Run Two 30" Apple Cinema Displays on a PC

dealcatcher writes "For those blessed by the Apple gods and actually own two 30-inch Apple Cinema Displays, this guide explains how to hook two of them up to a PC. The guide includes which graphics cards will support this configuration and a step-by-step of how to get it all going."

Price

[Sux2BU]

Each display costs $3000 from Apple's website.

Re:Price

[antifoidulus]

The shittiest thing about Apple monitors if you don't use Apple computers is that they don't give you the option of using Applecare to extend the warranty of the monitor above the 1 year it comes with even if you want to pay extra. However if you buy an apple computer and get the applecare then the display is covered for free. If you are planning on doing this it almost makes sense to buy 2 minis with your display, get the applecare, and then chuck the minis on ebay for close to what you paid for them. Seems a bit excessive though just to get a 3 year(industry standard really) warranty on your monitor....

Re:Price

[foo12]

I don't think your solution will work --- AppleCare transfers with sale of equipment, meaning you'd lose the 'halo' protection afforded by listing the display with the Mini(s).

a digusting crying shame

[cypherz]

to run that rig on Windows! KDE makes much better use of multi-monitor setups than does Windows.
mmmm xinerama!

Fan noise solution

[garote]

So he's chucking a G5 because of fan noise ... makes no sense. I've got a solution that you can apply to PC or Mac. I've been doing it for about six years now.

Buy four USB hubs and a really damn long monitor cable, and put the stupid machine in the closet. The closet of some other room, even. Or in the basement. Run the cables through a hole in the wall. The G5 even comes with Firewire 800 and optical audio jacks, both of which can support nice long cable lengths.

Presently I have a P4 in a closet, with all the cabling run through a hole in the floor, along the underside of the house, and up through another hole near the monitor and stereo. I watch movies, compose music, hack, et cetera, starting from COMPLETE SILENCE. If I had a G5 I'd do the same thing - though I might need a bigger closet. >:)

Re:Price

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems a bit excessive though just to get a 3 year(industry standard really) warranty on your monitor....

I don't know how you can call it "industry standard" when nobody else offers a 30" display, much less with a 3 year warranty.

G5 tower... loud?

[Ballresin]

I've been around a number of G5 towers running 30" Cinema Displays, as I work at a retail store. The G5s only make any noise that is audible above a slight whisper when they are churning data really hard.... or are defective. It is not unheard of for a G5 to have a bad midplane. This guy aparently didn't have the sense to bring his $9000+ setup back to an Apple Store and have the Geniuses say "Yup... that's noisy" and fix it. That said... he is clearly not aware of the giant performance hit his "silent" PC is from his G5. Oh well. Feels like another under-appreciated waste of power.

Re:Price

[Yaztromo]

So, it indeed looks like you can have one monitor attached per mini

There is only one problem in this case -- you can't drive a 30" Cinema Display off a Mac mini, due to the need for the dual-link DVI out. You can only drive a 30" Cinema Display off a PowerMac.

Yaz.

Re:Price

[jtshaw]

Standard 3 year warranty?!?

So far I've checked Samsung, Sony, ViewSonic, Dell, and Phillips and haven't found one yet that offers over a year standard... Dell, like apple, also only seams to allow you to add extra support if you are purchasing a computer.