Mini 2.66 server for video?

[xnview]

Hi

I'm quite new to Mac and I have a question.

I got a good deal on a 2010 Mac mini server with core 2 duo 2.66 ghz, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB hard drive, and was wondering if it is good enough to play 1080P movies, and streaming HD movies on my TV (TV as monitor) without any lagging? Also if it'll me well suited to use as a media server at home?

If it is well suited for my needs, should I upgrade it to ML, and if so to ML server for light VPN usage?

 

[jbarley]

Are you sure it does not have dual 500GB HDD's?
That is what the original specs indicate.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Depending on the compression of the 1080p/i movies, the C2D might be cutting it a bit close.
My 2007 iMac with a C2D 2 GHz CPU could play certain 1080p videos with enough data rate (2 MB/s), but the smaller the data rate, the heavier the playback.

 

[xnview]

Are you sure it does not have dual 500GB HDD's?
That is what the original specs indicate.

Yes you're right, a dual 500 GB which gives a total of 1 TB

Depending on the compression of the 1080p/i movies, the C2D might be cutting it a bit close.
My 2007 iMac with a C2D 2 GHz CPU could play certain 1080p videos with enough data rate (2 MB/s), but the smaller the data rate, the heavier the playback.

Ok so if I had a uncompressed 1080p it would struggle?
Would it preform better with ML or will it make it worse?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Ok so if I had a uncompressed 1080p it would struggle?
Would it preform better with ML or will it make it worse?

If you had uncompressed 1080p videos, even 8-bit YUV ones take 104 MB/s, you would just need very fast drives and of course big ones, as 2 hours of 8-bit YUV video in 1080p would be around 750 GB.

Your C2D will struggle the more compressed the video is, not if it is uncompressed (which is not a solution).

And 4 GB are on the low side for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

 

[xnview]

If you had uncompressed 1080p videos, even 8-bit YUV ones take 104 MB/s, you would just need very fast drives and of course big ones, as 2 hours of 8-bit YUV video in 1080p would be around 750 GB.

Your C2D will struggle the more compressed the video is, not if it is uncompressed (which is not a solution).

And 4 GB are on the low side for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

Ok so lets say I have movies compressed to about 4 GB size, will it still have a hard time with them?

If I at a point would upgrade it to 8 GB RAM, will ML be more optimized, or will SL still be better to use?

 

[blanka]

You'll be great:
Any Mini from the 2009 2.26 Core2Duo with 9400M graphics plays fullHD flawlessly, even from BluRay's at 50Mb/s bitrates. So with 2.66 and the 320M you even have some extra headroom.
Just go with 10.6, and play with XBMC. VLC is crappy, and will drop some frames.
I play tons of MKV's and Blurays on my 2.26, from 1.5GB crap YIFY's to high quality 14GB ones and Blu Rays from the rental shop, and it never skips a frame.

BUT MAKE SURE YOU TWEAK THE REFRESH RIGHT!
If you play a movie on 60Hz output, it will look jerky cause the refresh is wrong.
Add 23.976 or 47.952 with SwitchResX. The first is the default movie framerate, the second is exactly twice that, some monitors accept the double rate while they stay black on 23.976. On the TV the 23.976 will probably work. After one run of SRX you will see these refresh rates in your normal screen setup control panel, and you can remove the application (or buy it, it only runs for a week).

 

[blanka]

My 2007 iMac with a C2D 2 GHz CPU could play certain 1080p videos with enough data rate (2 MB/s), but the smaller the data rate, the heavier the playback.

That is not weird. The iMac has to do all by the CPU. The HD2xxx does not support GPU acceleration of video decoding.
The 9400M/320M from 2009/2010 Mini's do offer GPU decoding.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

That is not weird. The iMac has to do all by the CPU. The HD2xxx does not support GPU acceleration of video decoding.
The 9400M/320M from 2009/2010 Mini's do offer GPU decoding.

Thanks, did not think about that tidbit. My 2009 MBP with C2D plays H.264 feces quite better, probably due to 9400M/9600M GT.

 

[CausticPuppy]

My old early 2009 Macbook has the same specs as that 2010 Mini (2.66GHz C2D, nVidia 9400) and it plays 1080p just fine, with CPU headroom to spare. And that's not even using the discrete graphics chip (9600mGT).

It did struggle with AVCHD @1080i until Mountain Lion, which enabled GPU acceleration.

 

[xnview]

Thanks for the replies it has been a great help I will get the Mac mini, it is a good deal and it's still in its sealed box (has been more or less forgotten in a store) so it is brand new if you foresees the production day

 

[blanka]

And don't forget the Switchres thing!