Can a Mac Pro drive more than 2 monitors?

Question

I have 3 Monitors which I would like to drive off a Mac Pro (that is not bought yet). The Monitors don't have DisplayPort though (and I had not much luck with the $100 adapters).

All 3 have DVI and 2 have HDMI as well (running at 2048x1152).

Would I have to get a configuration with 2x Radeon 5770? Can I use a Mini-DP-HDMI Adapter on it? (I successfully drive one of them on a MacBook Pro, I just don't know if the Mac Pro's 5770 are special)

Answer 1

If you look at the Apple Store page for buying a Mac Pro, you'll see it comes with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB.

Under "Second Display," it says:

All Mac Pro graphics cards support up to three displays: two using Mini DisplayPort and one using DVI.

Under "Graphics," it says:

Configure your Mac Pro with two cards to power up to six displays simultaneously for visualization projects and large display walls.

If you click on the "Learn more" link under Graphics, it says:

ATI Radeon HD 5770

Ideal for motion graphics, 3D modeling, rendering, or animation, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of fast GDDR5 memory comes standard — and provides up to 5x more performance than previous Mac Pro standard graphics cards. It also includes two Mini DisplayPort outputs and a dual-link DVI port.

and

Dual-display and triple-display modes

Both ATI Radeon HD cards each have two Mini DisplayPort outputs and one dual-link DVI output for a total of three video ports. All three ports are available for simultaneous use, depending upon the type of connection…

Note: If you are using more than one Mini DisplayPort to Single-Link DVI adapter, only two displays are supported across the three ports. To connect up to two Mini DisplayPort displays and up to a 30-inch DVI display simultaneously, use the ports without any adapters. To connect two DVI displays, use the dual-link DVI port and the Apple Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter or the Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (sold separately). To connect three DVI displays at once, you must use two Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapters (sold separately). To connect up to three VGA displays simultaneously, use the Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter and DVI to VGA adapters (sold separately).

However, based on this blog post, it's worth reading these two Knowledge Base articles before making a buying decision:

• Mac Pro: Supported display configurations
• Mac Pro: Issues with three displays and multiple DVI, HDMI connections

Answer 2

This is the information from Apple detailing the Mac Pro's tech specs:

Double-wide, 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot with one of the following graphics cards installed:

• ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, PCI Express 2.0, two Mini DisplayPort outputs, and one dual-link DVI port

• ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, PCI Express 2.0, two Mini DisplayPort outputs, and one dual-link DVI port

Option to install two ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards

Support for up to six displays

Support for digital resolutions up to 2560 by 1600 pixels

Support for analog resolutions up to 2048 by 1536 pixels

Video adapters available for:

• Additional DVI output using Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter (optional)

• Additional dual-link DVI output using Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (optional)

• VGA output using Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter or DVI to VGA Display Adapter (optional)

So it looks like you might have to get some extra adapters, but it certainly seems like you should not have any problems, as long as you buy the extra stuff :)