NatureScapes.net Forums

My 2011 iMac has just died and I'm in the market for a new computer and monitor. I want to stay with Apple but want a better monitor than an iMac gives for photo editing purposes. So I'm planning on getting the BenQ SW320 monitor. As for the computer I was thinking of getting the 2018 Mac mini with the following specs:
- 3.2GHz 6‑core eighth-generation Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz)
- 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory
- Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 1TB of SSD storage

I plan to buy an eGPU once I have some spare funds in the future.

So my question is, with an USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 to Display Port cable, will this computer be able to run the BenQ monitor optimally? 

Should be no problem at all - DisplayPort is signal compatible with Thunderbolt.  You may need to adapt from mini display port to full size display port or a cable that has a mini display port connection on one end to go into the USB C/Thunderbolt to display port cable as those are usually mini-display port and most monitors take full size display port.  I haven't looked at the BenQ to see what size display port connections it uses.  my NEC monitors use the full size.

You are definitely going to be limited by the graphics as it shares memory with the main memory and isn't that fast.  the external GPU should help that when you add it.  that said, I am using Intel 620 graphics on my Surface Pro 6 on the road with just 16GB of RAM on 50 megapixel files successfully although a bit slow.