MP 1,1-5,1 Aspect ratio new monitor on Mac Pro 2009 not right

[Levina]

Hello, I bought an Eizo ColorEdge CS2731 27", 2K monitor. For a while it will have to work with my early 2009 Mac Pro until I move to a new Mac later this year. I only had the DVI to DVI cable here and the monitor works, but not at the 2K resolution. The desktop is crammed in the middle and stretched. The Mac Pro does see the monitor, it is listed in System Preferences and selected. When I tried to make a screenshot it showed me the desktop the way it is supposed to look, so the Mac doesn't think anything is wrong.

So it seems the problem is with the monitor. And sure enough, in the settings it tells me the signal it is receiving is 1280x1440, which would explain the heavily stretched desktop. My guess is that the connection is the culprit.

Will a Mini Displayport (Mac) to Displayport (Eizo) work? And if so, which cable do I need to get, because there seem to be different ones (1.2, 1.4)? Or am I overlooking something maybe?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[tsialex]

Two infos missing from your post, what is your current GPU and what version of macOS your Mac Pro is running? If you are running the NVIDIA GT120 or the ATI HD 4870, you will have trouble setting a compatible resolution with your new display.

 

[Levina]

Two infos missing from your post, what is your current GPU and what version of macOS your Mac Pro is running? If you are running the NVIDIA GT120 or the ATI HD 4870, you will have trouble setting a compatible resolution with your new display.

It's the GT120 and I'm running High Sierra. However, I had a BenQ SW270C here that did just fine at its full Quad HD resolution. So I thought the Eizo would work too as it's the same resolution.

 

[DeltaMac]

Looks like you might be partly stuck in portrait mode, for some reason (?)
What does your screen look like when you actually pivot the screen to portrait mode?
... Then pivot back to landscape?

But, definitely try a mini DP to DP cable.
Here's an example that should work great - https://smile.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Mini-DisplayPort-Black/dp/B00C7RJQPY

 

[Levina]

That doesn't change anything. When I have it set to the monitor's full resolution of 2560 x 1440 the monitor says the signal it receives is 1280 x 1440. I tried to change some screen settings in the monitor but all that did was scale the signal of 1280 x 1440 to cover the whole screen and that looked very bad. So I've it set to HD now as at least that looks normal and I can do my normal stuff.

I'm not sure the mini DP to DP cable I ordered is the right one, it might not be, so thanks for the link. It might come in handy!

 

[tsialex]

It's the GT120. The DAC used by the card limits the resolutions that you can set. While can get is 2560x1600, the same resolution of Apple 30" Cinema Display, you can't get 2560x1440 of the EIZO ColorEdge CS2731.

You should get a better GPU, GPU prices went down and RX 560 4GB is now cheap enough that you won't feel robbed. Also, with a METAL GPU you can install Mojave natively.

 

[Levina]

It's the GT120. The DAC used by the card limits the resolutions that you can set. While can get is 2560x1600, the same resolution of Apple 30" Cinema Display, you can't get 2560x1440 of the EIZO ColorEdge CS2731.

You should get a better GPU, GPU prices went down and RX 560 4GB is now cheap enough that you won't feel robbed. Also, with a METAL GPU you can install Mojave natively.

Maybe it is the GT120 but then I don't understand why the BenQ SW270C that has the same resolution as the Eizo worked just fine. If that monitor worked then so should the Eizo. The only reason I can think of is that the BenQ worked with a Mini DP to DP cable, a cable I don't have right now so I ordered one.

I flashed the Mac's firmware from 4.1 to 5.1 a few years ago and have been on High Sierra ever since. I did read the stickies here for how to get to Mojave but decided to just use the Mac like this for as long as I could and then move on. Which is just about now. However, it would be nice if I could get the monitor to work at its native resolution so there's time to wait for the new Mini.

By the way, I did look for the card you recommended but it's not available anywhere.

 

[tsialex]

It's not just the resolution, but the bpp and refresh rate that limits the possible DAC resolution. GT120 is a very limited 2008ish card, a rebrand of NVIDIA 9500GT back in 2009, with just 512MB of VRAM, while your display is 2560x1440x10bpp with a 59.951Hz refresh rate frequency - this is HBR2/DP1.2a while the GT120 is DP1.1.

This eBay listing is for the Apple recommend MSI RX 560 4GB Aero and have DP v1.4a + HDMI v2.0b connections, it's a refurb:

MSI RX 560 4GB AERO ITX Graphics Card | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for MSI RX 560 4GB AERO ITX Graphics Card at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

There are lot's of offers of similar refurbished cards for around $80 to $100.

This one is brand new, but it's the 2GB Dell model, known to work perfectly:

NEW DELL AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB GDDR5 PCIe Video Card HDMI DisplayPort RX-560DE | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for NEW DELL AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB GDDR5 PCIe Video Card HDMI DisplayPort RX-560DE at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Also brand new, 4GB ASUS model, known to work perfectly:

Asus AMD Radeon ROG STRIX RX-560 4GB EVO ( gaming ) | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Asus AMD Radeon ROG STRIX RX-560 4GB EVO ( gaming ) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Any of the cards that I linked above should work with your display + High Sierra and all are drop-ins, but the Asus is the faster one and need a 6-pin mini PCIe power cable.

 

[Levina]

It's not just the resolution, but the bpp and refresh rate that limits the possible DAC resolution. GT120 is a very limited 2008ish card, a rebrand of NVIDIA 9500GT back in 2009, with just 512MB of VRAM, while your display is 2560x1440x10bpp with a 59.951Hz refresh rate frequency - this is HBR2/DP1.2a while the GT120 is DP1.1.

This eBay listing is for the Apple recommend MSI RX 560 4GB Aero and have DP v1.4a + HDMI v2.0b connections, it's a refurb:

MSI RX 560 4GB AERO ITX Graphics Card | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for MSI RX 560 4GB AERO ITX Graphics Card at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

There are lot's of offers of similar refurbished cards for around $80 to $100.

This one is brand new, but it's the 2GB Dell model, known to work perfectly:

NEW DELL AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB GDDR5 PCIe Video Card HDMI DisplayPort RX-560DE | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for NEW DELL AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB GDDR5 PCIe Video Card HDMI DisplayPort RX-560DE at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Also brand new, 4GB ASUS model, known to work perfectly:

Asus AMD Radeon ROG STRIX RX-560 4GB EVO ( gaming ) | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Asus AMD Radeon ROG STRIX RX-560 4GB EVO ( gaming ) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Any of the cards that I linked above should work with your display + High Sierra and all are drop-ins, but the Asus is the faster one and need a 6-pin mini PCIe power cable.

Thank you very much for the explanation and thank you for the links. If I can get a card for less than say 150 euro then that is a real option. However, buying from US dealers is not the best idea because of additional costs (customs, taxes will almost double the price of a 100 euro card!). So I looked in Europe and found this one: https://www.ebay.nl/itm/325225103893?hash=item4bb8ed4215:g:0YAAAOSwUhFio1D7
Would that one work, you think?

 

[tsialex]

Thank you very much for the explanation and thank you for the links. If I can get a card for less than say 150 euro then that is a real option. However, buying from US dealers is not the best idea because of additional costs (customs, taxes will almost double the price of a 100 euro card!).

My mistake, I didn't noticed that you are from the Netherlands.

So I looked in Europe and found this one: https://www.ebay.nl/itm/325225103893?hash=item4bb8ed4215:g:0YAAAOSwUhFio1D7
Would that one work, you think?

It's an excellent mid-range card with High Sierra support:

ASUS RX 560 EVO OC Specs

AMD Polaris 21, 1187 MHz, 896 Cores, 56 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 4096 MB GDDR5, 1500 MHz, 128 bit

www.techpowerup.com

I have an almost identical installed in one of my Mac Pros, Sapphire Pulse RX 560 4GB.

Do you already have the 6-pin miniPCIe to 6-pin PCIe that the card requires?

Mini 6Pin To PCIE 6P Graphics Video Card Power Cable Cord Adapter For Mac Pro G5 | eBay

Mini 6Pin To PCIE 6P Graphics Video Card Power Cable Cord Adapter For Mac Pro G5 | Computers/Tablets & Networking, Computer Cables & Connectors, Power Cables & Connectors | eBay!

www.ebay.nl

 

[Levina]

My mistake, I didn't noticed that you are from the Netherlands.



It's an excellent mid-range card with High Sierra support:

ASUS RX 560 EVO OC Specs

AMD Polaris 21, 1187 MHz, 896 Cores, 56 TMUs, 16 ROPs, 4096 MB GDDR5, 1500 MHz, 128 bit

www.techpowerup.com

I have an almost identical installed in one of my Mac Pros, Sapphire Pulse RX 560 4GB.

Do you already have the 6-pin miniPCIe to 6-pin PCIe that the card requires?

Mini 6Pin To PCIE 6P Graphics Video Card Power Cable Cord Adapter For Mac Pro G5 | eBay

Mini 6Pin To PCIE 6P Graphics Video Card Power Cable Cord Adapter For Mac Pro G5 | Computers/Tablets & Networking, Computer Cables & Connectors, Power Cables & Connectors | eBay!

www.ebay.nl

There is a Sapphire Pulse RX 560 4GB listed too but where it was € 127.99 yesterday, today it is € 179.99 so I will buy the Asus. I don’t have the 6-pin cable. I will buy that too. It will take some time for the card to arrive, but I can wait.

I’m very grateful for all your help. Thank you so much! 🙏

 

[tsialex]

There is a Sapphire Pulse RX 560 4GB listed too but where it was € 127.99 yesterday, today it is € 179.99 so I will buy the Asus. I don’t have the 6-pin cable. I will buy that too. It will take some time for the card to arrive, but I can wait.

I’m very grateful for all your help. Thank you so much! 🙏

Nice! Buy the power cable first, it will probably take more time than the GPU to arrive. With the upgraded GPU I bet that you can wait until Apple release the second generation Apple Silicon Mac mini/Mac Studio.

 

[Levina]

Nice! Buy the power cable first, it will probably take more time than the GPU to arrive. With the upgraded GPU I bet that you can wait until Apple release the second generation Apple Silicon Mac mini/Mac Studio.

I just bought both! But yeah, if this will work I can take my time deciding what to get, so no time pressure, which is very nice.

 

[tsialex]

I just bought both! But yeah, if this will work I can take my time deciding what to get, so no time pressure, which is very nice.

Do you already have a good quality HDMI 2.0 cable or a DP1.4a? Having one ready to go is a good precaution since modern AMD cards are known to have an insane pink hue, see the image below from other thread here, all over the screen when you use YPbPr color space and you are using a not good enough cable.

Another issue with bad/old/incorrect cables is the display warning all the time that you are using the wrong cable, at least mine does it at every power-on.

 

[Levina]

Do you already have a good quality HDMI 2.0 cable or a DP1.4a? Having one ready to go is a good precaution since modern AMD cards are known to have an insane pink hue, see the image below from other thread here, all over the screen when you use YPbPr color space and you are using a not good enough cable.

Another issue with bad/old/incorrect cables is the display warning all the time that you are using the wrong cable, at least mine does it at every power-on.

Good to know. Thanks for the warning!

 

[Amethyst1]

The desktop is crammed in the middle and stretched

What happens is: the monitor is using a single-link DVI connection to the GPU while macOS is using a dual-link DVI mode. So the monitor is basically only getting half the signal and misreporting it as 1280×1440. I've experienced the exact same issue, albeit using a different monitor.

Are you using a dual-link DVI cable? Some random cheap DVI cable won't work.

If you're sure the cable you're using is a dual-link-capable one, check the Eizo CS2731's default settings according to pages 32, 33 and 34 in the monitor's manual: Administrator Settings > Signal Format > DVI must be set to Dual Link, not Single Link.

 

[Levina]

What happens is: the monitor is using a single-link DVI connection to the GPU while macOS is using a dual-link DVI mode. So the monitor is basically only getting half the signal and misreporting it as 1280×1440. I've experienced the exact same issue, albeit using a different monitor.

Are you using a dual-link DVI cable? Some random cheap DVI cable won't work.

If you're sure the cable you're using is a dual-link-capable one, check the Eizo CS2731's default settings according to pages 32, 33 and 34 in the monitor's manual: Administrator Settings > Signal Format > DVI must be set to Dual Link, not Single Link.

I read that in the manual too but unfortunately the monitor is set to dual-link DVI so that's not it. The cable is a dual-link DVI cable for sure that I also used with my now dead NEC monitor, although that was a 1080p screen.

 

[Dayo]

Seems what he meant in a roundabout way is that you should try the single link mode to be sure about the cable.

 

[Amethyst1]

The cable is a dual-link DVI cable for sure that I also used with my now dead NEC monitor, although that was a 1080p screen.

"1080p" doesn't need dual-link DVI so it doesn't confirm the cable is a dual-link one. When you look at the DVI connectors on the cable, are there three rows of eight pins each (== dual-link), or just three rows of six pins each (== single-link)?

 

[Levina]

"1080p" doesn't need dual-link DVI so it doesn't confirm the cable is a dual-link one. When you look at the DVI connectors on the cable, are there three rows of eight pins each (== dual-link), or just three rows of six pins each (== single-link)?

Yeah. I was absolutely sure it was a dual-link cable, so sure that I never actually checked it. But when I read Dayo's comment last night about making "sure about the cable" I decided to finally look at it, so I disconnected it and sure enough, it's a single-link cable: 18pins+1. I am totally embarrassed. I distinctly remember buying a dual-link cable for the NEC. But clearly I didn't. I ordered a dual-link cable last night.

Hopefully that will do the trick. If not, the new (to me) graphics card that I bought on eBay should solve the problem. And if the dual-link cable solves the problem, which I expect it will, then I still don't regret buying the card. It is better than the old GT120.

My take-away from this: always actually check your cables and connections and don't rely on your memory because it will play tricks on you. Damn.

 

[tsialex]

Yeah. I was absolutely sure it was a dual-link cable, so sure that I never actually checked it. But when I read Dayo's comment last night about making "sure about the cable" I decided to finally look at it, so I disconnected it and sure enough, it's a single-link cable: 18pins+1. I am totally embarrassed. I distinctly remember buying a dual-link cable for the NEC. But clearly I didn't. I ordered a dual-link cable last night.

Hopefully that will do the trick. If not, the new (to me) graphics card that I bought on eBay should solve the problem. And if the dual-link cable solves the problem, which I expect it will, then I still don't regret buying the card. It is better than the old GT120.

My take-away from this: always actually check your cables and connections and don't rely on your memory because it will play tricks on you. Damn.

I know that with a working DVI dual-link cable the GT120 can run, runs very slowly but works, 2560x1600x8bppx60Hz RGB, that's the resolution of the 30" Cinema Display and Apple made sure that this specific resolution worked back then.

I'm sure that 2560x1440x10bppx60Hz will not work, HBR2, but your Eizo display have a downgrade to 30Hz setting that you can try, also try to change from YPbPr to RGB color space and set to 8bpp.

Edited to correct the 30" Cinema Display refresh rate, thx @Amethyst1 and that the HBR2 resolution will not work with a GT120.

 

[Amethyst1]

I know that with a working DVI dual-link cable the GT120 can run, runs very slowly but works, 2560x1600x8bppx30Hz RGB, that's the resolution of the 30" Cinema Display and Apple made sure that this specific resolution worked back then.

The 30” Cinema Display only runs at 60 Hz. It won’t even accept 30 Hz.

I'm not sure that 2560x1440x10bppx60Hz will work […]

10 bpc won’t work — neither via dual-link DVI nor via DisplayPort 1.1 (HBR). But 8 bpc should work fine.

 

[tsialex]

The 30” Cinema Display only runs at 60 Hz. It won’t even accept 30 Hz.

Thx for the correction, I've edited my previous post to correct it. I even looked at Mactracker to see the correct refresh rate, but it's not there.

10 bpc won’t work — neither via dual-link DVI nor via DisplayPort 1.1 (HBR). But 8 bpc should work fine.

Yep, it's HBR2/DP1.2.

 

[Amethyst1]

FYI, that graphics card is “unflashed” (meant for use with PCs) and will only display something once the macOS login screen appears — you won’t be able to see anything that happens before. This is annoying if e.g. macOS doesn’t boot up because of some problem.

 

[tsialex]

FYI, that graphics card is “unflashed” (meant for use with PCs) and will only display something once the macOS login screen appears — you won’t be able to see anything that happens before. This is annoying if e.g. macOS doesn’t boot up because of some problem.

That's for NVIDIA GPUs that need the webdrivers, like Maxwell or Pascal. With not-flashed AMD PC GPUs, you'll start to see the display working from the loading bar. Also macOS Recovery and installer works and you can always install/use rEFInd+ or OpenCore and have full pre-boot configuration support and the display working from the BootPicker.