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Build a Hackintosh or keep my new Mac Mini i7?

Jjaro

Jjaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 29, 2009
191
17
Yokosuka, Japan
Hey guys,

So I jumped the gun quick, before any reviews, and bought a maxed out Mac Mini with an i7 and 16 GB of RAM to be my "study room" computer for two 1080p monitors. We won't be doing much on it beyond internet browsing, writing papers, stuff like that. I have a custom-built PC downstairs for gaming. The reason I went with the i7 and max available RAM was to try and "future proof" it as best I could. But in reading many of the negative reviews, and the negative comments here I am considering returning it and just building out a Hackintosh with similar specs but with a quad core i7 instead.

Is this a good idea or should I just stick with what I have?

Oh, and I should mention that I already have two monitors, a mouse and keyboard, etc.
 
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What do you plan on doing with this computer?

Just general computing, Internet, music, holding pictures, media, etc? If so keep it.

Lots of ripping/converting/editing media, playing graphically demanding games, and or other truly CPU/GPU intensive tasks? Build a Hack or get a used 2009-2012 Mac pro.

I'm not saying I'm a huge fan of the 2014 mini, but if your computer needs are like 90% of actual computer buyers, the 2014 mini is just fine.

If your in the 10% of "power users" (1% actual geeky power users and 9% tech enthusiasts along for the ride) look elsewhere.
 
Other than overpaying for your machine (a loaded 2014 Mac Mini is no longer a real value and an iMac kills it in price:performance ratio) it's perfectly fine and fast for what you're doing. Start encoding video and doing heavy photo editing, then the quad is much faster.
 
TruckdriverSean said:
What do you plan on doing with this computer?

Just general computing, Internet, music, holding pictures, media, etc? If so keep it.

Lots of ripping/converting/editing media, playing graphically demanding games, and or other truly CPU/GPU intensive tasks? Build a Hack or get a used 2009-2012 Mac pro.

I'm not saying I'm a huge fan of the 2014 mini, but if your computer needs are like 90% of actual computer buyers, the 2014 mini is just fine.

If your in the 10% of "power users" (1% actual geeky power users and 9% tech enthusiasts along for the ride) look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks. I will likely be ripping sometimes but generally if I want something I just download it now. Plus if I rip stuff I'm usually just starting it on my Mac now and then walking away and doing something else while I wait.

----------
magbarn said:
Other than overpaying for your machine (a loaded 2014 Mac Mini is no longer a real value and an iMac kills it in price:performance ratio) it's perfectly fine and fast for what you're doing. Start encoding video and doing heavy photo editing, then the quad is much faster.
Click to expand...

I know I overpaid, but as I said I already had monitors, etc. and like the idea of a small, relatively portable computer I can move freely upstairs and downstairs easily (to use on my TV for videos sometimes). Can't carry an iMac around! lol
 
Oh, I should also mention that I am planning on installing Windows 7 HP (64-bit) as well on this. I don't think I will dual-boot, as it seems like it would be too slow to do so.
 
Jjaro said:
Hey guys,

So I jumped the gun quick, before any reviews, and bought a maxed out Mac Mini with an i7 and 16 GB of RAM to be my "study room" computer for two 1080p monitors. We won't be doing much on it beyond internet browsing, writing papers, stuff like that. I have a custom-built PC downstairs for gaming. The reason I went with the i7 and max available RAM was to try and "future proof" it as best I could. But in reading many of the negative reviews, and the negative comments here I am considering returning it and just building out a Hackintosh with similar specs but with a quad core i7 instead.

Is this a good idea or should I just stick with what I have?

Oh, and I should mention that I already have two monitors, a mouse and keyboard, etc.
Click to expand...

Ive been using a hackintosh for years. if your an experienced technician and know your way around the inside of a computer then it might be ok. its not polished at all though. you cant update to new updates right away. i recently tried installing yosemite and it wouldnt work. so i had to restore back to mavericks. Sometimes my internet wont work when i first turn the machine on. its just a really buggy experience. but i dealt with it because i was waiting for the right moment to get a new mac. also with a hackintosh you cant have superfast PCI-e SSD's yet. So im saving for a genuine Mac.
 
I did the mackintosh thing before I bought my MacMini several years back. I can honestly say that I have never regretted moving to the mini. Not having to worry about an update breaking something was liberating. As other have mentioned I truly believe a Hackintosh is for the hobbyist ( I was back then) but if you want a desktop to use and not worry about IMHO a mini is the way to go.
 
If there's still time, I would return it and put that $1200 back in my pocket.

At that price, you have a lot of options.
 
corvus32 said:
If there's still time, I would return it and put that $1200 back in my pocket.

At that price, you have a lot of options.
Click to expand...

I agree. And if you're going to primarily run Win 7, I don't think there is any reason to get the mini. Get an Intel NUC for a fraction of the price.
 
crazzapple said:
I agree. And if you're going to primarily run Win 7, I don't think there is any reason to get the mini. Get an Intel NUC for a fraction of the price.
Click to expand...

Here's the thing though, and I apologize if I made this unclear: I am not going to be running Windows as the primary OS. It is going to be there only for Office 2013, as I prefer the Windows versions of that. I am actually leaning more towards keeping it, and then if next year they release a quad-core version, selling and getting that. I know it is wishful thinking, but seeing how I follow this website frequently, it seems that with the delay in Skylake we may see an upgrade next year. I suppose only time will tell.

Thanks for everyone's comments so far too.

Thoughts?
 
TruckdriverSean said:
What do you plan on doing with this computer?

Just general computing, Internet, music, holding pictures, media, etc? If so keep it.

Lots of ripping/converting/editing media, playing graphically demanding games, and or other truly CPU/GPU intensive tasks? Build a Hack or get a used 2009-2012 Mac pro.

I'm not saying I'm a huge fan of the 2014 mini, but if your computer needs are like 90% of actual computer buyers, the 2014 mini is just fine.

If your in the 10% of "power users" (1% actual geeky power users and 9% tech enthusiasts along for the ride) look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

The thing is, I am a big tech geek, and had Mavericks installed on my gaming PC. But I couldn't get the damn Ethernet to work, so I abandoned it.
 
One thing I finally managed to enforce - do not over buy hardware - it is not going to pay off even on long run. For what you do base 2012 mini is plenty. Get it from BB for $405, add 16GB ($134), add 250GB SSD ($90) and keep the change. Or buy another one, so you do not need to carry single one between locations, besides one location does not even need any upgrades, base will do and you would keep change in your pocket still ;)

I would advise against hackintosh route - you would never enjoy Mac OS X as on real Macs. It is ghetto, for real.
 
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Jjaro said:
Here's the thing though, and I apologize if I made this unclear: I am not going to be running Windows as the primary OS. It is going to be there only for Office 2013, as I prefer the Windows versions of that. I am actually leaning more towards keeping it, and then if next year they release a quad-core version, selling and getting that. I know it is wishful thinking, but seeing how I follow this website frequently, it seems that with the delay in Skylake we may see an upgrade next year. I suppose only time will tell.

Thanks for everyone's comments so far too.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

In all likely hood, the Mini will never see quad core CPUs ever again.

The base model iMac is now referenced off the MacBook Air, so what more proof do you need.
 
Jjaro said:
Here's the thing though, and I apologize if I made this unclear: I am not going to be running Windows as the primary OS. It is going to be there only for Office 2013, as I prefer the Windows versions of that. I am actually leaning more towards keeping it, and then if next year they release a quad-core version, selling and getting that. I know it is wishful thinking, but seeing how I follow this website frequently, it seems that with the delay in Skylake we may see an upgrade next year. I suppose only time will tell.

Thanks for everyone's comments so far too.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

For what you are doing (writing papers, browsing), what you have will last you long into the future. The only thing that might make me want to upgrade in that situation was if I wanted to use a 4k/5k monitor somewhere down the line. The iris graphics can only run it at 30Hz/25Hz.
 
crazzapple said:
For what you are doing (writing papers, browsing), what you have will last you long into the future. The only thing that might make me want to upgrade in that situation was if I wanted to use a 4k/5k monitor somewhere down the line. The iris graphics can only run it at 30Hz/25Hz.
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw that today. I have a 4K TV, and I think for now when I occasionally use the Mini on that this will be fine as I will only be watching movies on it.
 
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