Can a Mac Mini drive high-end monitor?

[GregR]

Hey guys

Thinking about jumping ship to Mac :smile:

I know the graphics card in the Mac Mini is not that hot. So my question is how will the machine perform with a high-end monitor like the NEC PA242 or Eizo CG series 24 inch?

Will be using Photoshop and Capture NX.

Thanks!

 

[snagglepuss31]

Current Mac Minis have Thunderbolt(compatible with mini-display port) and HDMI outputs. You can convert either to DVI with the correct adapter sold by Apple or if you want to save money look for them at monoprice.com. I have two minis. One at home is attached to a Apple 27" thunderbolt display. One at work is attached to a 23" Viewsonic via DVI. I have no problems with either. The Apple display has a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels. The Viewsonic is lower resolution. I am not 100% sure what the highest resolution supported by the Mini but it definitely can drive the Thunderbolt display.

(oh the Mini includes a HDMI to DVI adapter).

 

[GregR]

Thanks for the reply Perry. I realize my post wasn't too specific. What I am more interested in is the performance difference with the graphics card of the mac mini vs dedicated graphics like on the mac pro and MBP.

From my experience, things like scrolling and zooming in and out are not smooth on 'normal' graphics cards. But I'm wondering what other shortcomings the Mac Mini will have wrt photo editing.

Obviously tasks like applying a filter are CPU-specific, while saving files is RAM- and HDD-specific. So how does a non-dedicated graphics card affect other aspects of editing when used to drive a large display?

All advice appreciated!

 

[snagglepuss31]

I run Lightroom and process D800 NEF files and have no problems with my 2012 Mini. All adjustments are pretty immediate. The mini has just the SD drive and all my raw files are on USB3 drives. Before I got the Mini I was processing the same files on a MBP retina (1st version) that had a dedicated GPU. There is no noticeable difference in how the two computers perform. My Mini is running a 2.6GHz i7 and the MBP has a 2.3 GHz i7. The rMBP was driving the same Thunderbolt display. For 2D work you really are not going to see too many performance issues. You might start seeing differences with video editing and 3D gaming, but for photos the HD Graphics 4000 will be more than adequate.

 

[GregR]

Thank you! Just wanted I needed to know.