Mac Mini (versus iMac) - Quiet and Fast?

[melliflu]

you might also buy the lower-end Mini and upgrade it with a good SSD, SSD is the quiet and fast solution - full description here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=9441178#post9441178

 

[MacMini2009]

My 2GHz Mac Mini from early 2009 is great. It can do anything I throw at it. I say just get the 2.53GHz model. It already comes with 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive so you don't really have to open it up.

 

[HDH]

I went through 3 defective i5 iMacs myself ......... a waste of time, energy and money.

Ended up getting a MINI .....

Got the 2.53 model (has the 4GB RAM in there) ..... and replaced the 320GB slow HD with a Seagate 500GB 7200RPM ....... I just opened up the machine myself and replaced it.

Got it hooked up to 2 24" Samsung monitors. They're not as great as that beautiful iMAC screen, but I still love my setup.

Been using it for almost 2 months now and I'm soooooo happy that I made this decision.

Next comes the new MacBook Pros which I have high expectations from.

 

[MacHamster68]

the mini might be a good alternative to the iMac , considering the price
even maxed out the mini leaves you enough cash in your pocket so you could (as the mini supports it) buy 2 nice 25 inch screens
for example i think the Hp ones fit very well

or if you stay with apple you could buy 1 apple cinema display 24 "

but your best bet is to search around and ask about every manufacturers pixel policy some offer zero tolerance others not and others have different dead pixel policys for every country
i mean you could argue about what is acceptable and whats not , we had to many discussions about that matter already so dont start a new one ,but i think if the monitor is not that expensive ( the 2 hp cost about the same as 1 from apple)so you could live with a dead pixel

 

[wisty]

I have a Macbook with 2GHz Core (not Core2) Duo, 1 GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM, and a 60 GB HDD. It runs iLife 08 and Firefox just fine on Leopard. Oh, and it has Intel graphics.

Some issues - the HDD is 80% full, and it seems reading the disk takes longer. I guess it gets more fragmented as you fill it up?

I need more RAM, especially when I run Firefox.

It really degrades when I leave a crappy flash-heavy site open for a few days, especially if I have multiple tabs running.

A mini should be fine for browsing / chat / photo management. Just don't skimp on the RAM and consider a bigger HDD. And get a second HDD or two so you can back everything up.

I'm considering getting a greybox for Windows / Linux. If you want to do heavy lifting (programming, games, whatever), you can build a much better system using desktop (not semi-portable) parts. Apple doesn't make a consumer level desktop (the fabled xMac), and the MacPro is pricey.

If you go with a mini for Mac tasks, and a greybox for games, you don't need to buy a big new monitor every time you upgrade. Also, you have two systems, so you can back up your files easier (Timemachine is cool, but you can't have too much back-up), have a backup computer if (when) one of them has a problem), have a second computer for visitors, and generally have a better experience.

 

[greythorne]

so for those of you who had upgraded to 7.2k rpm hd, is there any benchies on how fast it runs compared to 5400rpm hd that comes stock with the mini.

Any recommendation for 7.2k rpm drives is greatly appreciated too.

thanks and oh the mini is a great little machine, I'm using one myself too.

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

so for those of you who had upgraded to 7.2k rpm hd, is there any benchies on how fast it runs compared to 5400rpm hd that comes stock with the mini.

Any recommendation for 7.2k rpm drives is greatly appreciated too.

thanks and oh the mini is a great little machine, I'm using one myself too.

I don't have any benchmarks with my stock 160gb 5400rpm drive. I used an external 500gb 3.5" USB drive before I got my 2.5" 500gb drive installed.

I got this Hitachi from Newegg.com. I must say that is it extremely quiet and runs cool. My Mini runs as cool as when I ran it off a USB so no additional heat or not as much. I've also never heard it once since I installed it.

 

[talmy]

In the past 5 months I've bought a 27" i7 iMac (which has no problems), a base Mac Mini, and a Mac Mini with Snow Leopard Server.

The iMac, which has the 1GB Seagate drive, is virtually silent, no drive sounds and only a light "whoosh" from the fans when driven to full load. The noisiest part is the DVD drive, but that is noisy in every system I've used. This iMac is quieter than any other iMac I've used, 4 others dating back to the 17" G5 iMac which was by far the loudest.

The base Mini is being used as an entertainment center, running Plex. You can't hear it running at all, and unlike the iMac, it doesn't get hot. It does what it needs to do, but it is no match for the iMac, or even any of the older Aluminum iMacs.

The Mini server is replacing a much larger Dell tower. The Dell is 8 years old, so performance comparisons aren't really fair, but the Mini is far faster in every respect, and it's file serving performance is superior. It has two internal drives totaling 1 TB. I've formatted them using RAID 0 (striped for performance), and you would never know you are dealing with 5200RPM notebook drives. It''s cool and quiet as well.

 

[Graphico]

New iMac

After sitting next to my G5 for several years I can't hear out of my right ear. The 27 inch iMac seems very very quiet.

 

[mdewberry]

Hi all,

Thanks so much to everyone for your feedback! I had the opportunity to go to the Apple store last night and use the mini - it is indeed fast! I tested both HD content from Itunes and well as content from hulu.com, and everything ran fine. I also used iMovie, iPhoto, etc., and everything opened quickly and the software was very responsive... Good stuff..

Also evaluated the 24" Cinema display, and LOVED it! It is better sized for me than the 27" screen on the iMac, and loved the colors and clarity.. I know some folks recommended other monitors, but the Apple Studio Monitor looks really cool, and is covered under my applecare on my mini (which is really nice..) Plus as my wife is a teacher we can get it for $799..

I didn't get much feedback on my question regarding upgrading from the 2.53 to the 2.66 processor for $135 (again, education discount) but in thinking more about it I think I will save the money.. Don't think I will get that much difference in performance for the money I will spend on that..

Lastly the hard drive.. Lots of folks recommended a 7200rpm drive, and in looking at the MacBook Pros, Apple offers this!! Why would they not offer this speed of drive on the mini?? I was going to special order a mini with the 500gb hard drive, but may just buy one at the store with the stock 320gb, order a 7200rpm drive from newegg, and pay a 3rd party computer store to install it.. I don't know if I feel comfortable doing it myself (as I also need to reinstall the OS which I don't know how to do), but I have not watched the instructional videos on line yet. I may feel better after doing that...

My only hesitation now is the 9400M graphics card, but as mentioned it played movies well, and if the mini is upgraded to something better next year, I can always sell mine and upgrade.. As some very smart folks mentioned, it is SO MUCH better to have a separate monitor and computer!!

 

[Mr Bow]

I'm considering getting a greybox for Windows / Linux. If you want to do heavy lifting (programming, games, whatever), you can build a much better system using desktop (not semi-portable) parts. Apple doesn't make a consumer level desktop (the fabled xMac), and the MacPro is pricey.

This is what I did. I got an early 2009 mini with the ACD for my everyday computing - it does everything I need in a small quiet package (quiet in absolute terms, silent in comparison to my old iMac G5!). No monitor tied up with computer. The only thing it can't do is game on current titles, WOW is fine even at 1900x1200 (!) but newer stuff is a no no.

£500 quid got me a 7.2 WEI (not including hardrive at the usual 5.9) PC that eats anything game wise for breakfast when I'm in the mood to fire it up.

If I'm honest I'd prefer a one computer solution, but the MacPro is simply more than I'm willing to spend on a computer (and more than all of the above put together - for just the base unit!)

 

[mdewberry]

This is what I did. I got an early 2009 mini with the ACD for my everyday computing - it does everything I need in a small quiet package (quiet in absolute terms, silent in comparison to my old iMac G5!). No monitor tied up with computer. The only thing it can't do is game on current titles, WOW is fine even at 1900x1200 (!) but newer stuff is a no no.

£500 quid got me a 7.2 WEI (not including hardrive at the usual 5.9) PC that eats anything game wise for breakfast when I'm in the mood to fire it up.

If I'm honest I'd prefer a one computer solution, but the MacPro is simply more than I'm willing to spend on a computer (and more than all of the above put together - for just the base unit!)

Just to make sure I understand the configuration you guys are discussing, you have a mac mini for OS X stuff and then you have a PC tower that is also looked up to the same monitor that you use for gaming? Can you buy a dual adapter to hook both up to the same monitor? So you just fire up one machine versus the other depending on what you want to do???

 

[steve2112]

Just to make sure I understand the configuration you guys are discussing, you have a mac mini for OS X stuff and then you have a PC tower that is also looked up to the same monitor that you use for gaming? Can you buy a dual adapter to hook both up to the same monitor? So you just fire up one machine versus the other depending on what you want to do???

I can't speak for the folks using an ACD monitor, but that is how I do it with my setup. My Dell monitor has both VGA and DVI connectors on it. Using the on screen controls, I can select the either input, or auto select. I have the Mini hooked up to one, and my Windows 7 desktop hooked to the other, and I manually select which input to use on the monitor. I still have two keyboards+mice, but it's not that bad.

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

Just to make sure I understand the configuration you guys are discussing, you have a mac mini for OS X stuff and then you have a PC tower that is also looked up to the same monitor that you use for gaming? Can you buy a dual adapter to hook both up to the same monitor? So you just fire up one machine versus the other depending on what you want to do???

They do make a little device that you can use to switch between 2 computers with using only one keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers. Belkin makes a good one and they are pretty cheap too. Just search for KVM switch.

 

[CJS7070]

Re. the processor upgrade, it's definitely not worth the price to upgrade. It's a tiny upgrade for a premium over $100.

 

[steve2112]

They do make a little device that you can use to switch between 2 computers with using only one keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers. Belkin makes a good one and they are pretty cheap too. Just search for KVM switch.

Just make sure you aren't using a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Most them don't work with KVMs. It's why I don't have one.

 

[HDH]

Hi all,

I didn't get much feedback on my question regarding upgrading from the 2.53 to the 2.66 processor for $135 (again, education discount) but in thinking more about it I think I will save the money.. Don't think I will get that much difference in performance for the money I will spend on that..

Lastly the hard drive.. Lots of folks recommended a 7200rpm drive, and in looking at the MacBook Pros, Apple offers this!! Why would they not offer this speed of drive on the mini?? I was going to special order a mini with the 500gb hard drive, but may just buy one at the store with the stock 320gb, order a 7200rpm drive from newegg, and pay a 3rd party computer store to install it.. I don't know if I feel comfortable doing it myself (as I also need to reinstall the OS which I don't know how to do), but I have not watched the instructional videos on line yet. I may feel better after doing that...

Personally I don't think 2.53 > 2.66 is worth paying for. Not really much of an upgrade.

Save that money and get the faster bigger HD.

I got the Seagate Momentus Gforce 500GB 7200RPM and it's working just fine. Cost me about $110 and installed it myself. I was scared as hell taking the thing apart, but check into a store installing it themselves if you feel more comfortable.

 

[mdewberry]

Just an update.. I went to the Apple store again tonight to put the 2.53 mini to the test.. Video ran fine (which is great) but I could tell it was struggling a little bit with iPhoto.. The application launched fine, and when an event was selected it would flip through pictures fine at medium size, but when I used the small button on the left of Iphoto that gives full screen images, it was struggling a small bit to seamlessly present each photo... Each photo would kind of stutter on and off the screen as I would arrow threw them and it had a little difficulty on the initial photo bringing it to full screen.. This was very minor, but a concern as I use iPhoto a LOT and like to have full screen slideshows.. I did try the test on the 21" iMac next to it and it ran seamlessly without issue...

This could be because of the 5400rpm drive, or the fact that it was showing the pictures on a 24" Apple Cinema Display... I was a bit disappointed as I was hoping the mini would scream through iPhoto...

I am hoping maybe there was an issue with that specific mini; I may try another Apple store this weekend but am wondering now if the 9400m processor may be a bit weak with flipping through large high pixel images on a Cinema Display?

 

[The Hammer]

Just an update.. I went to the Apple store again tonight to put the 2.53 mini to the test.. Video ran fine (which is great) but I could tell it was struggling a little bit with iPhoto.. The application launched fine, and when an event was selected it would flip through pictures fine at medium size, but when I used the small button on the left of Iphoto that gives full screen images, it was struggling a small bit to seamlessly present each photo... Each photo would kind of stutter on and off the screen as I would arrow threw them and it had a little difficulty on the initial photo bringing it to full screen.. This was very minor, but a concern as I use iPhoto a LOT and like to have full screen slideshows.. I did try the test on the 21" iMac next to it and it ran seamlessly without issue...

This could be because of the 5400rpm drive, or the fact that it was showing the pictures on a 24" Apple Cinema Display... I was a bit disappointed as I was hoping the mini would scream through iPhoto...

I am hoping maybe there was an issue with that specific mini; I may try another Apple store this weekend but am wondering now if the 9400m processor may be a bit weak with flipping through large high pixel images on a Cinema Display?

I'll be looking forward to your next post after this weekend as I've been looking at a Mini 24" Cinema Display combo as well.

 

[mdewberry]

I'll be looking forward to your next post after this weekend as I've been looking at a Mini 24" Cinema Display combo as well.

I will definitely let you know how my testing goes.. I ran the same iPhoto test on my wife's 2 year old Macbook and it does the same thing, which tells me it is probably performance related with the mini...

As I think about this, it should not be a big deal as a little stutter with presenting full screen images is not a dealbreaker, right? The problem is if it is having a very minor problem NOW with smooth transitions of photos, how will it run in 1-2 years with new versions of iphoto, more resource intensive software, higher pixel images, etc... I am getting the feeling that if I invest in the current mini I am getting a graphics card that will get me by now versus a graphics card that more than I need now and is ready for the next 3 years...

I will do some additional testing (hopefully this weekend) and provide an update...

 

[StarTzar]

I will definitely let you know how my testing goes.. I ran the same iPhoto test on my wife's 2 year old Macbook and it does the same thing, which tells me it is probably performance related with the mini...

As I think about this, it should not be a big deal as a little stutter with presenting full screen images is not a dealbreaker, right? The problem is if it is having a very minor problem NOW with smooth transitions of photos, how will it run in 1-2 years with new versions of iphoto, more resource intensive software, higher pixel images, etc... I am getting the feeling that if I invest in the current mini I am getting a graphics card that will get me by now versus a graphics card that more than I need now and is ready for the next 3 years...

I will do some additional testing (hopefully this weekend) and provide an update...

I am looking forward to reading the results of your tests. I am contemplating returning my sixth yellow tinged iMac and getting a minimac setup also. I do extensive work with photos. I have put off purchasing Aperture 3 until I can actually get an iMac or mini with 24" display that will work for me.

 

[iRez]

don't mean to sound like a downer...but you're worried about the performance of a $599 computer in 2 years? why not just sell the mini in 2 years and just upgrade to the newest mini then..what's that "upgrade" gonna cost you like 300 bucks after you sell off your old one? i just purchased my first mac mini and this is the route i plan on taking.

 

[chompop]

Does it void warranty if you open up the mini and replace the hard disk?

 

[steve2112]

Does it void warranty if you open up the mini and replace the hard disk?

No, unless you break something like the wireless or bluetooth module.

 

[OSX-SUX]

Hi all,

Thanks so much to everyone for your feedback! I had the opportunity to go to the Apple store last night and use the mini - it is indeed fast!

My nearly new Nov 2009 2.53 with 2GB is slow as hell and crashes more than any MS-PC I have ever used. I don't know if that is Snow Leopard's fault or the Mini, but every time I look for answers from Apple experts they give me the old line of how it is my faut for buying a Mini.

I get the endless beach ball, the blue screen of death (didn't know Apple had one too until now), and general slow downs. It makes the Mini completely unreliable as an HTPC or for Home Automation which is why I bought it. It is quiet and has low power consumption, but it shouldn't be used for anything other than surfing the web (using something beside Safari). Don't install anything on it, the Apple Genius I know said that is where I went wrong.