Hello,
I want to know if the Sapphire HD 7950 mac edition in a mac pro 5.1 mi-2010 can support a monitor with a resolution of 3440 x 1440px at 60Htz on the last version of OSX 10.9.4 ?
(I want to purchase this monitor : AOC 34" LED - u3477Pqu)
I asked this question to Sapphire support but they asked me today to put my question on apple support....
Thank you very much for your answer,
Alexis
Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)
I want to address the compatibility of 4k UHD displays and the Sapphire Radeon 7950 Mac Edition definitively here.
With this card, your Mac will support 3840 x 1440 over a DisplayPort 1.1a connection.
In other words, your monitor needs to be configured to use DisplayPort 1.1a if you want to boot a "4k UHD" display with the Sapphire card. Some monitors do not support this protocol out of the box, so check with the manufacturer for compatibility before you order a new display.
With the Sapphire card, trying to boot a single 4k monitor using DisplayPort 1.2 will yield a black screen at startup and you will unable to boot your system with that configuration.
Vertical resolution will be limited to 30 Hz with any "4k" display using DisplayPort or HDMI. Interestingly, some monitor DVI-D implementations allow for 30 Hz at 3840 x 1440, which goes beyond the DVI specification's max resolution. The trade-off is reduced color bit-depth (# bits per pixel) compared to HDMI. DisplayPort connections have the highest bit-depth, overall.
About Scaling:
You can scale the full resolution of the 4k display to 2560 x 1440 or something else; however, the card will send the full 4k UHD signal through the DisplayPort connection, no matter the resolution you choose. For example, a standard 1080p resolution will use the DisplayPort 1.1a's entire bandwidth, which gives an effective bandwidth of 3840 x 1440 pixels.
The only benefit you get from scaling the display is that of readability.
There are two factors that limit the card's performance:
1. the card's firmware
2. the Mac's drivers
BOTH need to support your display.
At boot time, the card supports only DP 1.1a. I've not found any firmware revisions that allow the card to use DP 1.2 at boot time.
Apple's Radeon drivers support DP 1.2, but only after the system has booted and Apple's driver has taken over. You can use a lower-resolution monitor as your "boot" monitor and get DP 1.2 through the 4k monitor with Apple's drivers with a two-monitor configuration. Some monitors will show 60 Hz, but most will be stuck at 30 Hz. This restriction is due to the number of bit-depth in a "millions of colors" versus a "billions of colors" signal.
This card does not support "true 4k" displays ( > 4000 pixels horizontal) because there is not enough bandwidth in the DP 1.1a connection to render billions of colors at "true 4k." Some monitors get around this by using two DP 1.1a connectors for a single monitor, thus doubling the bandwidth from the card to the display. I have no idea how well that configuration works, but I would expect some screen tearing during heavy use.
Fun Fact: The "UHD" tag primarily refers to wide color gamut, not screen resolution.
Thank you for your answer but I have read all these topics before and I didn't find the information about the resolution supported with this graphic card on OSX (with the display port)...
Yes this card is able to be Up to 3840 x 2160 resolution at 60Htz, but only on windows because apple driver can not support this resolution for this card (for now).
I just want to know if I can connect a monitor with a resolution of 3440 x 1440px at 60Htz on mini Dipslay Port 1.2 with the last version of OSX 10.9.4.
If I ask this question on apple support, it's because I didn't find answers on the web and Sapphire support told me to ask my question here...
I will be sad to buy this monitor if I can not use it on OSX...
Thank you very much and sorry to be insistent.
Alexis.
Users have reported that very wide displays like this are readily supported by several different display cards. Apparently, this resolution is not difficult, and if the card can support 2560 by 1600, it should have no trouble with this resolution.
"The driver cannot currently support this resolution" is misinformation. The driver asks the display for its name and capabilities, and adjusts it parameters automatically. No Driver updates or different Drivers will yield substantially different results.
In a few extreme cases, you can play parameters against each other to yield better results than the defaults by using third-party software such as SwitchResX to make trade-offs.
I have a Mac Pro 5,1 (mid 2010) with a Radeon HD 7950 3GB D5 Mac Edition. This adapter has 1 DVI, 1 HDMI and 2 miniDP ports.
I am running El Capitan 10.11.1
It has run well on dual DELL3007WFPHC Displays at 2560x1600 and one DELL2001FP Display running 1200x1600.
The DELL3007WFPHC has only DVI inputs, so I use a Kanax Mini DisplayPort To Dual-Link DVI Adapter for one display. I use a single link miniDP to DVI for the DELL2001FP. All the ports on the Radeon work well. There are no issues as far as I know.
Today I tried to replace the three displays listed above with 2 DELL UP3216Q 4K displays via the MiniDP connectors and the supplied Dell miniDP-DP cables.
The MAC will not boot. It hangs indefinitely. There is not disk activity. At one point, I left it for 15 minutes. There is no output to the 4K display, there is no system log generated.
I connected only 1 DELL3007WFPHC display via DVI and the system boots immediately.
AFTER it booted and started normally, while running I attached one DELL 4K UP3216Q via DP and the 4K display works perfectly in 3840 × 2160 mode @60Hz - which is what I desired. both monitors were working as multiple displays.
When I reboot the MAC with both displays connected, the MAC boot hangs. I am unable to boot the MAC with the DELL UP3216Q connected via DP to either port.
I suspect it has something to do with conflict between the DELL monitor and the Radeon: either SST/MST or DP versions. The DELL UP3216Q runs DP 1.2.
However, the fact that the MAC will not boot at all makes me think there is some firmware/software issue.
Sapphire tech support is suggesting I speak with Dell. I am calling both Dell and Apple Tech Support tomorrow.
I have a ATI Radeon HD 7950 3G D5 MAC Edition from Sapphire in my Mac Pro 5.1 mid 2012 (Sierra) and a ASUS PB287Q display, I can use the native 28IN 3840x2160 resolution with no problem. I also used the Sapphire on my previous Mac Pro Early 2009 with the same monitor and it worked fine too.
In fact I actually use it with two monitors, the second one is a ASUS ProArt at native resolution: 1920x1200.
My older Mac Pro (Early 2009) is stuck to El Capitan, not compatible with Sierra.
Watch! The Radeon HD 7950 3GB D5 Mac Edition have a Dual firmware dip switch to choose between Mac and PC, if it's on PC, you dont see the Apple Logo at boot.
So I have a somewhat related question. I have the Sapphire HD 7950 in a 5,1 Mac Pro, running to an HP S2331 23" monitor using Mini Display to DVI adapter. Under Mountain Lion (which I still use for iDVD since it isn't happy under El Capitan), I can get resolutions as high as 2048x1152 and 2560x1440 with no issue.. solid as a rock. Under El Capitan, I'm limited to 1920x1080 (which is the native resolution of the monitor). Just trying to understand why I lose the two higher resolutions under EC? Any thoughts.. Would love to be able to push the monitor up a little under EC with the 7950.. Not missing anything under display controls.. Different display driver in ML vs. EC?? Anyway to bring one over from the other??
Thanks!
1920 by 1080 is the resolution of that display. You cannot get any more pixels than that on it, because a display like that has one screen pixel = 1 pixel of resolution, unlike a black and white CRT where you could crank up the horizontal frequency a little, and show a few more dots than the designers intended.
If you were able to set the settings higher previously, the rest were lost to overscan, and were never actually displayed on the screen. You are missing NOTHING.
Grant,
Thanks for the reply. This is not overscan (at least as I know it). This is a perfect representation at a significantly higher image (and pixel) density on the same monitor. I'll try to capture some images and repost. It absolutely looks, behaves, switches in the same way as a monitor rated with those extra resolutions would do.
Use caution with the setting called "Best for Display". It is not always the same as maximum resolution.
Grant.. I'm not using Best for Display, using scaled.. Cannot upload the images but put them in a folder. First three are 1920x1080 (and then two higher resolutions).. Next two show all the resolutions available under Mountain Lion, and the last, the much lesser amount under El Capitan.. You can download images if you want of view in full size on Smugmug site.. I'm at a loss..
Just as an interesting aside... I also have a Dell Ultrasharp venerable old 2407 (still works very well). I've been using the mini display port with an Adapter to the HP (no particular reason other than I was planning on running the Dell and HP side by side).. When I tried to hook up the Dell via the cable and adapter, the Dell wouldn't respond.. said no DVI-D source.. when I went to the DVI plug on the Sapphire, the Dell activated.. Adapter makes no difference to the HP.. Perhaps I should just save my pennies and pick up a new modern display.. (that or an older 27" Cinema)..
Grant..
See this article on Everymac.. Not sure how much applies across all machine, but look at the paragraph that starts "Apple quietly notes..." about using the Option Key and scaled selections.. More resolutions available than shown? Wonder if that (by some freakish twist) is what is showing up when I boot up Mountain Lion with the Sapphire card on my Mac Pro? If so, it doesn't appear to be a working option (no pun intended) under EC...
Sapphire HD 7950 mac edition and 3440*1440px
