2012 i7 2.3 mini vs new 2018 i3/i5 mini

[Uabcar]

Hi all. Like most of us, I've been waiting eagerly for a new Mini for years now. I'm super excited by the new new Mini. Unfortunately I'm not all that familiar with how Intel's line of chips has evolved over time.

I'm running a late 2012 quad core i7 2.3 with 16 gig of ram and a single/primary SSD drive. The new mini's are based on i3/i5 chips. Back in the day (ie 20 yrs ago) i understood a highway based example of CPUs - where there were two dimensions to consider 1. the number of lanes and 2. the speed of the lanes. (so I've got 7 lanes running at 2.3mph vs 3 lanes running at 3.2 mph ). I recall that sometimes more lanes running at a slower speed would yield faster results. Not sure this thinking holds now days.

Will a new i3/i5 based mini be faster than my current mini? I'm pretty light user - mostly web browsing, lots of youtube loading and viewing and email. I assume the answer is yes, the new ones will be faster but don't really understand why and by how much.

Can someone confirm and help me understand why?

Thanks all!

 

[Miat]

Yes, even the base 2018 Mini is faster than the top 2012 model.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...starting-at-799.2150702/page-26#post-26729559

The iGPU in the 2018 models (Intel UHD Graphics 630) is also a lot better than in the 2012 models, though it is not the best currently available.

 

[grandM]

I am also curious about benchmarks on the actual device. I haven't performed the surgery on my late 2012 yet. Was about to replace the spinner with a SSD. Bought the SSD already though.

 

[campyguy]

Ditto with waiting to see a bit of benchmarking, hoping that Rob-ART at Bare Feats updates his late 2014 comparison "shootout" of the 2012 i7 and both 2014 Minis.

 

[buchrob]

The key to any system performance is "where is your bottleneck?" Not very likely that your current rig is breaking into a sweat. The limiting factor in your case is probably your internet connection.

Easiest way to do a "stress" test is to feel the temperature of the machine. If it never feels even vaguely warm, a faster cpu will not help. On the other hand, if while converting or ripping video, you hear the fan kick in and the machine gets noticeable warmer, you are probably maxing out your cpu. Easily checked using Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder.