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Mac Mini as HTPC

Dweez

Dweez

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 13, 2011
1,248
10
Down by the river
I'm considering a Mini for the home theater. I've not had a PC in the mix up to this point, and am looking at the 2.3 ghz/Intel HD 3000 graphics model.

My question is whether the graphics subsystem will be sufficient to display 1080p signals, from my cable provider as well as blu-ray and various file formats (.mkv etc).

If you're using this model as your HTPC, please chime in and share your observations.
 
The on-board graphics plays 1080p fine, but I always go with a dedicated GPU if I have the option. The Mini is great for a home theatre setup.
 
LiesForTheLiars said:
The on-board graphics plays 1080p fine, but I always go with a dedicated GPU if I have the option. The Mini is great for a home theatre setup.
Click to expand...

My guerilla-hacked 1st-gen Mac Mini Intel (macmini1,1) with C2D 2.33 GHz hooked up to my LCD big screen plays 1080p just fine in xbmc despite GMA950, so there is more than enough steam for this task in any current Mac Mini.
 
hwojtek said:
My guerilla-hacked 1st-gen Mac Mini Intel (macmini1,1) with C2D 2.33 GHz hooked up to my LCD big screen plays 1080p just fine in xbmc despite GMA950, so there is more than enough steam for this task in any current Mac Mini.
Click to expand...

I use XBMC as well. Plays anything I throw at it.

And yes it plays 1080p fine. The on-board graphics have been able to handle 1080p for quite a while now.
 
HTPC works like a charm.
Mac mini 2.3ghz, Radeon HD 6630M, 120gb SSD + 500gb, 8gb RAM.

Though my eyes are crap.
So i'm running 720p on a 55" Samsung LED
The Bullet train stand for the keyboard n track pad is amazing.
I don't even use my work laptop at home anymore.

http://i.imgur.com/L9egm.jpg
 
plejon said:
HTPC works like a charm.
Mac mini 2.3ghz, Radeon HD 6630M, 120gb SSD + 500gb, 8gb RAM.

Though my eyes are crap.
So i'm running 720p on a 55" Samsung LED
The Bullet train stand for the keyboard n track pad is amazing.
I don't even use my work laptop at home anymore.

http://i.imgur.com/L9egm.jpg
Click to expand...

The bezel on that TV is incredibly small. It looks gorgeous.
 
Just re-posting my experience from a few threads down using a 2011 Mac mini 2.7GHz Dual-Core Intel i7 everyday as the main HTPC / DVR.

I'm currently using a 2011 Mac mini 2.7GHz Dual-Core Intel i7, 8GB 1866MHz, Kingston Hyper X, 240GB OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS, 750GB 7200RPM Western Digital Scorpio Black as my media gateway. This system is running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, Media Center Master, Media Browser and Windows Media Center on the 240GB OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS with AHCI enabled. (Why?, because this makes the device appliance like in operation. TV is available faster than the Comcast DVR.) Currently, the 750GB Western Digital Scorpio Black is the Windows Media Center recording drive. A LaCie Thunderbolt Little Big Disk is media storage drive. The 2011 Mac mini is connected to a Netgear ProSage 10/100/1000 switch along with two (2) SiliconDust HDHomeRun Primes and two (2) Microsoft Xbox 360 4GB. The HDHomeRun Primes provide six (6) Cable Labs certified CableCARD tuners available for use with Windows Media Center. The Xbox 360 4GB serve as Windows Media Center Extenders at each TV.

What does all this provide? The 2011 Mac mini is installed headless in the open home entertainment shelf with an Xbox 360 4GB. The other hardware is hidden away (under the entertainment center). The wife can now record up to 6 shows at once. At this time, playback is only limited by the number of Xbox 360 4B extenders and does not impact recording. Our whole DVD and Blu-ray collection is displayed elegantly with titles, descriptions, ratings, synopsis, backdrops and covers using Media Browser Neo. The whole recent iTunes collection is available in Windows Media Center as well. The setup is all easily controlled with a Logitech Harmony One Remote.

In short, with Windows 7 64-bit under bootcamp the 2011 Mac mini is already a great HTPC well suited for the home entertainment shelf.
Click to expand...
 
Dweez said:
I'm considering a Mini for the home theater. I've not had a PC in the mix up to this point, and am looking at the 2.3 ghz/Intel HD 3000 graphics model.

My question is whether the graphics subsystem will be sufficient to display 1080p signals, from my cable provider as well as blu-ray and various file formats (.mkv etc).

If you're using this model as your HTPC, please chime in and share your observations.
Click to expand...

Just to point out, the Mini will not do much with your cable signal without something like the Pinnacle TV for Mac HD Stick. I'm not personally familiar with the device or how it works, but several sites I've seen have given 3.5/5 stars. You'll be fine running 1080 videos you have on the Mac as long as you have the Quicktime plugins for the formats you're using, or an alternative player.
 
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The Mac Mini is a great media centre. I use the 2011 base model.

Plex is easier to set up and has some device streaming support that may be of use to some. However, I have found XBMC to be superior for consistent quality playback and support (i.e. development).
 
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