4K monitor on a non-retina mid-2012 Macbook Pro

I am planning on buying a 4K monitor. I currently have a mid-2012 Non-retina Macbook Pro. I know I won't be able to run on the 4K monitor full-res. I don't mind. I was thinking of using SwitchRes (a software that allows you to scale up and down your mac resolution), to run in 2K resolution on that 4K monitor.

Would it work? Will I be able to run at around 60hz in 2K resolution on a 4K monitor?

The reason I'm not buying a 2k monitor, is that I'm planning on upgrading my computer in 1 or 2 year. And that computer will have a better graphic card and compatibility with 4K displays, so I'm thinking long term here.

But I need to know if I can do what I'm planning with my current macbook pro and that 4K monitor, or if it won't work.

Thanks a lot!

Solution 1:

I tried to watch a 4k resolution movie on the same model MB Pro non-Retina you've got. There's no chance to watch it smoothly. I also tried to send it to an 2k display which I've got at home. I'm going to try out the one at my family's place which has 4k capability

Solution 2:

I have just connected a LG 43UN700-B to a non-retina MacBook Pro 2012 (with NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB video card). Using a Mini Displayport to HDMI adapter, the screen maxed out at 1080p (60Hz), which really wasn't very useable for a screen this size. However, with a 4k capable Mini Displayport to Displayport adapter and cable, I was able to run the screen at 4k (30Hz) and a range of other sizes/refresh rates by pressing the alt/option key while clicking on the "Scaled" button in the display resolution window in System preferences.

Even though this MacBook Pro model is officially limited to 2564x1440, it can run 3840x2160 at half the refresh rate. This might not be ideal for gamers, but for general web browsing and text editing, it's great!