Will two 3rd Party Monitors connect & work with the 2012 iMac 27 in model?

[WizardHunt]

Hi Everyone, Hey I have the 2012 27 inch iMac with 2 thunderbolt connections and presently have hooked up using a adapter for the ThunderBolt to DVI to a LG 27 inch monitor. Could I hook up another LG 27 inch monitor and have it work with no problems using another adapter TB to DVI for the LG Monitor?

Has anyone done this? I would rather not have to buy a 27" ThunderBolt Display for $999.00. If you have hooked up 2 external monitors to your iMac please let me know how you did it successfully. Thanks.

 

[Sicutz]

You can use 2 additional displays in full hd on a macbook pro 13" retina, so I think the iMac got enough power for this


And of cause it is OK to use a thunderbolt->dvi adapter

 

[Ccrew]

Could I hook up another LG 27 inch monitor and have it work with no problems using another adapter TB to DVI for the LG Monitor?

Yes, it'll drive two external monitors using DisplayPort to DVI adapters off the two thunderbolt ports. Tested, works.

Actually works BETTER than two external Thunderbolt monitors. I have that setup and it's giving me fits - second monitor never wants to wake from sleep. Power up - fine, sleep the machine - fine. Set display sleep? No love on the second monitor until after a cold reboot.

From Apple's Thunderbolt FAQ: "Note: Systems with more than one Thunderbolt port, like an iMac, can have more than one Mini DisplayPort monitor or monitor connected with a Mini DisplayPort adapter connected as each Thunderbolt port can support one Mini DisplayPort display."

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5219

 

[WizardHunt]

Thanks Everyone for the tips. I will check it out.

 

[WizardHunt]

Just to update you all on this. I did get my third monitor to work. I now have three 27 inch monitors or screens including the iMac of course. I was a bit concerned as i was using one of the Thunderbolt ports for my 1TB SSD drive which i use for my home made Fusion drive but thankfully Lacie has a extra TB port on the back but i was not sure i could use it and still recognize the 3rd monitor. But it works. I am now a very happy Mac User.

 

[Ccrew]

I am not a very happy Mac User.

Not, or Now? I'm assuming now?

Curious if you see the sleep issues I'm seeing now that you have it up and running )and as the Thunderbolt on my right is dark until next reboot

 

[WizardHunt]

Not, or Now? I'm assuming now?

Curious if you see the sleep issues I'm seeing now that you have it up and running )and as the Thunderbolt on my right is dark until next reboot

Oops! Yes I meant Now. LOL. I also did some tests over and over again. My monitor does come back each and every time I put it to full sleep and not just display sleep and wake it up even with leaving it at sleep for hours. Works great. But not sure if this had anything to do with it, but I de-fragged my Hard Drive (Fusion Drive_) just recently with Drive Genius. It told me that I needed to do that and now it boots up completely in about 35-40 seconds. So I am happy. Btw, I have my iMac as my middle monitor and 2 each LG Monitors on each side. I will do more tests and set it up for display only sleep and see what happens and will post results here.

 

[WizardHunt]

Curious if you see the sleep issues I'm seeing now that you have it up and running )and as the Thunderbolt on my right is dark until next reboot

ok to go into further detail I configured my iMac to go into Display Sleep and no computer sleep. Upon wake up no problem. All monitors wakes up ok. To take it a step further I did a Display sleep with computer sleep a few minutes later and then upon wake up all monitors again woke up fine. No problems.

I have only 1 option checked in the energy mode and that is Put Hard Drives to Sleep when possible. My Lacie SSD which runs my Fusion Drive has a blue light and when it goes to computer sleep the blue lights shuts off. So thats how I know it is in computer sleep plus the fact that I can not hear the fan anymore when it is in computer sleep.

My specs are as follows (not sure if it matters) I have a 2012 iMac 3.4 Ghz with 32 GB Ram, 2GB on Video , 3 TB Hard drive and running a Lacie SSD 1 TB external for my Fusion Drive. I have attached to my iMac a External Dvd Drive and no apps or programs in the background are open. I do have a time machine attached and a Apple TV Drive that is always running but will sleep it seems whenever my iMac goes to sleep. I hope this information helps.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

 

[tje25]

I am looking to do a similar setup to you running two external monitors with my 27 iMac. Same specs as yours I think! My question is that the monitors I would be looking to go with are 23 inch displays running at 1920 x 1080 and I just wanna check that wouldn't mean they the iMac would run at the same resolution? Thanks

 

[WizardHunt]

I am looking to do a similar setup to you running two external monitors with my 27 iMac. Same specs as yours I think! My question is that the monitors I would be looking to go with are 23 inch displays running at 1920 x 1080 and I just wanna check that wouldn't mean they the iMac would run at the same resolution? Thanks

In my case, My iMac is 2560x1440 and the other external monitors are 27 inch too but at 1920x1080. You have to adjust it like you like it when you adjust the monitors . . . I do mine so they are even at the top so if my cursor is at the bottom of the iMac and I try to move to the left or right monitor I have to raise my mouse cursor up some in order to move over because of the resolution difference.