iMac dual display performance with another 24" monitor

[Mister Pie]

Hi all,

I was wondering if any of you have a dual monitor situation with a 24" iMac. I currently have a Samsung 24" monitor and I was thinking of getting a 24" iMac and then going the dual display route. The only reason I am concerned about this is because my coworker tried this on an (admittedly super old Mac) and immediately the performance of his system went to bottoms because it couldn't handle rendering all the extra space. Should I be worried at all?

 

[h0e0h]

I've got a 2.16 C2D white 20" iMac with 128MB RadeonX1600 and a 20" Viewsonic monitor both running at 1680x1050 (external monitor @ 60Hz) and have no problems what so ever. I've also run this setup with 17" 2.16 CD MBP and had no problems, but it did have a dedicate graphics card. Also, i've hooked up my 2.4 C2D BlackBook up to a 52" 1080p LCD at work with no problems what so ever playing vids. On my current setup I have Firefox, Calculator, and Adium running on the external with iTunes and Entourage running on the iMac's display... no hitches or hang-ups at all!

 

[derekr]

I am rocking a new 24in iMac with a dell2407 24in external monitor with no problems.

Everything runs nice: hd vids, games, web, text editors (coda which is actually pretty graphically rich).

I am running a 3.06 w/ 4 gigs of memory and a 8800 gs.

But I used to run a first gen macbook with my dell and the only time it choked was when I had a lot of windows open in expose and a few other core animations, but that is with the integrated graphics so there ya go.

 

[Mister Pie]

Thanks! That information helps a lot. Am I correct in assuming that you bought a mini-DVI converter and that your external monitor is running at 1920x1200?

 

[derekr]

Thanks! That information helps a lot. Am I correct in assuming that you bought a mini-DVI converter and that your external monitor is running at 1920x1200?

Yes, this is correct.

 

[Mister Pie]

Very nice. Thank you.

 

[Surrinder]

Hi derekr,
I just have 1 question to ask as I'm thinking of setting up my 20" iMac with the same configuration as yours using the same Dell 24" monitor you have.

Does the Apple mini DVI converter fit with the DVI-D converter supplied by Dell straight out of the box? As I'm not sure if the Dell converter is a DVI-D or DVI-I standard. I believe the Apple mini DVI converter is DVI-D standard.

Thanks is advance for your comment.

 

[derekr]

Hi derekr,
I just have 1 question to ask as I'm thinking of setting up my 20" iMac with the same configuration as yours using the same Dell 24" monitor you have.

Does the Apple mini DVI converter fit with the DVI-D converter supplied by Dell straight out of the box? As I'm not sure if the Dell converter is a DVI-D or DVI-I standard. I believe the Apple mini DVI converter is DVI-D standard.

Thanks is advance for your comment.

Yeah, everything worked out of the box. I can't verify whether or not the dell is DVI-D or I (packed up for moving), but I will hop back on later with that info.

The only extra item I bought to for my dual monitor setup was the mini-dvi adaptor from Apple (which works with MacBooks and iMacs).

 

[Surrinder]

Hi derekr,

Thanks for your response.

Appreciate it.