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JoeJoe

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 8, 2006
61
0
I'm looking on ebay and have tried to research via google but I can't get any definitive answers to the question. And since it's quite a sum of money I need to be certain.

I need to know the "oldest" powermac G4 or G5(cheesegrater) I can buy that supports 2 monitors(spanning, not mirrored). I found a 2.7ghz powerPC, saw that it had two DVI connectors, but could not verify if you could "span" two 22" montors.

Is it just a matter of getting the right video card?

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!
 

TheMasin9

macrumors 6502a
Dec 22, 2004
585
0
Huber Heights, OH
no problem

I'm looking on ebay and have tried to research via google but I can't get any definitive answers to the question. And since it's quite a sum of money I need to be certain.

I need to know the "oldest" powermac G4 or G5(cheesegrater) I can buy that supports 2 monitors(spanning, not mirrored). I found a 2.7ghz powerPC, saw that it had two DVI connectors, but could not verify if you could "span" two 22" montors.

Is it just a matter of getting the right video card?

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!

that powermac will be able to handle those monitors no problem
 

aquajet

macrumors 68020
Feb 12, 2005
2,386
9
VA
It has everything to do with the video card, of which pretty much all are dual-headed cards (except for the oldest cards, like the Rage 128s in the original G4s). The dual 2.7 G5 included an ATI Radeon 9650XT as standard, which included a single-link DVI and a dual-link DVI port. So yes, it would support two 22" monitors spanned, but it would only be able to support one monitor which required a dual-link connection (the Apple 30" display, for example).
 

RichP

macrumors 68000
Jun 30, 2003
1,579
33
Motor City
Any "cheesgrater" style mac is a G5 machine. I am almost certain that all of them can run dual displays spanned; I dont think Apple shipped any of these machines with a video card with only one output.

That being said, alot of the older G5 machines have an ADC output, and a DVI output. The ADC output will only work on older (plastic) Apple Displays. You will need an ADC-to-DVI adapter (20-30 bucks) to run 2 DVI monitors. Note, this connector is NOT the same as the DVI-to-ACD adapter, which cost much more.

Enjoy your new machine!
 

JoeJoe

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 8, 2006
61
0
Thanks for the information everyone....I knew you would clear things up.

Now, if I can just get my wife to OK the purchase!

Take care.
 
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