I wrong and stupid? Other than for switching to PC, which you probably already think since this is a Mac board.

Getting brightness controls to work properly might be a pita... I'd sell the display and get a dell u2713hm personally... they have swivel, tilt, height adjustment, every input you can imagine... a thin AG coating to get rid of the reflections... i'm sure you like the style of apple's cinema display but it's not worth it imo.