When one commenter saw today’s Mac Studio workstation, they said “Setup so clean it looks AI generated. I like it.” Well, we also like the Mac Studio and custom PC setup, especially for its innovative use of a portable display alongside its main external display, which is a killer gaming monitor we’ve never seen before.
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Mac Studio and custom PC drive killer Dough gaming display
Redditor Appropriate_Fee2531 (“AF”) showcased the visually pleasing setup in a post entitled, “Clean Mac + PC Setup.”
“Cleanest dual monitor setup I’ve ever seen!” raved a commenter. “That right monitor being the same height is beautiful.”
“I like the setup and how the colors on the monitor and the room are similar,” chimed in another.
“This isn’t a clean set up, this is a perfect set up,” stated a third.
AF uses an M1 Max Mac Studio and a custom gaming PC (at left in the photograph above) to drive a pair of odd-sized displays perfectly lined up on a dual VESA mount.
Dough Spectrum One 4K Gaming Monitor
One is a 27-inch Dough Spectrum One 4K Gaming Monitor we’ve never seen in our setups coverage before. It features a blazing-fast 144Hz refresh rate, a 1ms response time and Freesync Premium Pro for PC gaming. AF uses the input selector on the back to switch between Mac Studio and gaming PC. A BenQ Screenbar Halo LED Monitor Light sits on top.
The other is a 16-inch portable display that doesn’t match up with the Dough Spectrum’s 4K resolution.
And while AF loves the big display’s visuals, they noted some caveats:
“It’s been fine, the picture quality is excellent and everything looks great on it,” they said. “Connections to devices are stable but it did take some time before playing nice with everything, both the Mac and the PC needed a few restarts initially before it displayed an image consistently.”
He also found the display troublesome when connected to the Mac with VRR (variable refresh rate) activated.
“It’ll sometimes burn a frame in and start flickering very badly and it’ll stay that way for anywhere between half an hour to a few hours,” they said. “This hasn’t been an issue since disabling VRR but it is worth considering, people have complained about this issue on the support forums.”
Portable displays gets job done
AF referred to “the quality of the mini monitor being much worse than the main in terms of colors and viewing angles,” saying they ordered three mini monitors from Amazon in one go to see which would look best and the 16 inch had enough space to keep some useful things open on the side without squashing too much or looking silly.”
And if you like the images showing on the displays, note that it’s dynamic wallpaper available in macOS Big Sur.
“I found a copy of the wallpaper online and did some editing to make it flow across monitors,” AF said. “No longer dynamic as a result sadly but I prefer the flow.”
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Displays, mount and light bar:
- 27-inch Dough Spectrum One Gaming Monitor
- 16-inch portable display
- Dual VESA monitor mount
- BenQ Screenbar Halo LED Monitor Light
Computers:
- M1 Max Mac Studio
- Custom PC
Input devices:
- Magic Keyboard (mini)
- Magic Trackpad 2
Audio:
Furniture:
If you would like to see your setup featured on Cult of Mac, send some high-res pictures to [email protected]. Please provide a detailed list of your equipment. Tell us what you like or dislike about your setup, and fill us in on any special touches, challenges and plans for new additions.
This 4K HDR gaming display features 144Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, IPS panel, Freesync Premium Pro, USB-C docking, DisplayPort, HDMI and more.
