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takisanar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 10, 2013
1
0
I want to try connect either thunderbolt 27" or the 24" apple monitor on pc with win7. I will connect it with mini display port... It's beter the mini bp to be on the motherboard or on the gpu??... Do i need anything else... Pleaseee help...
 
The Apple Thunderbolt Display (ATD) will only work with Thunderbolt (TB) equipped computers, which as of now are only Macs (there may be some exceptions, but there are no GPUs with Thunderbolt). Thus you cannot use the ATD with a Windows machine or Mac from 2010 and before.

The LED Apple Cinema Displays (ACD), the 24" and 27" models, can work with a Mini DisplayPort or DisplayPort equipped GPU though, and if you have a dedicated GPU, then it is best to use that GPU instead of the one on your motherboard.
 
You can run Windows 7 on a Mac, either in Boot Camp or virtualized through Parallels or VM Ware and it looks great on the Thunderbolt Display, but you do need a TB equipped Mac (2011 or newer). No way to run a TBD from a PC.
 
Wrong , it is possible to run the display on a PC , but only on thunderbolt equiped pc's

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5829/a-first-look-at-thunderbolt-on-windows-with-msis-z77agd80/2

Interesting, but if you read that article it's still not plug and play with the TBD. The PC needs the drivers to get TBD to work properly, and Apple hasn't released them for non-Mac Windows machines. You have to get them out of Bootcamp, which requires a Mac or access to a Mac. It makes more sense to just run Windows on a Mac instead, at least to me. (unless you're a hard core Windows gamer)
 
If you have a thunderbolt motherboard, you can use the connector on the GPU or the motherboard. If not, always use the GPU connection.

I've got the 27" Apple Cinema Display, got it specifically so it would also be compatible with my Windows machine. (I'd much rather have total compatibility than an ethernet and firewire port and one less connector, the display is exactly the same, still has magsafe, and still has the same great IPS panel).

Works great on Windows 7. My Windows PC has a 7970, and connects to the 27" Cinema Display and another 23" display. I use the Cinema Display mostly for photo editing and that sort of thing, but, gaming on it is pretty awesome too!
 
If you have a thunderbolt motherboard, you can use the connector on the GPU or the motherboard. If not, always use the GPU connection.

I've got the 27" Apple Cinema Display, got it specifically so it would also be compatible with my Windows machine. (I'd much rather have total compatibility than an ethernet and firewire port and one less connector, the display is exactly the same, still has magsafe, and still has the same great IPS panel).

Works great on Windows 7. My Windows PC has a 7970, and connects to the 27" Cinema Display and another 23" display. I use the Cinema Display mostly for photo editing and that sort of thing, but, gaming on it is pretty awesome too!
[doublepost=1554171850][/doublepost]I know these posts are old now so maybe things have changed. I recently got given an Apple Cinema 23" display. I have a PC running Windows 7. I have an ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics card. The ACD has an adapter to an HDMI connector and my PC has an HDMI port. It doesn't work, though. The ACD's ON/OFF button flashes two shorts and one long. Any ideas?
 
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