Mini

[D4F]

I know this is a 'out of space' question but what are your predictions on refreshed Mini?
I need redering nodes and was thinking to buy 4-6 minis as they would be perfect in size/price to performace ratio for what I do.

I just wonder if buying them now wont be a mistake as the refreshed ones will surely be more powerful.

No alternatives here btw. It has to be a Mac running platform.

 

[nando2323]

Your guess is probably just as good as anyone else's in here. I know one thing is for sure though, when they are about to come out you'll see leaked news about 1 week or so prior if that means anything to you.

 

[gkarris]

This is like the 5th or 6th thread on this...

 

[sfroom]

I don't predict a major upgrade, althought I give SOME credence to the rumors of a form-factor redesign. All aluminum and gloss black would look great, imo.

As for specs I am predicting Penryn starting at 2.1 Ghz, Santa Rosa, Intel X3100 integrated graphics, 160 GB HD, 1 GB ram...and they better include a Superdrive in the base model!

I expect there will be a high end model at 2.4 Ghz, 250 GB HD, 2 GB ram.

I'd LOVE but don't expect to see Blu-Ray playback(perhaps BTO? - I know I'm still dreaming), and BTO standalone graphics (Apple sure loves those Radeon 2600's!).

 

[Tallest Skil]

...was thinking to buy 4-6 minis...

You could get one Mac Pro for that price and have far more power.

Unless you're a schoolteacher and would like them for your classroom or something.

 

[D4F]

You could get one Mac Pro for that price and have far more power.

Unless you're a schoolteacher and would like them for your classroom or something.

Not exactly.
On a pro I'll have a single system using 8 cores.
With 6 minis I will have 12 cores plus lot's of GHz.
It's a render node setup.
A system that distributes rendering to several machines and makes your work a lot faster. It uses both cores of all the minis, uses their memory and since GPU is not important then overall is a better solution as both come similar in price.
Not sure what i'll do with all of them after I move to something else lol but this is a good and pretty cheap 'micro' render farm setup

 

[iknowyourider]

I don't predict a major upgrade, althought I give SOME credence to the rumors of a form-factor redesign. All aluminum and gloss black would look great, imo.

As for specs I am predicting Penryn starting at 2.1 Ghz, Santa Rosa, Intel X3100 integrated graphics, 160 GB HD, 1 GB ram...and they better include a Superdrive in the base model!

I expect there will be a high end model at 2.4 Ghz, 250 GB HD, 2 GB ram.

I'd LOVE but don't expect to see Blu-Ray playback(perhaps BTO? - I know I'm still dreaming), and BTO standalone graphics (Apple sure loves those Radeon 2600's!).

I like your specs but I think anodized black aluminum might be sweet. I don't plan to upgrade my mini any time soon but would love to see it live on.

 

[mahonmeister]

Not exactly.
On a pro I'll have a single system using 8 cores.
With 6 minis I will have 12 cores plus lot's of GHz.
It's a render node setup.
A system that distributes rendering to several machines and makes your work a lot faster. It uses both cores of all the minis, uses their memory and since GPU is not important then overall is a better solution as both come similar in price.
Not sure what i'll do with all of them after I move to something else lol but this is a good and pretty cheap 'micro' render farm setup

If you want to play a silly GHz game: 12cores @2.0GHz = 24GHz 8cores @3.0 = 24GHz

Plus the Mac Pro uses processors that are 2 generations ahead of the mini, which makes them faster even at the same clock speed. Faster memory, much faster HDDs, faster FSB, faster ... everything.

The minis don't come with a keyboard or mouse so add a bit for that. Nor do any of them come with a monitor.

Buy one or two Mac Pros, load 'em up with 3rd party RAM and HDDs and a couple monitors. Done.

If you really want to get the most bang for your buck, buy 2 refurb Mac Pros @ $2,400 each =$4,800. Six new minis also cost $4,800 (no refurbs at the moment). 16 cores @ 2.8GHz = 44.8GHz