Besides a .3 Ghz bump in speed.
Is it worth the extra money to go from the 2.3 ghz i7 to the 2.6 ghz i7??
Is it worth the extra money to go from the 2.3 ghz i7 to the 2.6 ghz i7??
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Big difference in i7
- Thread starter reno56k
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From comparing Geekbench scores of the MacBook Pro and Retina MacBook Pro, each of which has the same 2.3 and 2.6 i7 CPU's available, we think the 2.6 offers approximately an 8-12 percent performance increase. Not a huge gain. We'll know more once we get more Geekbench scores in of the actual Mini instead of using other systems for reference.
Your better bet is probably using the $100 upgrade and either save it or use it to upgrade the hard drive and/or RAM.
Your better bet is probably using the $100 upgrade and either save it or use it to upgrade the hard drive and/or RAM.
The midrange mini has a quad core i7, look at geek bench mark, there is a 40 pct performance improvement over the entry level mini. But going from 2.3 to 2.6 will not give you much improvement.
Do you encode video? Do you work in After Effects a lot? 3D rendering?
If no then getting i7 wont make any difference in real world. OSX wont be any faster, games will play the same. I would use the saved money towards SSD that will make major real world difference.
Geekbench scores do not reflect real world use.
If no then getting i7 wont make any difference in real world. OSX wont be any faster, games will play the same. I would use the saved money towards SSD that will make major real world difference.
Geekbench scores do not reflect real world use.
Thanks
Thanks for the advice. I took it and just purchased the mid level Mac mini. I'll save the $100 for putting in new ram on my own.
Thanks for the advice. I took it and just purchased the mid level Mac mini. I'll save the $100 for putting in new ram on my own.
Don't be snippy.
I value two similar statements from different posters more highly than one solitary post, so what he added was valuable - to me at least.
You really think that a Processor bump of at best 12%, is really going to make a computer last longer? Maybe if we were talking 2.3ghz to 3.4ghz, but in 4-5 years from now, that 12% increase isn't going to make a lick of difference whether you are still able to use the Mini or not for day to day tasks.
Only step up to the 2.6ghz if you need the processing power, don't do it because you think it will make your computer last longer....
The way I look at it: 13% faster CPU for $100 means 13% performance increase for 10% price increase on the server model... or slightly over 12.5% price increase on mid-level mode.
Maybe a future verision of OS X drops support for the i5 but supports i7? IDK if that's even possible.
It's not that much faster; but I would probably get the 2.6GHz just because. 
My 2.0GHz i7 handles everything I throw at it, so a 2.3 or 2.6 will serve you well for a few years either way.
By the time 2.3GHz is too slow, it's not like having the 2.6 is going to really help. The max turbo frequencies of each chip are 3.3 and 3.6GHz, so keep that in mind too. Most of the time, you'll be running close to the turbo frequency anyway.
For example, the 2.0GHz i7 quad will actually run at 2.6GHz on all 4 cores as long as the temperature is cool. It'll turbo up to 2.9GHz on a single core.
I would expect the 2.3GHz chip would be running at 2.9GHz most of the time.
My 2.0GHz i7 handles everything I throw at it, so a 2.3 or 2.6 will serve you well for a few years either way.
By the time 2.3GHz is too slow, it's not like having the 2.6 is going to really help. The max turbo frequencies of each chip are 3.3 and 3.6GHz, so keep that in mind too. Most of the time, you'll be running close to the turbo frequency anyway.
For example, the 2.0GHz i7 quad will actually run at 2.6GHz on all 4 cores as long as the temperature is cool. It'll turbo up to 2.9GHz on a single core.
I would expect the 2.3GHz chip would be running at 2.9GHz most of the time.
Yeah, but they are both i7's (the 2.3ghz in the mid and the upgrade to 2.6) so that doesn't come into play at all.
I didn't think I would notice a big difference, but I also won't really miss the extra $90 I paid (through education), so I ordered the 2.6 bump. It's on it's way from China now.