Newbie Question: Dual Monitors

[KlytusLord]

Hello, Everyone,

I have a new Mac Pro (the one that looks like a hotel trashcan )

I have two thunderbolt displays hooked up to it.

Since the Mac Pro has two video cards, does it matter where the monitors get plugged in?

I don't know how Macs/Thunderbolt work in terms of splitting the workload, so my initial idea was to make sure each video card was powering one monitor.

Thanks for any info on this.

 

[lemonade-maker]

Probably good to keep monitors on their own bus if possible.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5918

 

[CH12671]

One GPU drives monitors, the other computes...no matter which ports you plug them into. But it is recommended (as stated above) to put them on separate busses. However, if you max out at 6 monitors, they are all still being driven by one GPU.

 

[Zinn]

Does anyone know how the system UI performs on more than 2 monitors? Mine is smooth as butter with 2, but I've never seen a Mac anywhere maintain responsiveness with 3+ ... does this new generation improve that?

 

[lemonade-maker]

Does anyone know how the system UI performs on more than 2 monitors? Mine is smooth as butter with 2, but I've never seen a Mac anywhere maintain responsiveness with 3+ ... does this new generation improve that?

I've had 4 for 5+ years and no probs. running 4 on my new 6-core d500 Mac Pro, again no probs. p

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Does anyone know how the system UI performs on more than 2 monitors? Mine is smooth as butter with 2, but I've never seen a Mac anywhere maintain responsiveness with 3+ ... does this new generation improve that?

I'm running 3 different monitors on MP 3.1 with no problems at all. Like a hot knife thru butter...

 

[matoch]

Does anyone know how the system UI performs on more than 2 monitors? Mine is smooth as butter with 2, but I've never seen a Mac anywhere maintain responsiveness with 3+ ... does this new generation improve that?

I'd like to know what machines you've seen with 3+ that have been problematic.

I've run 3 monitors off of my 1,1 since the day I got it without issue.

 

[askees]

I've been using one of these for a couple years now. The mini-display port plugs into the thunderbolt of my iMac. While I can't say for sure yet, I'm expecting it to work with my nMP once it arrives.

http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-32AWG-Mini-DisplayPort-Cable/dp/B0034X6SCY

 

[Zinn]

I'd like to know what machines you've seen with 3+ that have been problematic.

I've run 3 monitors off of my 1,1 since the day I got it without issue.

From what people are saying here, it sounds like just a hardware issue.

A few years ago I was using a 2x dual core 2.4ghz Mac Pro with two Radeons (I think 3870, don't remember) and 3 Dell 30" monitors and the spaces performance in Snow Leopard was very choppy.

My 15" Macbook Pro Retina (2013 + GT 750m) gets choppy mission control performance when 2 external 30" displays are attached and the onboard display is active.

In both cases, running 2 displays resolved the choppiness issue, so I just assumed OS X had trouble with more displays than that.

I do wonder how "smooth" the UI experience would be with 3 4k monitors @ 60hz attached to the base Mac Pro with D300s...

 

[m4v3r1ck]

From what people are saying here, it sounds like just a hardware issue.

A few years ago I was using a 2x dual core 2.4ghz Mac Pro with two Radeons (I think 3870, don't remember) and 3 Dell 30" monitors and the spaces performance in Snow Leopard was very choppy.

My 15" Macbook Pro Retina (2013 + GT 750m) gets choppy mission control performance when 2 external 30" displays are attached and the onboard display is active.

In both cases, running 2 displays resolved the choppiness issue, so I just assumed OS X had trouble with more displays than that.

I do wonder how "smooth" the UI experience would be with 3 4k monitors @ 60hz attached to the base Mac Pro with D300s...

You'll have to wait for OS X 10.9.3 to come out, before more peoples can give you an answer about your 4K@60Hz question.

GL & Cheers

 

[Anim]

You'll have to wait for OS X 10.9.3 to come out, before more peoples can give you an answer about your 4K@60Hz question.

GL & Cheers

Theres some news here:
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/03/07/os-x-10-9-3-retina-option-4k-displays/

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Theres some news here:
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/03/07/os-x-10-9-3-retina-option-4k-displays/

Exactly!

 

[matoch]

From what people are saying here, it sounds like just a hardware issue.

A few years ago I was using a 2x dual core 2.4ghz Mac Pro with two Radeons (I think 3870, don't remember) and 3 Dell 30" monitors and the spaces performance in Snow Leopard was very choppy.

That might be why you've seen a difference and I haven't. I'm running 1 1920x1200 and 2 1600x1200. They probably don't come close to the total resolution 3 30" monitors are running.