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buying new Mac mini tomorrow...upgrade to 256mb video ram version worth it?

hefeglass

hefeglass

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 21, 2009
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going to get a mac mini tomorrow! (my first REAL mac...im excited!...screw this i7 hackintosh..i need something quiet and silent!)
so...im planning to pick up the 600 dollar mini tomorrow and ill upgrade the memory and hd myself. Then i realized that the 800 mini has not only a larger HD and one more gig of memory, but it has the higher (256mb) video RAM.
since this isnt something I can upgrade myself...is it worth paying the extra $200 for this boost in shared video ram? I will be doing video editing once in a while on this mini...but I can always use my i7 if i need serious power.
Will the base mini be capable of displaying full HD video smoothly and will it be able to do basic video editing, 3d modeling (zbrush)?
just trying to figure out if the $200 is worth it for the video memory....because I can upgrade everything else for much less.
thanks for any advice you can offer!!
 
If you buy the base Mac Mini and up the RAM to 2GB or more, the VRAM will automatically allocate to 256MB. So I suggest buying the base Mac Mini and upgrading the RAM to 2GB or 4GB and your set to go!
 
The 9400M just allocates 128MB to VRAM when less than 2GB of system RAM is installed. It allocates 256MB of VRAM when there is 2GB or above of system RAM. Just get the low end Mini.
 
ok..that makes sense...i wasnt sure if there was actually any sort of hardware difference. not too familiar with integrated graphics..

thanks for the advice!

ive already ordered 4gb of ram and a larger HD.
ill go pick up the $599 mini tomorrow!
 
i already watched a few videos to make sure the process was doable...and i ordered a couple tools that I will need. I think i am all set..

if i do a good job and dont scratch anything or bend anything in the mini, would it still be under warranty? do they have any secret way of knowing if you messed with it? does opening and replacing memory and HD void any warranty?

thanks again for the help!
 
Technically the warranty is void as soon as you open it up. If you ever need it serviced you should replace the original components and make sure to leave as little of a trace as possible. If they tell you your warranty is void despite you not making any damage while doing the upgrade, you should talk to a manager so that they honor the warranty.
 
cool, thanks again for all the help.

im about to go pick it up!
 
got my mini...im using it now...
I LOVE THIS THING!

its so quiet and seems pretty quick!
 
hefeglass said:
got my mini...im using it now...
I LOVE THIS THING!

its so quiet and seems pretty quick!
Click to expand...

Yep, thing is quiet that I forget it's even there. Was using the white ibook the other day and got reminded how loud some macs can be
 
lol...it looks just like the rest of the minis..haha

I am waiting on 4 gigs of ram and I will be taking my 320gb scorpio out of my laptop and put it in the mini eventually.
now I just have to get everything transferred over to the mini and figure out how i want to set up my external HDDs.
thanks again for all the help...im very pleased with my new mac!
 
brop52 said:
The 9400M just allocates 128MB to VRAM when less than 2GB of system RAM is installed. It allocates 256MB of VRAM when there is 2GB or above of system RAM. Just get the low end Mini.
Click to expand...

MacMini2009 said:
If you buy the base Mac Mini and up the RAM to 2GB or more, the VRAM will automatically allocate to 256MB. So I suggest buying the base Mac Mini and upgrading the RAM to 2GB or 4GB and your set to go!
Click to expand...

I didn't even know this, thanks a bunch. I'm thinking of getting a Mini so that I won't have to use my MacBook as my desktop and you two just saved me $230CDN between the two models, excluding upgrades.
 
Congrats! My girlfriend got the 2.0 mini yesterday. Its a mice machine, but I do recommend the memory upgrade.
 
Congrats! Got my mini back in April and I love it. Ram and hard drive upgrade is easy as long as you take your time. It's a great computer, enjoy it.
 
Congrats!

I'm Also a new mini user. Actually a new mac owner. I ran OS X on a MSI wind and had so much enjoyment with the OS I went legit (even though I bought a legit copy of OS X for the wind).

This thing is quick with the HD and RAM bump. Quiet little booger too.

I installed virtual box on this thing and it's running windows better than my dell. I hated to do it, but I have to be prepared to work with a few things that my colleagues may send with Windows only capability.

I'm also trying out iWork and Office 2008 for MAC. I'm going to give each a fair run, but unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) Office is seeming more compatible with the files I've been getting and the formatting isn't really that intricate either. I've used open office and neo before, but I need compatibility with my business. Time is money.

Anyway, enjoy the machine.
 
hefeglass said:
lol...it looks just like the rest of the minis..haha

I am waiting on 4 gigs of ram and I will be taking my 320gb scorpio out of my laptop and put it in the mini eventually.
now I just have to get everything transferred over to the mini and figure out how i want to set up my external HDDs.
thanks again for all the help...im very pleased with my new mac!
Click to expand...

Congrats. Did you get the 2.26 or the 2.0?
 
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