I just bought a Mac certified Radeon HD 7950 last night on recommendation through this forum. I'm trying to keep my 2012 alive. I'm wondering if a Thunderbolt Display would work through the mini DP or if I needed to use an off brand 4K display. I know this GPU is capable of 4K resolution.
Mac Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13), Mac Pro 5.1
OWC/MacSales sell this 7950 mac edition, and these are the specs they have on their site:
Product Specifications:
Sapphire Part Number
100352MAC
System Requirements
Resolution
Ports
GPU
Video Memory
Dimensions
11.0" x 4.3" x 1.4" (279 x 110 x 35 mm)
Warranty
2 Year OWC Fulfilled Limited Warranty
Manufacturer provided specifications for Sapphire p/n 100352MAC UPC#: 840777060742note:
Dual-Llink DVI resolution is lower than 4K.
HDMI 1.4a may not produce better than 24 to 30 Hz screen refresh at 3480 by 2060 resolution.
that IS "4K".
3840 by 2160 is what passes for "4K", because it is twice or four times the other standards.
Am I right in saying this GPU is capable of 4K resolution? Isn't that all that a Thunderbolt Display is? I'm thinking now that a Thunderbolt port is more like a Lightning port than a mini DP. I'm getting too old to chase these things. You've been very helpful.
That's disappointing. I checked them last night. I'm sure the website said they were out. Paid much more than that; but I've got it. Looks like the GPU doesn't quite make 4K resolution
You've been very helpful again. Maybe I can buy one off Mac Sales and sell the one I just bought. I have an idea the market is going to boom on these soon
Mini DisplayPort is NOT the same as ThunderBolt. Mini DisplayPort is an easily extractable subset of the full ThunderBolt signal set
You can only run a ThunderBolt display using a computer that left the factory ThunderBolt-equipped. There is no way to add ThunderBolt to a computer later, and there likely never will be.
There are lots of high-quality DisplayPort family displays available. Conversion between [Full-Size] and [Mini] DisplayPort is a trivial re-wire with an "all wires" adapter or cable.
Mac Certified Radeon HD 7950 and Thunderbolt Display
