Connecting gaming PC to iMac 27" (Mid 2011)

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tom_raslak Author

Level 1

1 points

Connecting gaming PC to iMac 27" (Mid 2011)

Hi guys,

So I want to connect my gaming PC to my iMac ( using the iMac as a display.

My PC had a XFX Radeon 6790 ( this has displayport outputs )

http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/graphics/desktop/6000/6790

My mac is an iMac 27" Mid 2011 model with thunderbolt connections.

According to http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3924#4 it shows that the port source computer needs Thunderbolt. ( isnt thunderbolt backward compatable to mini display port )

I had a minidisplayport cable laying around and tried connecting one end to pc and one end to mac. The mac doesnt want to go into Target Display Mode. I have also tried following http://www.ehow.com/how_6787020_use-imac-monitor-pc.html but doesnt seem to help.

Thought I would get a few opinions before buying a Thunderbolt cable.

Thanks

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Apr 4, 2014 1:22 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 18, 2016 12:07 AM in response to tom_raslak

Did you try the Thunderbolt cable?

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

122,627 points

Jul 18, 2016 1:49 AM in response to tom_raslak

Target Display Mode only works Mac to Mac. In case you haven't figured that out in all this time. 😎

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Answer 3

Jul 18, 2016 2:35 AM in response to tom_raslak

I am using a StarTech DisplayPort to MiniDisplayPort cable to connect my PC to my Late 2009 27" iMac, it works as soon as I turn on the PC, Cmd-F2 switches displays (on the iMac keyboard). The only difficulty I've had is the display being too bright for the PC input, which was solved somewhat by adjusting the gamma / brightness / contrast controls in Windows (there is a display wizard thing, I set it to how I wanted it rather than how it said it should be, which will be based on a monitor which has hardware button controls as well).

I would recommend trying the StarTech cable (not a cheap rubbish one), it should work for you as it did for me.

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

122,627 points

Jul 18, 2016 2:48 AM in response to Jonathan Mortimer

Interesting. Perhaps the OP will come back after 2 years.

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