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fritzintn · Oct 13, 2006, 06:32 AM

I happened across a pair of 23" ADC Cinema displays for a rather low price. I snatched up both hoping to use one with my 12" PB (w/ the ADC->DVI adapter) and a future G4/G5. However it turns out my 12" PB doesn't have the mini-DVI plug, rather some min-VGA one....oh well.

So now I'd rather hook both of them up to a dedicated desktop and not fuss about with the mess of two ADC->DVI adpaters (not to mention the added price). What's the solution and what do I buy?

I apologize for the cross post...

seanc · Oct 13, 2006, 01:00 PM

Either a card with an ADC connection or an ADC->DVI converter IMO.

GSixZero · Oct 13, 2006, 01:40 PM

You need a video card with two ADC connections or go with the DVI->ADC converter.

ADC->DVI converter is a $10 part that Dr. Bott sells.
DVI->ADC converter is a $100 part from Apple.

The reason for this is that ADC provides a DVI video signal, power for the monitor, as well as USB, so the ADC-> DVI converter just grabs the already existing DVI signal puts it into a regular DVI plug.

The DVI->ADC converter is a power supply for the monitor, plus it plugs into USB and DVI, puts all three together and ADC comes out the other side.

Leonard · Oct 13, 2006, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by GSixZero

You need a video card with two ADC connections

There is no video card with two ADC connectors.

You have to use at least one DVI->ADC converter to connect 2 23" ADC Cinema Displays if you get a Power Mac computer with a video card with an ADC connector.

Be warned that newer PM G5's with PCI-Express and the Mac Pro with PCI-Express do not have video cards with ADC connectors because ADC has been phased out. Apple is going DVI and dual-link DVI. Frankly I wouldn't have bought displays with ADC connectors at any price nowadays.

chipchen · Oct 14, 2006, 02:27 AM

Or you get a second video card (for instance a PCI in addition to your AGP) with ADC... but you might as well connect one ADC and one using the DVI > ADC adapter.

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um.... what the heck... i thought we were talking about ADC ad DVI....

seanc · Oct 14, 2006, 10:37 AM

It's spam, i'll report it.

fritzintn · Oct 16, 2006, 07:53 AM

Originally Posted by chipchen

Or you get a second video card (for instance a PCI in addition to your AGP) with ADC... but you might as well connect one ADC and one using the DVI > ADC adapter.

I guess this is the solution I was looking for, but wasn't sure such a card existed.

- Have any suggestions on common brand/model # PCI cards w/ ADC
- Since I'm effectively now powering two monitors, will I need to upgrade the power supply on a base G5 w/ ADC or an older G4?

I'd prefer to keep cables to a minimum, so I'd rather go with the video card route rather than adding another set of bulky power supplies.

The displays were only $200/ea so it was kinda a hard deal to pass up

BigBadBiologist · Oct 16, 2006, 08:31 AM

There are no PCI ADC cards. The ADC draws its power through a little connector along the AGP bus. You would have to use a DVI->ADC converter.

Leonard · Oct 16, 2006, 02:10 PM

BigBadBiologist is correct. The second video card is not an option as PCI cards don't have ADC for the technical reason BigBadBiologist gave.

ADC got rid of the cable mess, but it wasn't standard, no card supported 2 displays with ADC (without a converter), and PCI cards couldn't have ADC ports. It was bound to die and did when the 30" display came out which needed dual-link DVI.