Asrock ION 330 v Mac Mini 2ghz

raptormonkey · 21 Jul 2009 at 09:57

Hope you can help me here. My sister wants to buy the new Mac Mini 2ghz unit but at over £500 i think that is way too much for what it is!! It looks great but that is a lot of dosh!

She hates laptops, doesn't like tower cases!! So, she saw the Mini and has asked my advice!! lol

Now, i have seen on these forum mention of the Asrock ION 330 pc. This is much cheaper by the look of it. I also noticed that it can be upgraded? Extra ram? Can the CPU be upgraded?

Now, is there much of a performance difference between the Mac and the ION? Would it be noticeable day to day? She doesn't game as far as i know.

Which would you choose out of the above 2 and why? Many thanks.

betaspin · 21 Jul 2009 at 11:40

raptormonkey said:
Now, is there much of a performance difference between the Mac and the ION? Would it be noticeable day to day? She doesn't game as far as i know.

The Mac has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and the Ion has an Atom processor. On any cpu intensive task or benchmark the Core 2 Duo will be 3-4 times faster than the Atom. The Atoms are fine for netbooks, but not for much else imho.

raptormonkey · 21 Jul 2009 at 13:13

But the Atom is a dual core on the 330?

Anyone else able to advise me as my sister wants to spend!! lol

Col_M · 21 Jul 2009 at 13:17

betaspin said:
The Mac has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and the Ion has an Atom processor. On any cpu intensive task or benchmark the Core 2 Duo will be 3-4 times faster than the Atom. The Atoms are fine for netbooks, but not for much else imho.

I have an Atom 330 running my server and will shout it's praises from the rooftops for low-power use but the poster above is correct. However, if all she will be going is browsing the internet, doing a bit of MS Office work and not having lots of windows open the Atom Ion platform from what I've seen is capable. Read all the reviews on Atom Ion platforms you can and come to the conclusion once you've got all the info for yourself

To answer your other questions, yes you can upgrade the RAM, no you can't upgrade the processor, the Mac would be considerably faster than the Atom Ion. Would it be noticeable in day to day use? difficult to say really for web browsing, IM and other basic things I wouldn't think you'd notice it much but YMMV

If it was me I'd look at one of the Zotac LGA775 mITX boards

I'm going to make my GF a small PC to replace her laptop using a Zotac 9300-ITX in a SG05 and reuse the chip, memory and possibly GFX card from my rig once I've upgraded to i7

raptormonkey · 21 Jul 2009 at 20:04

Well, anyone else with thier ideas? Not sure about building an itx system. Just saw the above 2 and not sure which is more powerful etc?

iraiguana · 21 Jul 2009 at 20:56

ITX systems are pretty easy to build so depends what you really need it for.

If you want something that is powerful, quick and just works go for the mac mini.

For the same money or less (likely less) you would have priced up a mITX build and ended up with something more powerful and a much larger hard drive.

An atom is really good for server/light use but otherwise I think you will find it a bit slow.

So really tell us a bit more about what type of things she plans to use it for?

betaspin · 21 Jul 2009 at 20:56

raptormonkey said:
But the Atom is a dual core on the 330?

True, but although it is dual core and shares some of its instruction set with the Intel Core 2 Duos, it is much slower. You can have a look at an Atom 330 Dual Core MB review at http://www.guru3d.com/article/ecs-atom-330-dual-core-p945gc-review/1 and will see that it is woefully slow in comparison to common desktop processors. Still, if the job at hand is mainly web browsing and light MS Office use, it will do.

raptormonkey · 21 Jul 2009 at 22:01

iraiguana said:
ITX systems are pretty easy to build so depends what you really need it for.

If you want something that is powerful, quick and just works go for the mac mini.

For the same money or less (likely less) you would have priced up a mITX build and ended up with something more powerful and a much larger hard drive.

An atom is really good for server/light use but otherwise I think you will find it a bit slow.

So really tell us a bit more about what type of things she plans to use it for?

Thanks for a great reply. The Mac Mini looks the ticket then but, what spec system could i build for her that is as powerful or more powerful than the Mac, about the same size, is quiet and quite a bit cheaper? Any ideas on components?

Nobski · 21 Jul 2009 at 22:44

Why not find out exactly what she intends to use it for before possibly spending twice the amount of her £££

I am looking to get the Asrock at some point as a home theatre pc and web browser to use via my future 50inch plasma, powerfull enough for that and a good price

Mind u, you also need to include the price of the OS for the Asrock, I managed to pre ordered win 7 HP x3 for < £50 each

raptormonkey · 21 Jul 2009 at 22:50

Nobski said:
Why not find out exactly what she intends to use it for before possibly spending twice the amount of her £££

Here:

raptormonkey said:
what spec system could i build for her that is as powerful or more powerful than the Mac, about the same size, is quiet and quite a bit cheaper? Any ideas on components?

What else do you need to know. 'As Powerful or More Powerful' but cheaper.

Nobski · 21 Jul 2009 at 23:13

raptormonkey said:
Here:
What else do you need to know. 'As Powerful or More Powerful' but cheaper.

Lol, yes saw that but why does it need to be more powerful if its possible use does not require it ?

raptormonkey · 21 Jul 2009 at 23:16

Well, she has seen the Mac Mini. Likes it. So a spec around that or a little more but cheaper would suffice.

Nobski · 21 Jul 2009 at 23:29

raptormonkey said:
Well, she has seen the Mac Mini. Likes it. So a spec around that or a little more but cheaper would suffice.

Maybe show her a pic of what the Asrock looks like to see if it fits her spec ?

TheVoice · 21 Jul 2009 at 23:43

raptormonkey said:
Thanks for a great reply. The Mac Mini looks the ticket then but, what spec system could i build for her that is as powerful or more powerful than the Mac, about the same size, is quiet and quite a bit cheaper? Any ideas on components?

Have you looked at the Dell Studio Hybrid?

http://www.dmxdimension.com/techspecs/desktop-studio-hybrid

For £20 less than the Mac Mini, you get a better spec overall: same CPU, double the RAM, double the HDD space, plus it actually comes with a mouse and keyboard (albeit basic ones) unlike the Mini. She can even add £10 and choose a case colour, which is rather cool. The Mini does have the GeForce 9400 graphics chipset whilst the Dell only has Intel integrated graphics, but I can't see that making a difference to her really.

Also comes with a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it's released, which is useful.

chet84 · 22 Jul 2009 at 07:51

Personally, i'd go with a Mac Mini. Where as the Asrock ION 330 looks a very good machine on paper, i'd question it's ability as an every day computer. I'be ran an Intel Atom 330 (dual-core desktop) as an office machine and thought it was just a bit too slow. However, the Mac Mini is made for that sort of use.

raptormonkey · 22 Jul 2009 at 10:40

chet84 said:
Personally, i'd go with a Mac Mini. Where as the Asrock ION 330 looks a very good machine on paper, i'd question it's ability as an every day computer. I'be ran an Intel Atom 330 (dual-core desktop) as an office machine and thought it was just a bit too slow. However, the Mac Mini is made for that sort of use.

Now, thats what i have been looking for, someone who has tried the 330 and can say what it is like. Cheers

Black Hat · 24 Jul 2009 at 11:24

I too would opt for the mac mini aswell, i find the Atoms are to sluggish.

manic111 · 24 Jul 2009 at 15:19

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-000-ZT&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1436

Why not get one of these and stick an E5200 in it? Along with the rest of the build you could still save her a good £150 over the Mac Mini, and potentially outperform it as well.

EDIT:

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi Mini-ITX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi Mini-ITX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £113.99
(£99.12) £113.99
(£99.12)
Antec ISK 300-65 mITX Case - Black (with PSU) Antec ISK 300-65 mITX Case - Black (with PSU) £59.00
(£51.30) £59.00
(£51.30)
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.50GHz (800FSB) - Retail Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.50GHz (800FSB) - Retail £51.99
(£45.21) £51.99
(£45.21)
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 320GB 5400RPM SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (WD3200BEVT) Western Digital Scorpio Blue 320GB 5400RPM SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (WD3200BEVT) £43.99
(£38.25) £43.99
(£38.25)
Sony Optiarc AD-7593S DVD±RW SATA Notebook Rewriter Drive (Black) - OEM Sony Optiarc AD-7593S DVD±RW SATA Notebook Rewriter Drive (Black) - OEM £32.99
(£28.69) £32.99
(£28.69)
OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel OcUK 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel £29.99
(£26.08) £29.99
(£26.08)
Sub Total : £288.65
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £44.80
Total : £343.45

Even if you need to get Windows 7 for it as well you're still saving the best part of £100...could even stick a reasonable low-profile GPU in there and still make a saving (although you may need to get a different case or PSU if you were to do so).

betaspin · 24 Jul 2009 at 15:39

manic111 said:
Antec ISK 300-65 mITX Case - Black (with PSU) Antec ISK 300-65 mITX Case - Black (with PSU) £59.00

The 65W psu is not sufficient for this system, it needs a minimum of 90W. To be on the safe side, I would use a 120W psu. Also, I am not sure if the Antec ISK 300-65 would not need a very low-profile cpu cooler which might be an additional hassle.

manic111 · 24 Jul 2009 at 15:41

betaspin said:
The 65W psu is not sufficient for this system, it needs a minimum of 90W. To be on the safe side, I would use a 120W psu. Also, I am not sure if the Antec ISK 300-65 would not need a very low-profile cpu cooler which might be an additional hassle.

Fair point, but even if you needed to spend an extra £30 for the equivalent Silverstone case you would still be cheaper than the Mac...