4K LCD on GTX980Ti OSX support?

[farandhigh98]

Hello guys,

 

I recently made a Akitio + 980Ti eGPU setup for my three year old rMBP 15" Mid-2012.

 

I was working on a post trying to summarize my experience, but one question popped to my mind.

 

Because of TB1, rMBP 15" Mid-2012 does not support a 4K external display. But I was wondering if I can hook up a 4K monitor to the 980Ti eGPU setup.

 

I currently have a WQHD 27" monitor, and I wanted to add a second display; I would love to add a 32" 4K display, but if not, I will go with a 34" 21:9 2560*1080 display.

 

If nobody has an answer to this, I will try to borrow a 4K monitor somewhere to test it out, but if anyone has experience, it would be great!

 

Thanks!

[Dschijn]

You should be able to use a 4k screen, but I am not sure if you could use 60Hz. AFAIK Apple is making the 60Hz option only available on the latest Macs.

[farandhigh98]

5 minutes ago, Dschijn said:

You should be able to use a 4k screen, but I am not sure if you could use 60Hz. AFAIK Apple is making the 60Hz option only available on the latest Macs.

 

Apple did not make 4K available to Macs with TB1; for example, the new MacBook could handle 4K although being considerably underpowered compared to even the oldest rMBP 15", which does not support 4K. If eGPU could handle 4K bypassing that limit, maybe it can handle 60Hz? I guess the only way is to try it out; as I have read many times in this forum, an eGPU setup with a mid-2012 rMBP is scarce.

 

Also, If I run it under Windows, could it handle 4K at 60Hz?

 

Thanks!

[Dschijn]

Windows should work, yes!
Problem is that AFAIK Apple made a global setting that disables 4@60Hz on older Macs. It doesn't matter which GPU it is, it's checked by Mac model itself.

Maybe ask here if 4@60Hz will be possible: https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/7989-script-automating-the-installation-of-egpu-on-os-x-inc-display-output/

[LeoTP]

@farandhigh98  I have a Mac 13" Mid 14 which is not officially supporting  4k, only with 30Hz - I have a GTX 960 and a 4k Monitor, and with a update of the drivers 2 weeks ago it is working now, and i can even choose scaling options in the mac monitor preferences. So i suppose it should work with the 980Ti as well.