Base spec i5 Mac Mini (Anyone own one?)

Emlyn_Dewar · 29 Nov 2011 at 11:41

Was just looking for some opinion on the base spec Mac Mini.
Seen a few posts on Macrumors but... I like my information to be unbiased and grounded in reality.

Anyone here got one? How do you find it for every day tasks? What are your main uses for it?

I was looking at a used one for reasonablish moneys, factored in the cost for the 8gb ram upgrade. It seemed like a reasonable machine for the cash, the only concern being the Intel graphics...
Would just be for day to day usage, web browsing, media, etc... Stuff that the current PC is being wasted on.

Just really not sure if it'd be worth holding out and getting the 6630m version, so looking for general opinion.

Of course, there is the option of building a similar size/power machine but it would really depend on the cost.

Rameses · 30 Nov 2011 at 00:00

I don't have the i5 Mini, but I have the older (Late 2009) Mac Mini. 2.53GHz 4GB 9400m GFX. 2 years it's served me well, plays HD Flash, HD Movies and even games (just finished playing MW3 on it).

So my point is I'd guess that it'll be absolutely fine, and the HD 3000 is on par / slightly better than the GeForce 310M and AMD HD 5450 according to notebookcheck.

Emlyn_Dewar · 30 Nov 2011 at 08:53

Cheers for that, was thinking it'd be fine for what I need.
The most strenuous games it would be dealing with would be Minecraft/Terraria...

I'm just at the stage where I can't be doing with having a stupidly loud, power hungry PC on all the time.
Part of me thinks the 6630m version would be the better thing to go for, but I don't really play many games these days, it would probably just be extra money that didn't need spent.

whiskycycle · 30 Nov 2011 at 20:15

I bought the 6630m version and it's been spot on for pretty much everything I've done with it.... Nice to have the graphics grunt if needed, but not essential.

If I'd not bought the base 27" iMac recently, I'd be keeping the Mini as well!... delivered my old Phenom PC to the buyer a couple of weeks ago and couldn't believe the noise coming out of it (Antec 1200 + noisy 4870).

Going to the Mini was an absolute revelation noise-wise, in that it pretty much doesn't make any. I had the fan crank up a couple of times when playing WoW, but other than that there's not a peep out of it.

Didn't upgrade the memory as I wasn't hammering it, but after putting another 4GB in the iMac I can see the advantage (running VMs on the iMac).

iTunes, Pages, Numbers, Office. A few STEAM/Source games and a bit of WoW. It just did the job I wanted, how I wanted it done.

Whichever version you get, you'd be happy I reckon.

Judging by the specs of kit in your sig, you might get hacked off with the HD speed, but it's not a great stretch to add your own SSD alongside the existing HD, but that's about the only negative I'd see. I had the spare SSD (Crucial C300 from PC) but never got round to getting the required 2nd HD cable and the courage to pull apart something so fragile (I've got sausage fingers).

YMMV

numatic.nathan · 30 Nov 2011 at 22:58

I was just about to make a thread asking the exact same thing, I can get a mini and pay no VAT, just wondering if it's worth it as I've always wanted a Mac and will it py mine craft? Also is it worth the extra for the 6630m version?

Emlyn_Dewar · 30 Nov 2011 at 23:00

Useful information, although it does make me think that the 6630m version would be the better version to go for. Really not gaming much now but it's be nice to have the option I suppose.
Sounds like it'll be ideal noise wise, I'm sick of the noise of multiple case/GPU fans...

My PC must have read this thread, the CPU grenaded itself on the day I posted it...

Edit: The base spec mini will play Minecraft fine, my C2D/8600GT Macbook doesn't have a problem with it.