Best Monitor for New Mini

[Stephen.R]

Performance suffers at scaled no matter how many screens

Everything is relative. It's noticeable on 2 4K screens definitely. On one, with the Mac mini I don't think it is (at 'looks like 2560x1440' at least).

Keep in mind - on MacBook Pros, the 'default' is a scaled resolution - pure '@2x' is an option but it's not the "best for this display" setting they ship set to.

 

[Chiromac81]

Performance suffers at scaled no matter how many screens, whether it’s noticeable or not depends on the GPU
(I tried on internal mbp screen on gt650m)

Also, 24” dell will have less screen real estate at native than the imac 21,5”..

You are saying that even with a 24 inch screen I will have “less screen real estate” then a 21.5 inch iMac screen? That means I will have less room not more room? How is this possible??

 

[Stephen.R]

How is this possible??

The lg 4K is 4096x2304 but the dell (and most 4K displays) are 3840x2160.

If you have one LG 4K and like it I’d suggest just getting another one if you want more real estate. IMO macOS window management is easier with multiple monitors than one big one. That’s possibly because I opt to use full-screen mode as much as possible

 

[Ploki]

Everything is relative. It's noticeable on 2 4K screens definitely. On one, with the Mac mini I don't think it is (at 'looks like 2560x1440' at least).

Keep in mind - on MacBook Pros, the 'default' is a scaled resolution - pure '@2x' is an option but it's not the "best for this display" setting they ship set to.

which seems so unclean and so non-appley.

It is relative of course, just saying non-native is never optimal. I can't understand why MacBooks ship that way.

You are saying that even with a 24 inch screen I will have “less screen real estate” then a 21.5 inch iMac screen? That means I will have less room not more room? How is this possible??

Unless you run it at scaled resolution, then yes, as @Stephen.R already explained.

 

[Stephen.R]

I can't understand why MacBooks ship that way.

More screen real estate, with crispness most people will find perfectly fine? I was a bit surprised too when I realised though.

 

[AbeFroman77]

I'm looking for a display for the Mini but want to also use it with a gaming PC. What's a good monitor to get? Would the LG 5k be a good PC gaming display?

 

[Chiromac81]

I'm looking for a display for the Mini but want to also use it with a gaming PC. What's a good monitor to get? Would the LG 5k be a good PC gaming display?

I’m starting to think it would just be cheaper to get a 27 inch 4K monitor with a eGPU like black magic and then you can scale however you want and still would be cheaper then the 27 inch Lag

 

[F-Train]

I'm looking for a display for the Mini but want to also use it with a gaming PC. What's a good monitor to get? Would the LG 5k be a good PC gaming display?

My view is that a number of the more vocal people in this thread are talking through their hats when it comes to monitors for standard use, let alone for gaming.

If you want a monitor that will work for PC gaming, I think that there are better places to raise the issue, including in the MacRumors gaming forum. For one thing, the issue is closely tied to what games you play and what your PC's CPU and GPU are.

 

[pfx7]

I'm looking for a display for the Mini but want to also use it with a gaming PC. What's a good monitor to get? Would the LG 5k be a good PC gaming display?

Don't think the 5K is good for gaming due to slower response time. A 4K monitor with a VA/MVA panel would provide you with a good middle ground.

 

[Ploki]

My view is that a number of the more vocal people in this thread are talking through their hats when it comes to monitors for standard use, let alone for gaming.

If you want a monitor that will work for PC gaming, I think that there are better places to raise the issue, including in the MacRumors gaming forum. For one thing, the issue is closely tied to what games you play and what your PC's CPU and GPU are.

Nah, I ordered an LG 4k, so i am putting my money where my mouth is. The fact is, LG 4K and 5K are the highest DPI screens you can buy - if pixel density is what you're after.

 

[gusping]

Quick question for you folks. I have one 4k monitor with my 2018 mini (i7/16GB) and am thinking of getting a second monitor. Do I go for another 4k monitor, or go for a 3440x1440 Ultrawide? I'd love to get the latter, but I wonder if the pixel density will look awful versus my current 4K monitor. What do you think? This is for casual use (browing, emails, word, excel etc), and nothing more than that.
[doublepost=1545992066][/doublepost]

I just bought a LG 34WK95U 34" 5120x2160px, coming from a 40" 4K Philips display.

I bought it because of the beautiful panel with great colours, the wide aspect ratio as well as the clean bezels.
I got it mainly for photo editing, otherwise I probably would've gone with one of the cheaper curved displays. It's my first time with an ultrawide after having used both large 40" displays and multiple <27"-setups and a day in I'm really starting to like it.

The big downside I've found with the monitor is the stand which is absolutely terrible. It's so weak and wobbly I'd advice against this monitor unless you're planning to use another monitor arm. Absolute joke considering the price.

I was a bit worried about the performance after reading this forum and a few others but everything looks smooth to me so far. The GPU is at 14-18% usage no matter which scaling I use, occasionally spiking higher when there's a lot of stuff going on. Not seeing much of a difference between native res, 2x and scaled, maybe a few % higher average GPU useage at most.
I'm currently using 3008x1269 but I've been bouncing back and forth between 2560x1080 and 3360x1417 as I haven't made up my mind on which resolution to keep yet. 5120x2160 is too small and 2560x1080 lack screen real estate.
Now I'm not coming from a 5K iMac so I can't compare performance and font sharpness to that display.

I do get lag in some applications however. Photoshop is real sluggish for example. Even iTunes, when scrolling quickly and displaying large amount of album art. I think it's because of the 8 GB ram which is constantly at 70 - 85% use. I'll upgrade to 32GB today (and I hope) and suspect it'll make a big difference. I have the i5 and the CPU and GPU almost never went above 30% usage from my workload yesterday. I've yet to do heavy Lightroom work though.

UPDATE:
Ok, I upgraded to 32 GB RAM and it's a massive improvement. Memory usage is now at 25% (down from approx 75%) and GPU usage is down to about 8% (down from approx 18%). All the lag I previously experienced seems to be gone! I used this ram:
http://eu.crucial.com/eur/en/mac-mini-(2018)/CT13492047

UPDATE II:
Today the monitor wouldn't wake up from sleep after being idle for 10 hours. I had to pull out the thunderbolt usb-c cable and plug it in again for it to work. I found others had similar issues with other (LG) monitors as well.

How do you check iGPU usage?
[doublepost=1545992154][/doublepost]

I like my LG 34UM88C ultra wide. 3440x1440 at 1:1 scaling at a good price works well for me.

How does a 34" 3440x1440 Ultrawide monitor look next to a 4K? Have you seen them side by side? Curious if the drop in pixel density is too much to use as a second monitor.

 

[Ploki]

Quick question for you folks. I have one 4k monitor with my 2018 mini (i7/16GB) and am thinking of getting a second monitor. Do I go for another 4k monitor, or go for a 3440x1440 Ultrawide? I'd love to get the latter, but I wonder if the pixel density will look awful versus my current 4K monitor. What do you think? This is for casual use (browing, emails, word, excel etc), and nothing more than that.
[doublepost=1545992066][/doublepost]

How do you check iGPU usage?
[doublepost=1545992154][/doublepost]

How does a 34" 3440x1440 Ultrawide monitor look next to a 4K? Have you seen them side by side? Curious if the drop in pixel density is too much to use as a second monitor.

https://www.sven.de/dpi/
https://www.designcompaniesranked.com/resources/is-this-retina/

Not much point in 3440x1440 at 100ppi if you don't run it native 1:1.

You didn't specify which size 4K monitor you have, so there's no way to guess pixel density from your post.

34" ultrawide has a pixel density of 109ppi.
27" 4K has 163ppi.
22" LG 4K has 220ppi.
24" FullHD 1920*1080 has 91ppi.

i reckon the 34" ultrawide will be closest to the latter, which is pretty blocky.

As far as casual/noncasual use go, it doesn't matter. HighDPI is supposedly NOT good for critical work, and none of the professional Eizos has more than 163ppi.
On the other hand, iMac 4K/5K both have 220ppi.

 

[gusping]

https://www.sven.de/dpi/
https://www.designcompaniesranked.com/resources/is-this-retina/

Not much point in 3440x1440 at 100ppi if you don't run it native 1:1.

You didn't specify which size 4K monitor you have, so there's no way to guess pixel density from your post.

34" ultrawide has a pixel density of 109ppi.
27" 4K has 163ppi.
22" LG 4K has 220ppi.
24" FullHD 1920*1080 has 91ppi.

i reckon the 34" ultrawide will be closest to the latter, which is pretty blocky.

As far as casual/noncasual use go, it doesn't matter. HighDPI is supposedly NOT good for critical work, and none of the professional Eizos has more than 163ppi.
On the other hand, iMac 4K/5K both have 220ppi.

Thanks for this. Given the low pixel density and the poor ergonomic result of using such a wide monitor alongside a 27" 4K monitor, I think it's a non-starter. Plus, there is there price. I can get a cheap 4K (TN panel unfortunately) to go alongside my current 'nicer' 4K monitor.

The next question is, can the iGPU in the Mac mini (i7/16GB) handle two 4K monitors with NO scaling.?

 

[ot73nl]

Nah, I ordered an LG 4k, so i am putting my money where my mouth is.

You finally did? Congratulations, you will not be disappointed with it!

 

[Chiromac81]

You finally did? Congratulations, you will not be disappointed with it!

I still believe for most people the best bang for your buck is to get a 27-32 inch 4K monitor and pair it with a eGPU like black magic and then you can scale it however you want to get the beat of both worlds...

 

[Ploki]

I still believe for most people the best bang for your buck is to get a 27-32 inch 4K monitor and pair it with a eGPU like black magic and then you can scale it however you want to get the beat of both worlds...

I was considering the 24" 4K dell. I don't want to go back to low PPI since running 15" macbook pro for 6 years.

 

[Chiromac81]

I was considering the 24" 4K dell. I don't want to go back to low PPI since running 15" macbook pro for 6 years.

I just think 24 is so much smaller then any 27 inch most people would regret the loss in screen real estate

 

[Stephen.R]

regret the loss in screen real estate

It's the same resolution, there is no more or less 'screen real estate'.

 

[Ploki]

I just think 24 is so much smaller then any 27 inch most people would regret the loss in screen real estate

I’m temporarily running a 1080p 27” screen, and its too large for my taste scaled or not.

 

[Chiromac81]

It's the same resolution, there is no more or less 'screen real estate'.

You are losing 3 inches of screen real estate. And if it’s 4k and you have a good graphics card you could scale it to look as good as the 24 inch but larger

 

[Ploki]

You are losing 3 inches of screen real estate. And if it’s 4k and you have a good graphics card you could scale it to look as good as the 24 inch but larger

but if you don't want to scale it, then you don't lose anything. We've been over this, some people don't like scaling.

and you cannot scale it to make it look as good, 24" has 190ppi and 27" has 163ppi, scaling has nothing to do with pixel density.
By running both @2x you have the same screen real estate except larger gui on the 27".

 

[Dr. Dr. Evil]

Ordered my mini last night i5/256SSD/16GB and am planning on hooking it up to the Dell S2719DC along with my Surface Book 2.

Not sure how it’s going to perform as this is my first Mini. It’s going to replace my aging 2011 27” iMac.

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/del...ref=p13n_ena_pdp_vv&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

Plan to buy the same monitor.
Any experiences so far?

 

[cocky jeremy]

I just bought an Acer 43" 4K and it's pretty sweet. Super cheap too. Under $500 with an extended warranty from Micro Center.

 

[gusping]

I just bought an Acer 43" 4K and it's pretty sweet. Super cheap too. Under $500 with an extended warranty from Micro Center.

How close do you sit? Does it still seem super high quality at that distance?

 

[Tomguin]

I have the Mac Mini i5/8gb/256 as well as an ageing gaming rig with a GTX670 2gb card.

I currently use an old Dell U2412M monitor for both which I am looking to replace.

I am stuck between going for 2x 24" / 2x 27" / 1x 34" ultrawide.

I have a wide variety of use cases:

- Amateur photography in Lightroom
- Basic holiday GoPro video editing
- Work applications (spreadsheets etc)
- Gaming (MMO, FPS, RTS etc - not on ultra)
- Logic Pro music production
- General web browsing and video watching

My original plan was to get 1x 4k Dell 24" and 1x Dell gaming 24", with the Mini mainly using the 4k and the PC mainly the gaming monitor. Then I thought it might be better to get a couple of non-4k 27" monitors.

Now I'm thinking of just getting a 34 UltraWide like the Dell 3417 as it seems as though it would cope reasonably well with everything (I don't need amazing gaming response) and also has a KVM switch which would be good for using with my work laptop.

I don't want to spend more than ~£650ish - which i should be able to get that 34" for.

I am interested to know if that would be the best option for UltraWide and if both machines would handle it.

Any other suggestions would be welcome as well!

I'm thinking of keeping my gaming pc running as long as it reasonably can and then maybe getting an egpu when they are cheaper so I can just use the mac mini so a good choice for now and the future is needed. I will probably also increase the ram in the Mini.