Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
rMBP 2 Dell 30" LCDs
- Thread starter nick8282
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yes. I have ran an IBM T221 (3840x2400) which was essentially driving 2x dual link DVI @ 1920x2400 each + the internal screen. There is no reason two 2560x1600 would not work.
Unfortunately all the DP -> Dual link DVI adpaters (which you would need for a 3007WFP) kinda suck in that they all have issues of the monitor turning off at times (flash), etc..
I personally would recommend this one still though as it is the cheapest and has a mini DP port like the apple one:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=6904&seq=1&format=2
It also seems to have better compatability compared to the apple one supporting more monitors (including 120Hz 1920x1200 LCD's).
Also keep in mind you will need a powered USB hub which sometimes can be finicky with these adapters depending on the model (either that or have no other USB devices).
The reason the Apple one doesn't support it is that thunderbolt likely can't run at 120hz due to the data + display channel distribution. Regular displayport 1.2 carries roughly the same bandwidth as thunderbolt's data + displayport bandwidth with some coding overhead. Because of this it is a bit more flexible.
Just wanted to chime in and confirm that it does work; I'm running dual HP ZR30Ws with those cables. There's a slight bit of lag and occasionally when the screen goes back to sleep and I move the mouse to wake it up it'll stay black or wake up at the wrong resolution after sleep. Turning the monitor off and back on or unplugging the DP cable and plugging it back in fixes it. I had the same problem with my mac pro desktop and stumbled across other mac pro owners with the same issue - looks like the cable is the culprit. The "solution" seems to be getting a higher quality cable with the official DP certification although I didn't have any luck finding any (without using bulky DP to mini DP adapters) so I've chosen to live with the very occasional hiccup. Hope you enjoy the setup, it's a great machine.
Attachments
Trust me. *All* of the DP -> DL-DVI adapters have problems with losing sync now and then and stuff like that. Including the apple one and the Bizlink one which a bunch of companies rebrand.
Oh my, two beautiful displays, great setup indeed. Amazing to see a Laptop drive dual 30" displays along with its own panel. How does it handle under load?
Such a shame OS X is still incapable of driving them (or any other high gamut panel) with 10bit output, when will Apple will get its head out of its proverbial you know what...
Well if you had 3008 and later models this would easily done with 2x Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cables. For the 3007 model you would need two of the Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter. Anyways, my Retina MacBook Pro drives my 3008s fine, though I don't use that set up very much since my displays are usually for my Mac Pro.
I normally run it with the laptop screen off, but it feels somewhere in between my original 8800GT and 5770 on the mac pro which is awesome for a laptop (the 5770 card itself is about half the size of the MBP). It's definitely smooth enough to usually not call attention to itself but if I were to compare it to a normal macbook pro running on just its 15" screen side by side it wouldn't be that fluid. Photoshop and Illustrator run well on it but I can't compare it to the heavier 3D stuff because I migrated all of that to a dedicated PC workstation.
The 10 bit thing is quite odd isn't it? For a company that really pushes quality displays across the board far more than others it seems weird to stop short of 10 bit. Then again we're seeing a regression with the switch to glossy coatings and LED backlighting so maybe you're right
