Who's doing three displays from a 2013 Mac Pro?

Hi, Folks-

So I'm looking at upgrading my 10-year old tower to a 5-year-old mini-tower. Just to stay behind the times.

On the Late 2013 Mac Pro I see 6 Thunderbolt 2 ports (mini-display port-compatible) and 1 HDMI port.

I would like a typical dual-monitor setup on the desk-- either HDMI or DVI, HD resolution fine.

I would like a 27" 4K LG UW650 which is *mostly* color-calibratable, for the HDMI port.

But the literature states if you plug into the HDMI port, one of the T2 ports will cut out.

Has anyone solved this to their satisfaction? Adapters?

Best, as always.
Loren

hi Loren,

sorry I've no experience here...
but could you not get by with 5 thunderbolt ports?
also i'll ad that a little blackmagic mini monitor would get you nice broadcast pics to your LG
(at the expense of a thunderbolt port)
oh, hang on its 4k... well I imagine they've some 4k solution if that's what you need.


cheers,
nick

PS:
"Just to stay behind the times" - ha!

Hi, Nick!

Thanks for logging in on this. I assume I can use a couple of those Thunderbolt ports with a miniDisplayPort to DVI or HDMI cable adapter. In fact, I would probably have to use a third for the client monitor. I do have my heart set on a 27" LG or NEC floating over the work screens, although I've looked at things like Atoms and other small scale solutions. If I use the HDMI port- as you say, "Thunderbolt #7"-- the signal to one of the workscreens is cut out.

It seems brain dead. Thus, my call for wisdom here.

Thank you as always. How are you enjoying summer?

Best, as always.
Loren S. Miller

Well, I got some wisdom, from Apple's own support docs and a visit to the Store.

You're limited to two displays on each Thunderbolt bus, 0, 1, and 2. Must have two displays, it's expected by clients, no matter if it's FCPX, Premiere Pro, or Avid.

1 & 2 only have two T2 ports each. What gets weird is Bus 0 which sports three ports-- one of those is the HDMI.

Somebody correct me here-- HDMI is better for color than DVI? Got to have a color-accurate client monitor. They expect that too.

Easy to forget the limitations and plug all three displays into Bus 0-- it's the handy bottom group--and suddenly the bus is overloaded, and automatically cuts one of the displays out.

Clients don't expect that.

They say the solution is to get a couple MiniDisplayPort-to-DVI adapters for two older displays (or MiniDisplayPort-to-HDMI for newer ones- around US $30 each ) driven by Bus 1 or 2, and leave the HDMI alone on its bus 0.

Then you still have two T2 ports for RAIDS, etc. And they say, you can daisy up to 6 devices per chain. But obviously not displays.

Now that I understand this, I pass it on, and of course, I will test it very soon, just in time for a ProRes422 HQ 2K indie feature coming to my workstation for color and dustbusting, which I like doing when I don't edit.

Best, as always.
Loren

Update:

New machine installed. MiniDisplayPort-to-DVI adapters work fine.

But the minute I plug in the LG UK650 4K, it either doesn't respond, or lights up (nice!) but cuts out one of my work screen duo. No matter what other busses they're plugged into.

No matter how I plug in the HDMI- either alone on its own Thunderbolt 0 bus or into the bus through a MDPort adapter, it's two up only.

And that is not what Apple advertises when they say "Connect up to 6 monitors."

Following up with the company.

- L

The company is still thrashing over this.

But I got onto Amazon and picked up a Cable Matters ACTIVE MiniDisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter, a cheap thing, US $17.00. "Boosts port power." Why not?

So I unplugged the Dumdum bullet, hooked in the 27" 4K to the new adapter into one of the Bus 0 T2 ports, replugged, and watched it light up the two work monitors, and then above them... something going on up there...

Holy crap, it works!!

And I never knew you could, in the Arrangement panel of your Displays pref, actually stack your third display centered over your two working displays!

And the mouse will track from either lower display up to the big boy. It's all one three-eyed monster here.

It seems on the 2013 Mac Pro, any third monitor may need a special boost. On this display, it's not a dual link thing, nor a USB powered thing, it just needs...an active adapter, which "improves compatibility with MiniDP computers and docking stations," according to the info slip.

I hope others have the same inexpensive luck.

Now I have to tell Apple how it works.

Happy holidays!!

Best, as always,
Loren

Okay everything's been functioning well for a week or so.

Adding a little clarity, here's my plug plan for three monitors, 2 HD Acer 21", one 4K LG 27", #27UK650.

HD screen 1 - female DVI to MDPort which goes into one port on Bus 2 (top row)
HD screen 2 - female DVI to MDPort which goes into one port on Bus 1 (middle row)
4K LG screen - ACTIVE female HDMI to MDPort which goes into one port on Bus 0 (bottom row)

The Mac's HDMI port is NOT used at all.

Apple Tech got back to me to confirm the active adapter was the engineers' recommendation.

And two LaCie 3 TB Thunderbolts plug into the unused ports on Bus 1 & 2 without issue.
And I still have a port free for my shaver!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Hope it helps someone else.

Now of course we wait for the Modular Mac system to show up and obsolete this. )-:
(Prediction-- it'll be a form factor spin off from the Minis.)

Best, as always.
Loren

hi Loren

"Apple Tech got back to me to confirm the active adapter was the engineers' recommendation. "
after you told them? lol

i still reckon a black magic box could be useful, especially if you have any interlaced footage.
costs more than $17, though


cheers, and happy new year
nick

Yes, that was the sequence. It was pretty ironic.

But in a way, good to hear.

BMD Teranex! Yeah, about a grand more. I keep drooling.

Best, as always.
Loren

Loren Miller Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, that probiotics regulating IBS was the sequence. It was pretty ironic.
>
> But in a way, good to hear.
>
> BMD Teranex! Yeah, about a grand more. I keep
> drooling.
>
> Best, as always.
> Loren

Do you think it's worth the extra cost? Even though a grand is a lot of dinero...

Could be of use

[www.tekrevue.com]

interesting article, thanks
n

Coming late to this, and Joe's Tekrevue article link was an eyeopener., thank you.

I had the Thunderbolt ports misidentified from an early graphic. 1 & 3 (Bus 2) appear to be on top of eachother, and to the left, 2 & 4 (bus 1). 5 &6 follow left right logic for bus 0-- but then there's that added HDMI port on the same bus.

I also didn't follow the advice against place storage on T2 ports used for displays. I had no choice. The two LaCie's used are Thunderbolt only.

The Apple bulletin (updated 3 years after the release of the 2013 Mac Pro) does mention an "active" or dual link adapter for demanding monitors.

So in my early 4K shakedown cruise over theist 2 weeks utilizing wedding footage shot on Panasonic Lumix Micro 4/3 cameras G7 and G85, utilizing the H264 footage right from the camera, no transcoding to ProRes, I see the drives laboring to catch up during 4K multicam of two or three streams. In Premiere I've had to cut the resolution in half to make it useable.

Now I'm going to shift the plugs around and see if I get a gain.

The adventure continues.

Best, as always.
Loren

And now, as of June 3rd, I can throw away the 2013 Mac Pro and cough up 12-15 grand for the fabulous new boat anchor Mac Pro el Modulo and a 6K 32" Retina screen-- and it can be a matte screen for an extra grand!

Really, the tower's the same dimensions as my 2009 cheese grater. Even the same boatyard weight- just under 40 lbs. The module approach is pretty cool, no doubt. But I'm not getting a super Ivey chill thrill from the glorified curtain rod design of the frame. Okay, it's stainless steel and you can plug wheels into the rods, a must have.

But the power draw-- 12 AMPS?? I'm going to need a large gas generator, I can't run that in my little condo without blowing breakers. Is there an APC UPS box can can deliver that?

Obviously Apple's vision deals with wealthy editors who live in large sleek homes with 500 Watt mains. Well, my sleek little condo takes in 100 Watt service from the street, and part of that goes 220 for stove and AC, the rest to my home. That's it Can we download extra power from the Apple iCloud?

No question I want one. Someday. But right now, I have cool 3-eyed monster, all matte screens, and with a new RAID and added RAM I should be able to pull in 2 streams of 4K, to make me a happy camper.

Comments welcome.

Best, as always,
Loren

Fall update:

The three-eyed monster still functioning perfectly on the 2013 Mac Pro. I removed one of my LaCie 3TB Thunderbolt 2 drives and replaced it with a LaCie 2Big RAID 8TB box measuring over 1300 Mbps on BMD's Disk Speed Test. I copied all media and all renders to the new box, as RAID 0 (no parity or redundancy, just pure bandwidth. Project files of course sent to system disk.)

Both drives plugged into the two T2 bus 1 ports (vertically stacked on the right) as an experiment. And with this config, I confirm I have up to 2 streams of smooth-playing ProRes 422 (HQ) 4K media, downscaled live to my LG 27" in HD resolution. Perfect for client review. Nirvana, especially since Adobe appears to have snuck in support for ONE of the two GPU's. I think that's made a huge difference.

I purchased my Mac Pro as a refurb on Apple's website last September for under 3K. Picked it up at a local Apple Store. It's a middle model 6-Core 3.5 Ghz, with dual D500 GPU's. I stuffed with 32 GB RAM. I've completed one feature comedy transferred to 4K from 35mm negs from the mid-90's, a complete restoration including edits, dustbusting and color enhancement in Premiere.

I don't expect to need a new cheese grater for a couple years.

Best, as always,
Loren