4K monitor and Mac mini 2011

[Chparigi]

Hi everyone

I know the title sounds daring, but I am in fact going to ask you wether my Mac mini 2011 will be able to run a 4K monitor:

My specs:
Mac mini 2011
2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
10 GB Ram
256 GB SSD and 500 GB HDD in Fusion Drive
AMD Radeon HD 6630M with 256 MB GDDR5-memory

I have a Belkin Express HD Thunderbolt 2 dock connected, and i currently have a 2-monitor setup, with two Full HD monitors - one is connected via HDMI on the Mac, and the other on the HDMI-output on the Belkin Dock.

There are almost no information on the web regarding a Mac mini 2011 and a 4K monitor - maybe just because it's a kamikaze-project. But will it work? If i connect it through the HDMI-port in the Belkin dock (that advertises that it has 4K support) will i actually be able to use it, though i do not have thunderbolt 2?

I mainly use my Mac mini or photo editing and light video-editing (no fancy after-effect or Motion things) with 1080p video. The 4K monitor is just meant as a top notch eye-candy

 

[cruisin]

https://support.apple.com/kb/sp632?locale=en_US

• Thunderbolt port with support for up to 2560-by-1600 resolution
• HDMI port with support for up to 1920-by-1200 resolution

You don't have at least HDMI 1.4 which would give you UHD at 30Hz and I suspect your GPU does't have the speed to fill the screen (pixels per second). The video memory is a little low as well since even integrated intel chips use a minimum of 1GB for UHD. Thunderbolt 1 might be an issue as well, related to the video bandwidth. I can't see how you will get higher than 2560x1600 with your setup.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856

Apparently you need at least a Mac mini (Late 2014).

It looks like it won't work.

 

[iPhil]

even @ '14 mini will only push 4K @ 30Hz not 60Hz

 

[g33k]

even @ '14 mini will only push 4K @ 30Hz not 60Hz

The same goes for the 2015 MacBook Pro's. The only Mac that will be able to push 4K @ 60 Hz are the Retina iMac's and the Mac Pros (which are already a little old).

 

[cruisin]

The same goes for the 2015 MacBook Pro's. The only Mac that will be able to push 4K @ 60 Hz are the Retina iMac's and the Mac Pros (which are already a little old).

From: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856

With OS X Yosemite v10.10.3 and later, most single-stream 4K (3840x2160) displays are supported at 60Hz on the following Mac computers:

• MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
• MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014 and later)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013)
• iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)
• iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014 and later)
• MacBook Air (Early 2015)

These Mac computers automatically detect and support MST-enabled displays at 60 Hz:

• MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013 and later)
• MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013)
• iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014 and later)
• iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)

More than just the Retina iMac's and the Mac Pros.