XFX 5850 w/ Apple 24" LED

L

Lava Lamp Freak

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 20, 2004
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I just got my 5850 today and finished building my system tonight. I have an Apple 24" LED Cinema Display and thought it would work with the 5850 since it has Displayport. I'm using a female Mini Displayport to male Displayport cable, which according to the site I bought it from works with this setup, and the reviews claim it works as well. The display does work with my MBP so it isn't a problem with the display.

http://estore.circuitassembly.com/p...Female-to-Displayport-Male-Adapter-Cable.html

Does anyone have any idea why this wouldn't work? My DVI display works just fine hooked to the computer. I'm installing Windows now and will see if it works when booted into Windows. Perhaps it is just an issue with the POST not displaying over Display Port?

I'll be calling XFX and Circuit Assembly tomorrow to see if I can solve it, but I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has tried a Display Port display with this new card or if anyone has used the Apple with a Displayport video card.
 
see if it works in windows, logically, I think it should work.. but the only time I've ever tried that was on a aluminum macbook and they don't really have a POST screen when using bootcamp.
 
I have Windows installed now and installed the drivers and I get the following error.

"The system has detected a link failure and cannot set the requested resolution and refresh rate on your DisplayPort display. Your display might not support the requested resolution or there may be an issue with the cable connecting the display to your computer.

Edit: Yes, it works under Boot Camp on my MBP. I'm thinking it could be something wrong with the cable. I'll see what I can find out tomorrow.
 
WorldExclusive said:
Wait, do you have a PC or Mac?
Click to expand...

Both. I'm trying to use the Apple display on a PC with the 5850 through Displayport. It works fine on the Mac, just not on the PC. Seems to be an issue with the cable. It recognizes that I have it hooked up in the Catalyst Control Center, it just gives an error if I try to use it.
 
They're sending me another cable. Hopefully the cable is just a bad one. Technically this is supposed to work.
 
I got the new cable today and have the same problem. Has anyone ever seen this particular error before about a link failure? Could it be something wrong with the video card? I've heard from others who have used this cable with the Apple display on other DisplayPort cards with no problem.
 
The tech at Circuit Assembly said he tested this cable before shipping it to me with an Apple 24" in their office and it worked. He didn't say what kind of video card it was. So, the cable is good and the setup should work. It must be a problem with the video card.
 
Wait... you bought a apple monitor? I hope you didn't pay for the overpriced hipster device.
 
Maybe it's an ATI driver issue.. I'd open a ticket with ATI support and make sure they are aware of it.
 
Kanaric said:
Wait... you bought a apple monitor? I hope you didn't pay for the overpriced hipster device.
Click to expand...

I bought it refurb for $599, which I think was a good deal.

Andrmgic said:
Maybe it's an ATI driver issue.. I'd open a ticket with ATI support and make sure they are aware of it.
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I submitted a ticket to XFX and they weren't able to help me. They're going to escalate it to ATI.

Waffletron said:
It's not an ATI driver issue. I use an Apple LED Cinema Display with my 4890.
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What cable are you using?
 
I am using the exact same cable that you posted to go from a Diamond-branded 4890 to a refurbished LED CD just like you are. I never got the drivers working to adjust brightness, though.
 
Waffletron said:
I am using the exact same cable that you posted to go from a Diamond-branded 4890 to a refurbished LED CD just like you are. I never got the drivers working to adjust brightness, though.
Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear that it is working with the same setup I have. XFX has escalated my issue to ATI, and I'm waiting to hear back before getting a RMA on my card.

Regarding the brightness, if you can't adjust it does that mean it is always at 100%?
 
Lava Lamp Freak said:
Regarding the brightness, if you can't adjust it does that mean it is always at 100%?
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Yes. This is not my main monitor, it is a friend's display. I'm using it until he finished his i5 build, he is hoping to be able to use a 5850 with it. I don't know how he plans to solve the brightness problem, it drives me nuts. I was the test platform, we assumed that if my 4890 worked with it than a 5850 would too.
 
ATI is on holiday break, Canadian Thanksgiving -- until next Tuesday so I haven't been able to get any further help, but I tested my cable today using the Apple Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter and was able to connect my Dell display DVI to the DisplayPort on the video card, and it worked. So, I can confirm that both the cable and the video card work. There is just some sort of compatibility issue, which is disappointing considering there is no technical reason it shouldn't work -- and it does work with other brands and models of DisplayPort capable cards. I'm curious now if it is a 5800 series issue or just something wrong with the XFX implementation.
 
i dont think there is anything wrong with xfx or ati, You can blame apple for this issue, I have heard nightmare issues with people trying to use that display for pc's, now you finally get a card with DP and the monitor doesn't work, I was gonna get that monitor a while back, but due to display port lack on my graphic card, couldn't do it, but knowing that it doesn't work with your card either is very sad to know. I think it is more of Apple to blame here, than ati and xfx, I hope ati can find a workaround in their drivers if the display doesn't wanna work with anything but an apple computer.
 
XFX suggested I contact Apple in the meantime while waiting for ATI to get back with me to find out what Apple thinks, and I'm going to do that. It doesn't make much sense though because they are using a standard spec, DisplayPort, so there is no technical reason it wouldn't work. Plus I've heard from others who are using it on a PC with an ATI card with DisplayPort card and it is working.
 
It might be the cable. Apple DP to mini DP right?
HardOCP had a difficult time making apple's adapter work.
If you just use a plain old display port direct cable, it should work to connect to a regular size displayport monitor input (like the one on the U2410).
If you are trying to use the displayport to connect to a DVI input, you need to buy an active displayport adapter. Dell sells one for $99.
 
Lava Lamp Freak said:
XFX suggested I contact Apple in the meantime while waiting for ATI to get back with me to find out what Apple thinks, and I'm going to do that. It doesn't make much sense though because they are using a standard spec, DisplayPort, so there is no technical reason it wouldn't work.
Click to expand...
Considering the trouble people have had with HDCP handshaking and DVI/HDMI devices, having a standard rarely saves you from incompatiability especially with early products.

vjcsmoke said:
If you are trying to use the displayport to connect to a DVI input, you need to buy an active displayport adapter. Dell sells one for $99.
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For single-link DVI connection it will work passively, which is what he did to check that the cable works. On the 58xx a max of 2 dvi/hdmi monitors can be connected using any combination of connectors; You only need an active converter if you want to use >2 DVI monitors or a dual-link resolution.
 
I contacted Apple and the support agent wouldn't even talk to me about it. He said he is only allowed to provide support for the display when used on Apple computers.
 
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It looks like I'm on my own here with figuring out what the problem is. ATI finally responded and said that they don't support Mini DP to DP other than in theory, and in theory it should work. Their best guess is its a bad cable, and I've already replaced the cable and verified it works by using an additional Apple adapter to connect it to a DVI monitor.

The only thing I know for sure is that it should work. I've talked to several people on multiple forums who are using the Apple Cinema Display with this same Circuit Assembly cable and they've not had any issues. The only difference is none of them are using the 5850. I wish I could find someone else who had this setup. I see people discussing doing it on other forums but haven't heard from anyone else who actually has tried it.
 
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I just heard from someone else who has an Asus 5850 and he says the Apple Cinema Display won't work on his either. I got a Sapphire 4890 with DisplayPort today and hooked it up and the Apple Cinema Display works fine on it. So, I'm going to attempt to RMA the XFX 5850 back to New Egg.

It appears that something has changed between the 4890 and 5850 series that is causing an incompatibility. I'm going to report this to ATI in the hope that there is a fix in the future since I plan on using this display for years, and from reading around the net it appears there are others interested in this combo as well.
 
Lava Lamp Freak said:
I just heard from someone else who has an Asus 5850 and he says the Apple Cinema Display won't work on his either. I got a Sapphire 4890 with DisplayPort today and hooked it up and the Apple Cinema Display works fine on it. So, I'm going to attempt to RMA the XFX 5850 back to New Egg.

It appears that something has changed between the 4890 and 5850 series that is causing an incompatibility. I'm going to report this to ATI in the hope that there is a fix in the future since I plan on using this display for years, and from reading around the net it appears there are others interested in this combo as well.
Click to expand...

I think we'll see a fix when apple implements the 5xxx series in their Mac Pro.. or when the 5870 six comes out.. it will have 6 mini-displayport outputs.
 
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