Will a 4k monitor work with a Mac Pro 2009?

[JimJamG]

Hi.

Recently my apple Cinema Display died and I'm looking to get a new monitor. I mostly use after effects and cinema 4d and ideally I'd like to get a decent 4k monitor for the reason of just having more screen space. I have a Mac Pro (2009) running mavericks with the following CPU and gfx card spec:

Processor: Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Graphics Card: 2x NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB

I've been looking at the Samsung U28D590D but I'm not sure it my Mac Pro will even run at 4k with it? Does anyone have any advice or recommendations as to what good monitors I could get for my Mac Pro given the fact that I want a good quality display with maximum screen space?

Many thanks,
Jamie

 

[CASLondon]

yes, but not with those graphics cards. you'll need something gtx680 or higher on the Nvidia side, or the equivalent AMD.

 

[JimJamG]

Thanks for the reply. I thought that might be the case. I might try and go for a dual monitor solution then. Has anyone here had good experiences or recommendations for using non apple monitors?

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[cebseb]

Thanks for the reply. I thought that might be the case. I might try and go for a dual monitor solution then. Has anyone here had good experiences or recommendations for using non apple monitors?

Thanks,
Jamie

You're going to get two kinds of replies to this question:

1) You must wait for Apple's 4k/120hz/IPS/curved/magical unicorn display. No exceptions.

2) Get the LG 34um95 and be happy. In fact, get two and be twice as happy!

 

[chaosbunny]

Thanks for the reply. I thought that might be the case. I might try and go for a dual monitor solution then. Has anyone here had good experiences or recommendations for using non apple monitors?

Thanks,
Jamie

A new gpu might actually be a good idea. Both Cinema 4D and After Effects would benefit a lot from a nvidia 670/680/760.

 

[omvs]

...
I've been looking at the Samsung U28D590D but I'm not sure it my Mac Pro will even run at 4k with it? Does anyone have any advice or recommendations as to what good monitors I could get for my Mac Pro given the fact that I want a good quality display with maximum screen space?
...

I have a 2009 Mac Pro with the Samsung 28". But you will need a better card to get 60Hz. I used the GTX 680, though its possible to use a ATI 7950 (bunch of caveats I can detail if interested). If you don't need boot screens, a much cheaper nv 6xx or 7xx card should do the trick as well.

I'm not sure I'd recommend the Samsung display though - it is the only cheap 60hz 4k option I'm aware of, but the panel may disappoint. I do electrical engineering work or gaming on mine and don't care about the color, but I do notice it - my 4k TV looks better, just only gives me 30Hz.

If you don't want to take on the 4k hassle, a pair of 27's gives you quite a bit of screen space for minimal dollars. The LG might be more interesting to avoid a monitor seam, though less overall pixels for probably a bit more money.

 

[fuchsdh]

Huge hi-res displays are awesome, but from a productivity standpoint you're usually better off getting twin smaller displays, unless you absolutely need the extra pixels on one screen (for viewing a layout at full res, or similar niche cases.)

I run dual 1080p 21" monitors that thanks to Quartz debugger I boost to 1440p when I need extra space; for me the biggest issue is desk footprint; the boost to 1440p requires too much extra space for the 27" panels.

 

[tiz9000]

I have a 2009 Mac Pro with the Samsung 28". But you will need a better card to get 60Hz. I used the GTX 680, though its possible to use a ATI 7950 (bunch of caveats I can detail if interested). If you don't need boot screens, a much cheaper nv 6xx or 7xx card should do the trick as well.

You're getting 4k resolution out of the GTX 680? Are you using HDMI? I've read in a few places that the card's resolution is fixed to 2560x1920 or something like that.

I'm looking for the right video card to get my Mac Pro 4,1 capable of running 4k displays but not finding much

 

[MacVidCards]

Plenty of cards can do 4k.

You need to more deeply research this.

MST vs SST

30hz vs 60hz

In short, there isn't a single answer but a variety of answers.

 

[omvs]

You're getting 4k resolution out of the GTX 680? Are you using HDMI? I've read in a few places that the card's resolution is fixed to 2560x1920 or something like that.
..

The card is definitely not 'fixed' to 2560x1920. I use displayport 1.2 for the Samsung 3840x2160 x 60Hz. I use HDMI if I'm driving my TV (3840x2160 x 30Hz). Works fine in both OSX & Windows.

But as MVC says, things are different for MST vs SST monitors. The Samsung is SST, which was great for the nvidia, and was crappy for AMD cards (corruption >50Hz on 79xx until Yosemite came out). No personal experience with MST monitors.

 

[tiz9000]

Thats bullcrap - card is definitely not 'fixed'. I use displayport 1.2 for the Samsung 4k x 60Hz. I use HDMI if I'm driving my TV (4k x 30Hz). Works fine in both OSX & Windows.

OK cool, thank you. I should have also said I want to use a 4k TV and not a monitor. Part of the reason I want to do that is I want bigger pixels since the monitor has to be close to 1 meter away

 

[Zorn]

4k support in OS X is spotty at best right now. There are all kinds of issues running anything other than that crazy expensive Sharp that Apple sells with the nMP. I got the LG 31MU97 and there is a whole thread in the peripherals forum about the problems trying to run that at its native resolution. I think right now best bet would be to go with the 34" Ultrawide LG unless you feel like messing around with workarounds until Apple fixes the state of 4k.

 

[omvs]

OK cool, thank you. I should have also said I want to use a 4k TV and not a monitor. Part of the reason I want to do that is I want bigger pixels since the monitor has to be close to 1 meter away

I recommend installing SmoothMouse (http://smoothmouse.com) if you're going to run 30Hz. Makes it a bit more bearable, though still a bit laggy compared to 60Hz. I use a 4k TV at work for enginnering and have gotten used to it.

Supposedly some TV's can do 3840x2160x60Hz over HDMI 1.4 by using compressing the color channel. I don't have any monitors or TV's that support that, and am unable to test under OSX, though the nvidia driver under windows is reported to support this. Possible the nvidia web drivers might support under osx...

 

[h9826790]

For TV, make sure that TV has computer mode or game mode. Otherwises the input lag may make the TV totally unusable as a monitor.

There are lots of post processing job in a 4k TV, without the ability to turn off those "advance functions", the TV may required 0.1s to finish all the post processing before it can display to you. And that 0.1s delay will make you extremely hard to control the mouse pointer in normal speed.

If you get a TV with only 4K 30Hz (not 60Hz) and no PC mode or game mode, the input lag may become too significant for it to be used as a computer monitor.

 

[Rhianolord]

i have a 2009 mac pro with the samsung 28". But you will need a better card to get 60hz. I used the gtx 680, though its possible to use a ati 7950 (bunch of caveats i can detail if interested). If you don't need boot screens, a much cheaper nv 6xx or 7xx card should do the trick as well.

I'm not sure i'd recommend the samsung display though - it is the only cheap 60hz 4k option i'm aware of, but the panel may disappoint. I do electrical engineering work or gaming on mine and don't care about the color, but i do notice it - my 4k tv looks better, just only gives me 30hz.

if you don't want to take on the 4k hassle, a pair of 27's gives you quite a bit of screen space for minimal dollars. The lg might be more interesting to avoid a monitor seam, though less overall pixels for probably a bit more money.

Hey, I have a 2009 Mac Pro with a flashed HD 7970 and the Samsung u28d590d. What were the issues you know of with the HD 7950, I'm curious if they pertain the HD 7970 as well.

Also, I assume your GTX 680 is flashed. With your card, do you get the boot screen on your Samsung. Also, I dont get the "Retina Scaling Menu" in the display preferences, I only get the numerical resolution options? Does the GTX give you the "retina scaling options"? I'm am considering getting a flashed r9 280x or a gtx 680 4gb.

thanks

 

[omvs]

The big issue with the ATI card was having to run it at 50Hz with the ATI card to avoid screen artifacts. I believe that issue has been resolved in Yosemite though.

No bootscreen on the GTX 680 through the samsung. I also had a 27" hooked up to the GTX 680 for exactly that reason (though now using an unflashed GTX 970, so no boot screens at all). I think it gave me retina scaling options, but I actually run full 3840x2160 thanks to good eyesight and liking to have a lot of windows up at once.

The flashed ATI 7950 card also wouldn't give me bootscreens w/ the samsung -- in fact, it appears to prevent the machine from booting. I either had to disconnect the display before booting and just leave the 27", or put the card in PC mode and forgo bootscreen all together. Do you actually get a bootscreen with the 7970?


The GTX 680 also seemed to run cooler/quieter, especially under load (gaming under bootcamp).

 

[apphotography]

you're going to get two kinds of replies to this question:

1) you must wait for apple's 4k/120hz/ips/curved/magical unicorn display. No exceptions.

2) get the lg 34um95 and be happy. In fact, get two and be twice as happy!

image

lmao. Facepalm.

 

[Pablo2k]

I have a Seiki 4k 39" running on a 2009 mac pro quad with ati 5870 and it works fine, i just needed an active display port hdmi cable.
never had a problem with it.

----------

oh, and one more thing! My Seiki is terrible, and so are all those cheap under $1300 dollars 4k monitors, you better off buying a good wqhd monitor like Nec's than getting 4k, unless you just want it for real estate and not photo/graphics.

 

[rdav]

Seiki-ProTV 2015/Q2/40" etc.

http://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1420959892
The new “Seiki Pro” monitors have been announced: 32”(SM32UNP) & 40”(SM40UNP) + [3.8k @60Hz]. Probably better to wait for 2015/Q2 - when the updated spec versions will be released, with HDMI 2-0 & DisplayPort 1-3.
----------

I have a Seiki 4k 39" running on a 2009 mac pro quad with ati 5870 and it works fine, i just needed an active display port hdmi cable. Never had a problem with it. Oh, and one more thing! My Seiki is terrible, and so are all those cheap under $1300 dollars 4k monitors, you better off buying a good wqhd monitor like Nec's than getting 4k, unless you just want it for real estate and not photo/graphics.

Agreed, they're cheap for a reason, but they work. But still awaiting the pricing for the new models.
http://techreport.com/news/27659/seiki-adjusts-plans-for-4k-desktop-monitors

 

[robetzel]

I have a Mac Pro 2009 (flashed to 5,1) with a GTX 680 2GB. I'd like to run 4k @ 60hz. I'm considering a Dell UP3216Q. What do I need to make this work @ 60hz?

 

[MacVidCards]

All about SST vs MST.

680 won't have 4K bootscreens but is capable of 4K 60hz if dispkay is SST with DP input.

 

[robetzel]

I'll have

All about SST vs MST.

680 won't have 4K bootscreens but is capable of 4K 60hz if dispkay is SST with DP input.

Thanks. Rumor has it that these are indeed SST. I'm trying to get confirmation on that.

 

[robetzel]

Well I went ahead and ordered UP3216Q - I'll report back with my findings.

 

[robetzel]

Well I went ahead and ordered UP3216Q - I'll report back with my findings.

Works fantastic @ 60hz with the supplied mDP to DP cable.

 

[Squuiid]

Well I went ahead and ordered UP3216Q - I'll report back with my findings.

Works fantastic @ 60hz with the supplied mDP to DP cable.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I'm considering this monitor and you seem to be the only one with the same hardware as me, a GTX680 2GB.

Can you clarify if you get boot screens or not, and whether the performance of the 680 is sufficient to drive the desktop in everyday use?
Thanks.