Mac Pro Monitor

[HipGig]

Dear all

This is my first post. I've been a mac user for over a decade and never needed to sign up to this forum before - I've always found the answer with a search. Maybe my question is just too simple but I've been searching for hours and still none the wiser.

A friend of mine has given me an early 2008 Mac Pro and power lead - nothing else. I need a screen. What do I buy?

Thanks in advance.

 

[joot]

Buy a keyboard, mouse, monitor cable, a monitor of your choosing within budget and a video card depending on if you will be doing any video editing work.

 

[HipGig]

Thanks for your reply.

Will any monitor work with a Mac Pro, or does it have to be an apple display? I don't think my MAC Pro has a thunderbolt port - just DVI ports.

I would prefer an apple display but I'm confused about which ones are compatible and how to connect it. Apple seem to have made a lot of changes to their display connections over the years.

 

[CC88]

There are a lot of monitors out there with DVI connection. Or at least with vga. You can use an adapter.

There are also dvi to hdmi adapter etc. I think the monitor choice it's not a problem.

 

[HipGig]

Just seen your reply CC88. Thanks for the information. I like the sound of DVI to HDMI.

 

[BrianBaughn]

It's nice to have multiple input options on a monitor in the event you want to use it with a different device.

 

[ActionableMango]

Thanks for your reply.

Will any monitor work with a Mac Pro, or does it have to be an apple display? I don't think my MAC Pro has a thunderbolt port - just DVI ports.

I would prefer an apple display but I'm confused about which ones are compatible and how to connect it. Apple seem to have made a lot of changes to their display connections over the years.

It does not have to be an Apple display. In fact I would recommend against an Apple display. You can buy almost any monitor you like, although I'd get one that has input ports that match the output ports of your graphics card so that you don't have the added hassle and cost of an adapter.

I tend to like Dell Ultrasharps. They have a wide range of models to choose from. You could get a model that has several input port types from the really old VGA to the newer DisplayPort types and everything in between (DVI, Mini DisplayPort, HDMI, MHL). That way you'd be covered for your current computer/GPU and also future computers or GPU upgrades.

Avoid a 4K resolution monitor. Those are not compatible.