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I obtained a 1.66ghz CD Mini, what to do?

D

Dorkington

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 5, 2010
685
22
Like the title says, I recently obtained a first generation Intel 1.66ghz Core Duo Mac Mini.

Specs:

1.66ghz CD
1GB ram
120gb hdd

I just put a clean install of Snow leopard on it. It's snappy enough for web browsing and the what not. But I was really hoping to use it as a media center. It seems to choke on video.

Is there much of anything I can do? I've seen people replace the CPU, but I'm unsure of the costs in that (the work shouldn't be an issue).

Any suggestions?
 
Dorkington said:
Like the title says, I recently obtained a first generation Intel 1.66ghz Core Duo Mac Mini.

Specs:

1.66ghz CD
1GB ram
120gb hdd

I just put a clean install of Snow leopard on it. It's snappy enough for web browsing and the what not. But I was really hoping to use it as a media center. It seems to choke on video.

Is there much of anything I can do? I've seen people replace the CPU, but I'm unsure of the costs in that (the work shouldn't be an issue).

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

For video issues - I assume you mean it stutters - then an upgrade to the CPU is definitely the way to go. I had the same machine and upgraded it to a C2D 2.X and it will run HiDef movies without an issue.

Cost was about $220
 
Keep in mind those mini's have shared video RAM, so you're not actually able to use that 1GB in full. I had 1GB on my 1.83 that I am using as a media center for a while, but ended up going with the full 2GB because it ran out of memory really fast. Upgrading the CPU isn't that bad from what I have read. Just go on eBay and find yourself a socket M Core 2 Duo processor. Instructions on how to do it are online.
 
Hrududu said:
Keep in mind those mini's have shared video RAM, so you're not actually able to use that 1GB in full. I had 1GB on my 1.83 that I am using as a media center for a while, but ended up going with the full 2GB because it ran out of memory really fast. Upgrading the CPU isn't that bad from what I have read. Just go on eBay and find yourself a socket M Core 2 Duo processor. Instructions on how to do it are online.
Click to expand...

It really shouldnt be choking that badly on all video (HD Video will kill it without a CPU upgrade the C2D and 2GB RAM to handle the shared VRAM issue) - My Dual 867 G4 can handle SD Video without any issues however, as well as DVD Playback - however it cant really handle HD (It can do 720p kinda).
 
Alright, did some pricing. All told, it looks like upgrading cpu, ram and various tools I don't have will set me back about $150.

Roku costs $60-90, and Apple TV costs $99. Not sure if this is worth it... might just clean it up and sell it.

Though, a full computer has other pros for being hooked up to a TV. I guess full internet access and all that jazz. Hmmmm hmm hmm
 
Dorkington said:
Alright, did some pricing. All told, it looks like upgrading cpu, ram and various tools I don't have will set me back about $150.

Roku costs $60-90, and Apple TV costs $99. Not sure if this is worth it... might just clean it up and sell it.

Though, a full computer has other pros for being hooked up to a TV. I guess full internet access and all that jazz. Hmmmm hmm hmm
Click to expand...

$150 isn't a bad deal to give you a nice PC, AND a nice media center. That's what I'd do.
 
If i'm not mistaken the 1.86Ghz CD is the lowest that will reliably stream 720p video. Although some people say the 1.66Ghz CD can also do 720p with a few hiccups. Try a RAM upgrade first, it should help tremendously.

In my opinion i would much rather have a 1.66Ghz CD Mac Mini over a Boxee, Roku, WD TV or any other media player. I've owned many media players, they all left something to be desired.
 
Dorkington said:
Like the title says, I recently obtained a first generation Intel 1.66ghz Core Duo Mac Mini.

Specs:

1.66ghz CD
1GB ram
120gb hdd

I just put a clean install of Snow leopard on it. It's snappy enough for web browsing and the what not. But I was really hoping to use it as a media center. It seems to choke on video.

Is there much of anything I can do? I've seen people replace the CPU, but I'm unsure of the costs in that (the work shouldn't be an issue).

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Upgrade the CPU! It'll handle HD fine. I have that exact same mini, with C2D in it, reasonably painless upgrade as long as you're careful.

You could also probably drop a Broadcom Crystal HD in there, replacing your wifi card if you just want HD decoding.
 
Here's what I did with my first gen mini - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1003183/

One thing to note, in my review I said it was running 1080p smoothly. After now using it now for 5 months, it looks like 720p is pretty much the max. I must not have noticed the stuttering before on 1080p video when I did my initial review.

I've been using this as my main machine for 5 months now, since I am waiting for the next MBP upgrade, and it has worked great. I don't do any gaming or anything too intense, so I've been very pleased with it.
 
I had a similar Mini, 1.5Ghz Core Solo, it could handle 720 videos and Netflix well. But it couldn't do two things at once. So I upgraded it to a 2.33Ghz C2D, the most powerful CPU for Intell based 2006-2007 Minis. Works very well now.
 
Intell said:
I had a similar Mini, 1.5Ghz Core Solo, it could handle 720 videos and Netflix well. But it couldn't do two things at once. So I upgraded it to a 2.33Ghz C2D, the most powerful CPU for Intell based 2006-2007 Minis. Works very well now.
Click to expand...

Remember his has a Core Duo, so its over twice as "powerful" as yours was (Feels probably 1.7x Faster), so it should multitask much better - although a CPU upgrade would speed it up immensely (Especially jumping to a C2D)
 
480p should be absolute no problem at all and even some 720ptoo, i had a hackintoshed MSI wind which only had a single core 1.6 atom N270 1gb ram and intel gma 950 and its not only the processor that holds up , its this intel gma 950 as the netbooks with intel atom prove after fitting a nvidia ion or the equivalent form ati both shared graphics they can handle 1080p with the same processor
 
Last edited:
MacHamster68 said:
480p should be absolute no problem at all and even some 720ptoo, i had a hackintoshed MSI wind which only had a single core 1.6 atom N270 1gb ram and intel gma 950 and its not only the processor that holds up , its this intel gma 950 as the netbooks with intel atom prove after fitting a nvidia ion or the equivalent form ati both shared graphics they can handle 1080p with the same processor
Click to expand...

It should handle 720p fine. My Dual 867 G4 with 32MB Nvidia GeForce 2 can handle 720p, so any GMA950 should be able to.
 
I'm using that mini~streams netflix perfectly at a mere 3Mbps connection. You have the double the HD space I've got though.
 
Most of my 720p content has been ok so far. It appears once I get over 1500kbps or so that things start getting shaky.

Hulu is also an issue, for whatever reason.

I'll likely do some of the upgrades suggested here. :)

Can anyone suggest a TV friendly internet browser?
 
Dorkington said:
Most of my 720p content has been ok so far. It appears once I get over 1500kbps or so that things start getting shaky.

Hulu is also an issue, for whatever reason.

I'll likely do some of the upgrades suggested here. :)

Can anyone suggest a TV friendly internet browser?
Click to expand...

I just use Firefox.

You can try Kylo. Its the only browser with a 10 foot interface... meaning its made for a TV and HTPC. It has large icons which makes it easy to read but the lack of features kills it for me.
 
I looked at Kylo, unfortunately it doesn't work all that well with remote software since it doesn't support keyboard shortcuts. So now I'm researching some themes for Firefox and using that. :)
 
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