Mac mini: GeForce 9400M vs. 2 Displays / 4 GB RAM

[macoslion]

Hi!

I'm just an inch away from buying the bigger Mac mini (you know, the one with 2,53 GHz and 4 GB of RAM).

I've got 2 questions and I hope you can help me.

Right now, I'm using Mid 2007 MacBook (last one with that lame Intel 950 graphics) and a 24" display with 1920x1200 as my primary display. The laptop display is used as the secondary.

But that Intel graphics chip is driving me crazy. After 2-3 hours it slows that much down that you can count the refresh rate of the window when minimizing. It's just ugly!

So I was wondering how the Mac mini with its 9400M is performing. Gaming is not an issue, I already own a PS3 and a Xbox 360 (I test games for a magazine).
If I buy this Mac mini, I'm going to attach that 24" as primary and a 20" as the secondary screen. So we have 1920x1200 and 1680x1050.

So first question:
Is the 9400M able to handle 2 screens (like I stated before) well? Or is it similar to the Intel then (I mean 1680x1050 is a bit bigger than 1280x800).


And my second problem covers memory. Right now I have 2 GB in my MacBook. But thats too less. I start Firefox, I start Eclipse and after I wrote first lines of source code, I have about 100 MB left, which gets killed by a youtube video soon...
Now that I do know 2 GB is too less, I thought on the 4 GB model. But I'm unsure if Mac OS wastes 4 GB just like it does with 2 GB.
I come from Windows and even Vista could work better with 2 GB.

So the second question:
Are 4 GB RAM going to make Mac sing?

I hope you can help me

Thanks,

your Mac OS Lion

 

[MacHamster68]

mac osx likes ram the more you give it the better it runs , to get the most out of your mac upgrade it to at least 8gb if you run snow leopard , for leopard 4gb ram are enough , for tiger you will only need 2 gb ram
because every new release of osx got more eyecandy and needs more ram to keep the eye candy running
and its just that programs nowadays just need more ram too , and as you mentioned youtube ,flashplayer its the worst developed program in terms of using ram and graphic ram,but thats the big problem nowadays programs developed by youngsters who just came from university and never had to work on a computer with less then 16gb ram in their life, they just dont care any more about people who have less ram and less processor then a i7 , if it does not run just get a new computer is the answer nowadays , 7 years ago the developers did care and tried to get programs to run with the slowest processor available and with less ram as possible

 

[reebzor]

mac osx likes ram the more you give it the better it runs , to get the most out of your mac upgrade it to at least 8gb if you run snow leopard , for leopard 4gb ram are enough , for tiger you will only need 2 gb ram

While I completely agree with the first thing you said, I still feel like 8gb might be a bit overkill for most people. Not that anything bad is going to happen if you upgrade but for right now, the price of the 4gb sticks still might be too much to justify.

Hamster just made it seem like your computer will be slow with only 4gb of ram. I just wanted to assure you that 4gb will be fine.

 

[Macarc]

I run two monitors on my 2.26 Mini. I'm using a 22" (Dell 2209 WA) and a 19". I have had no issues with slowdowns or any other graphic problems.

 

[andrei.barbuta]

You'll have no worries.

I have the Mac Mini you mentioned ( 2.53, 4GB ). I run it with a 24" 1920x1200 display and it works great. I didn't test it with 2 displays yet but I do plan getting a second one (another 24" 1920x1200) and from what i read on some forums it doesn't have problems. May stutter from time to time when you already got apps launched but just occasionally, it won't be something common.
You're safe dude go for it.

 

[macoslion]

Hi!

Thank you guys for your replies. I feel much more comfortable now knowing that this configuration is going to be ok for my purposes.

reebzor is right... I would love to get 8 GB as well, but officially the Mini does one take 4 GB (which would be on the other hand no problem for me), but those 4 GB DIMMs are damn expensive and Mac mini only has 2 slots, just like MacBook.
But from what I see here, 4 GB seems to be a very common RAM-config and people are apparently satisfied with their Mac's performance.

Are there any 'hot' rumors from an 'absolutely reliably source' that says what we're gonna see in one of the next Mac mini? I clicked around in the forums a little bit...But I didn't find anything that prevents me from buying (it was like HDMI-connector instead of mini-DVI and a slightly faster Core 2 Duo). I'm asking because those would be 2 features I don't need. (I guess the CPU is fast enough and I want to attach 2 displays, somehow! If there're adaptors, I don't care how they are called)
But what I mean is if Apple should go quad core (which I don't believe since Mac mini is and always has been MacBook-hardware) that would be some kind of annoying because that would quite raise price-value-ratio...

Thanks again for your comments (and besides replies to my last question, any experiences regarding Mac mini 4 GB vs 2 displays and how enough RAM is are appreciated )

 

[Stan Mikulenka]

Hi macoslion,
here is my 2 Monitor setup on Mini you want to buy. I have 28" + 22" Monitors hooked with these settings:

 

[macoslion]

Hi Stan Mikulenka,

oh that looks awesome, just like I want to use it. I guess you don't have any slowdowns or other problems, right?

Thanks!

 

[Stan Mikulenka]

Hi again,
no, there is not any slowdown on the Mini. I'm generaly using the 28" Samsung monitor for MacOS & the 22" Samsung (w/h digital TV tuner) for the winXP or win7 I've installed (one on Bootcamp & other with VMvare).
I've windows running all the time (mostly).(The 22" has a remote, so I can just switch to TV channels anytime).
Hope that helps in your decision...