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Success: Late '15 5K iMac + 2 4K displays @ 60 Hz

R

Razorback7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 28, 2011
9
7
I'm trying to determine if the new 5K iMac will drive two external 4K displays in 60 Hz mode. I think I read that it was supposed to, but haven't seen confirmation yet. (I apologize if I overlooked it!)

Does anyone have a spec that will confirm this?

Thanks.
 
good question I would also like to know this I am debating on upgrading from a late 2013 iMac to 2015 5K iMac
 
Me too.

My other thought is to purchase a Dell 5K display, use both Thunderbolt ports to drive it, then do a USB 3 third monitor at 1080p resolution. I would keep my Windows VMs/RDP sessions on that monitor. (Those don't do a good job of utilizing Retina resolutions anyway.) Has anyone tried that?
 
I have submitted this question and have a call scheduled with an Apple genius tomorrow afternoon about this specific question. I'll respond here with whatever I discover.
 
This seems to be the million dollar question that everyone is asking on these boards...
How well does a 395x chip run 2 4k screens? But also, how does the 380 chip or the 390 chip run these screens.. what the heck is the practical difference?
 
dborod said:
I have submitted this question and have a call scheduled with an Apple genius tomorrow afternoon about this specific question. I'll respond here with whatever I discover.
Click to expand...

Did you hear back from the genius?
 
boros said:
Apple says, in writing, that they support two external displays...

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to two 4096-by-2160 external displays or one 5120-by-2880 dual-cable external display
Found that tidbit here...
https://support.apple.com/kb/SP731?locale=en_US
Click to expand...
Yes, we know the 27" can drive two 4k external displays, but the question we all have is 'at what frequency?' One at 60Hz and one at 30Hz? Both at 60Hz? Both at 30Hz? Do the 4 different graphics options all have the same capabilities to drive the external displays?
 
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dborod said:
Yes, we know the 27" can drive two 4k external displays, but the question we all have is 'at what frequency?' One at 60Hz and one at 30Hz? Both at 60Hz? Both at 30Hz? Do the 4 different graphics options all have the same capabilities to drive the external displays?
Click to expand...


Apple told me that the 5K iMac can only drive ONE external display at 4K 60HZ with the 5K resolution iMac screen and another at 4K 30HZ or two monitors at 2K 60HZ

I am not sure how accurate this is they sort of didn't seem to sound like they new a lot. It will be nice when someone can chime in on this with a definite answer
 
dborod said:
Which graphics card option does your Mac have?
Click to expand...

395X. Here's a screen shot of the System Report. (Yes I know the Dell is a 5K monitor... it was the most convenient for testing.)

GS824D8.jpg
 
Razorback7 said:
395X. Here's a screen shot of the System Report. (Yes I know the Dell is a 5K monitor... it was the most convenient for testing.)

GS824D8.jpg
Click to expand...

Hey! Thanks for this post! I am purchasing my late 2015 5k iMac in a few days and ill also be ordering 2 Asus PB287Q 4k displays! The iMac i will be ordering will have the M390 inside so i will reply here with the results if it can run the internal 5k display + two 4k displays at 60Hz etc!
 
BarryBettell said:
Hey! Thanks for this post! I am purchasing my late 2015 5k iMac in a few days and ill also be ordering 2 Asus PB287Q 4k displays! The iMac i will be ordering will have the M390 inside so i will reply here with the results if it can run the internal 5k display + two 4k displays at 60Hz etc!
Click to expand...
Any news on that? I'm thinking about buying 2 4k displays, but if only one would run properly on my M395, I might just get a 5k instead.
 
Hey! I ended up buying the mid spec 5k iMac with 2 Asus PB287q 4K displays and all 3 displays are running 4K 60hz the only issue I had was the iMac doesn't have a 4K display mode but to get around this all I had to do was install a program to change the resolution the program is called quickres. The reason I had to do this was because the iMac is a 'retina' it has preset scaled resolution but it works perfectly fine
 
BarryBettell said:
Hey! I ended up buying the mid spec 5k iMac with 2 Asus PB287q 4K displays and all 3 displays are running 4K 60hz the only issue I had was the iMac doesn't have a 4K display mode but to get around this all I had to do was install a program to change the resolution the program is called quickres. The reason I had to do this was because the iMac is a 'retina' it has preset scaled resolution but it works perfectly fine
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. That sounds like it shouldn't be a problem with the M395 either then.
Now I still need to figure out whether I'm going for 24" or 27" screens, but that's another story. The UP3216Q with its 99.5% Adobe RGB coverage is also tempting, but I would prefer a smaller screen.
 
BarryBettell said:
Hey! I ended up buying the mid spec 5k iMac with 2 Asus PB287q 4K displays and all 3 displays are running 4K 60hz the only issue I had was the iMac doesn't have a 4K display mode but to get around this all I had to do was install a program to change the resolution the program is called quickres. The reason I had to do this was because the iMac is a 'retina' it has preset scaled resolution but it works perfectly fine
Click to expand...

Display menu also lets u choose the 4k resolution
 
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