Thoughts on the Mac Mini 2018 and multiple 4k displays?

[MRrainer]

So, I bought a Mini in March and got an Eizo EV3285 at roughly 50% discount.

I used to have a dual display setup with my old Mini, but I settled for this single display for the time being.

However, I realized that it kind of annoys me that I have to switch to a different "workspace" regularly and I miss my dual-screen setup.

So, I'm contemplating getting another 3285 (they are being replaced with the '95-series, it seems and there's a cash back currently going) or going for two smaller 2785 (cheaper but a bit less cash back) or getting two LG 27 UL850W.
Because I really like to have a sort of "center-display" and not looking into the "gap" between two displays.

The 27" displays (both LG and Eizo) have the advantage that they can be rotated 90° (the 3285 can't do that).
The LG displays are much cheaper, even when I add 5 years of warranty. But I hate the power-bricks. The Eizos have integrated PSUs.

I also hate that I can't keep a window on top permanently, like in most X-Windows window-managers....

Can I run the two displays on the side at a different scale-factor than the one in the middle? Because they are farther away from my eyes, I think it would be nicer if they'd run the "1920x1080 native" resolution rather than the "2560x1600 scaled" I use on the 32" display.

That said: is the 2018 i7 Mini going to getting much louder when I attach three 4k displays? I do have 32GB of RAM?
I don't game, I don't render, I don't rip and my coding is ansible. I sometimes run Linux VMs.

NB: I still run Mojave, I couldn't get myself to upgrade to Catalina and now I'm waiting for the 4k-UBS-C-external-display-bug in Big Sur to be fixed before I upgrade to that....

Any thoughts?

 

[Stephen.R]

A 2018 mini will struggle to run two hidpi displays at non-optimal (ie not “looks like 1920x1080”) scaled resolutions. It’s just about usable if you disable transparency but it’s still not perfect. I can’t imagine how bad it’d be with three.

I’d suggest an egpu, and if noise is a concern get one where the gpu has a “silent” mode, where it sacrifices a some performance (still oodles more than the mini’s igpu) to remain cooler and thus not spin the fans.

 

[MRrainer]

Is it really such a problem? I mean, the specs say it can do 3 ;-)

Do you know if I can run different scaled resolutions on different displays?

Or is that even worse from a performance point of view?

 

[Stephen.R]

Whether it’s a problem depends on you.

they’ll work, but performance is affected quite significantly by using non-optimal hidpi scaling. I use two 24” 4Ks. I lived with the issues for about two years, now I use an egpu.

yes you can set the scaling differently on each display - it’s just like setting the resolution on a non-hidpi display.

it says it can run three displays and im sure it can, but the prefpane also
Specifically warns about the performance hit of non-optimal scaling modes.

 

[MRrainer]

OK.
I'd probably run the two smaller displays at the "optimal" resolution.

Sonnet's new eGPU pucks look interesting in that they aren't yet another giant box on my desk - but they don't seem to be available yet here. And they add at least another 650 CHF to the bill ;-)

 

[macdos]

Question has been asked a gazillion times. MM 2018 will effortlessly drive 3 x 4K displays at native (3840 × 2160) or integer scaling (1920 x 1080), while non-integer scaling (2560 etc.) will incur a calcultion penalty (remedied by an external graphics card).

 

[joevt]

I've never seen anyone show a CPU benchmark difference with running multiple displays. It would be interesting to get some numbers for that situation.

Of course, if the displays are connected in a Thunderbolt chain at 4K 60Hz with a Thunderbolt storage device, then transfers to the Thunderbolt storage device will be slower - but the Mac mini 2018 has four Thunderbolt ports so you can optimize the connections by placing the displays on one port and everything else on the other ports.

 

[MRrainer]

IIRC, you have to attach the 3rd display via HDMI. Can't use three USB-C interfaces for displays.

Mac mini (2018) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

support.apple.com

 

[Boyd01]

You might want to have a look at this long thread:

Officially giving up on the Mac Mini 2018 + 4K monitor dream

I'm getting the i5 Mac Mini and will probably stay at 8 gigs of RAM for a while. I buying this computer as a desktop replacement for media consumption and word processing for the next 6-8 years. I was dreaming of getting something like the LG 27UK850 4K monitor and scale it at 1440p so that...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[joevt]

IIRC, you have to attach the 3rd display via HDMI. Can't use three USB-C interfaces for displays.

Mac mini (2018) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

support.apple.com

Correct.

You might want to have a look at this long thread:

Officially giving up on the Mac Mini 2018 + 4K monitor dream

I'm getting the i5 Mac Mini and will probably stay at 8 gigs of RAM for a while. I buying this computer as a desktop replacement for media consumption and word processing for the next 6-8 years. I was dreaming of getting something like the LG 27UK850 4K monitor and scale it at 1440p so that...

forums.macrumors.com

TLDR. Is this about performance? Is there a post with benchmarks?

 

[MRrainer]

So, I got the 2nd EV3285 (there was a 200 CHF cash-back... probably because they are now selling the next generation of these displays).
I forgot that my desk is barely wide enough to hold them.

I run them at "Looks like 2560x1440" and I don't see a problem.
But then, I don't do video-editing.

I do need to get a bigger desk (and before that a bigger apartment) before I can add a 3rd display.

 

[OldGreyGuy]

I have a 2018 i7 Mini with 32Gb RAM running into 2 x 28" 4K monitors without problems, they are cheap 4K monitors from AOC running from the Thunderbolt to Displayport input on the monitors running both at 3008 x 1692 only because with my eyesight 3840 x 2160 is just too small. I didn't bother with the HDMI port. The other two thunderbolt ports run to a OWC external drive and a Caldigit TS3 Plus Dock.

These two monitors have visa mounts so I have them on a dual monitor stand with the mini also on a mount attached to the pole of the monitor stand.

All works no problem.