Mac mini 2012 i7 -Hyperthreading ?

[spyrmac]

1) does the top mac mini with the i7 support hyper threading ?

2) is hyperthreading worth it ? am i going to need it ?

3) should somebody choose the i7 quad core mac mini over the i5 quad imac ?

4) does the i5 on the low end imac support hyperthreading ?


of course the graphics on the iMac even the entry level are way better ...

 

[simsaladimbamba]

1. Yes.
2. Depends on your computational needs and usage. Currently unknown to us.
3. Again, needs and usage regarding the computational aspect should be considered for a good answer.
4. No.

The mobile i5 and i7 support HT, the desktop i5 does not support HT, the desktop i7 does support HT.

 

[spyrmac]

1080p video playback and streaming

converting videos

light video editing ( very light )

light work ...

and some games ... ( all COD for example )

but futureproofing is my main concern
computers get old fast and when you buy you should buy the best you can afford

 

[paulrbeers]

edit: misread the post....

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Then get the base i7 with 2.3 GHz, no 2.6 GHz needed in your case. Or build a Hackintosh with an i7 and proper GPU for around the same.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

2) is hyperthreading worth it ? am i going to need it ?

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=16802693#post16802693

 

[spyrmac]

ok so ...

Hyper-threading (HT) is thread-management in hardware (OS X supports thread-management in hardware AND software). HT does not increase the available computing power.

but in the end does it make the computer faster ? i mean what advantage is there ? there has to be some reason
or is it just technical and the end user shouldn't care about it ?

also since i dont know about quad cores except from the HT why should someone pick an i7 over an i5 . if let's say the have the same clock speed ?

sorry for the many questions
also if i m not asking too much : could somebody enlglighten me about sim city 5 and my mac ?
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17083147#post17083147

thanks

 

[paulrbeers]

ok so ...

Hyper-threading (HT) is thread-management in hardware (OS X supports thread-management in hardware AND software). HT does not increase the available computing power.

but in the end does it make the computer faster ? i mean what advantage is there ? there has to be some reason
or is it just technical and the end user shouldn't care about it ?

also since i dont know about quad cores except from the HT why should someone pick an i7 over an i5 . if let's say the have the same clock speed ?

sorry for the many questions
also if i m not asking too much : could somebody enlglighten me about sim city 5 and my mac ?
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17083147#post17083147

thanks

1. Hyper-threading takes advantage of highly parallel code. Allowing you to sometimes do more with each cpu cycle. At best you can see about a 30% increase compared to a processor with hyper-threading turned off. However, generally speaking the advantage of Hyper-threading is minimal. Maybe 10-15% at best.
2. What's the difference between the i5 and the i7 all depends on which ones we are talking about. The iMac has a quadcore i5, but the Mac Mini's i5 is only dual core. In the Mini, it means almost double the processing power between the base and the mid. Now in the iMac, there is less difference since both the i5 and the i7 are quad cores. However, the i7 has hyper-threading (see 10-15% more processing power right there) and the i7 has more cache which allows the processor to stay busier than the i5 with it's limited cache. To explain Cache, is a thread unto itself, so i would recommend doing some googling to understand it.

As far as Sim City 5, what are you asking? you just said to enlighten you, what are we enlightening you about? Whether it exists, how it performs, how to play? You didn't really ask a question.

 

[spyrmac]

i ve started a thread with my question if it' s going to play on my iMac
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=17083147#post17083147

early 2009 24 '' imac core2duo 2.93 ghz , 8gb ram , nvidia gt 120 256 mb

sorry if i wasnt clear

 

[bmcgrath]

Unless you're working with video there's no need for the i7 if I'm honest. i5 is plenty beefy for converting/playback.

 

[KaraH]

Unless you're working with video there's no need for the i7 if I'm honest. i5 is plenty beefy for converting/playback.

Now.

I buy based on what I will need in 5 years. When the average level of hardware go up the minimum specifications for new versions of OSs and programs go up eventually.