Video card for dell optiplex 780

[Dustyn Furman]

Hello, can anyone recommend a video card for a Dell Optiplex 780 (Small Form Factor) that has a mini-DVI output? I want to connect it to an Apple Cinema Display. Thanks.

 

[alphaalphaalpha]

You might be able to get something like a Radeon 6450 and get a DVI to mini DVI adapter.

 

[Dustyn Furman]

I got the DVI to mini-Displayport adapter, an Atlona AT-DP400, and connected its DVI to my IOGear GCS932UB DVI KVM switch, and then plugged the Apple 27" mini-Displayport into it.

The Dell drives the display, but I can't find a resolution that looks decent. All of them seem to stretch the display in the horizontal dimension.

The Mac Pro (Radeon X1900 XT) doesn't drive the monitor at all, so the stretched screen on the Dell is the least of my problems.

Anyway, the Dell is running XP. Can anyone suggest what resolution I should run it at to look right on this 27-inch? Screen real-estate is a priority but I also need to be able to read it. I think I tried all of the resolutions, but I don't know all of the Windows tricks that might be available for others.

And if there are any folks with a Rev 1 Mac Pro (Radeon X1900 XT), do you have any idea why this won't drive the Apple 27-inch LED display? Seems very strange. I tried resetting the PRAM and rebooting, etc. The card has dual DVI ports - do I need to somehow use both of them? Thanks ...

 

[Dustyn Furman]

I took the KVM switch out of the circuit, and the Mac Pro drives the Cinema Display fine through the DVI-miniDisplayport converter.

My old 2007-vintage MacBook Pro drives the LED Cinema Display perfectly also, again through the converter.

So now I know the culprit is the KVM switch.

This switch does not claim to support the max resolution of this large display. So that could be the problem. I have not heard back from IOGEAR tech support yet.

But does anyone have or know of a similar problem - IOGEAR KVM that interferes with the Mac-to-LED Display, when it's through a DVI-to-mini display port converter? Thanks to anyone who has any advice.