But in the end, they don't run Mac OS 10.![]()
Well, they do if you put a mini inside of one
But in the end, they don't run Mac OS 10.![]()
Sorry, for some reason I thought I was in an iMac thread. Too many new machines at once.![]()
I have the same setup on my 2009 mini. 2X1TB FW800 drives and I'm going to be putting an SSD in as the main drive soon.
Every PC runs OSX.
Sure, a Hacintosh is a good alternative for most people.
I buy a Mac for not having to care if it works. That's definitely not the case with a hackintosh.
I was being sarcastic.
I was being sarcastic.
To paraphrase many other posters here, i7-3770 or better plus GTX 660 or better or no buy. No 3.5" drive bay = no buy.
Comparing the current mini to the current iMac is like looking for a cargo hauler and comparing the bicycle to the moped while ignoring the pick-up they're both parked in.
They're both underpowered laptop hardware that has no business being in a desktop computer.
In the scale of least powerful to most powerful is it:
i7 Mac Mini -> i7 21" iMac -> 17 27" iMac
?
Would the i7s in the iMacs be noticeably snappier than the Mac Mini version? I've got moderate CPU needs for audio work.
I get the feeling the mini's i7 to 21" i7 might not be too noticeable, but by the 27" you're pulling away significantly.
And the current Mini can compete with two year old desktop hardware in the back then same price league - in this time, Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge got released, two substantial upgrades.
I simply hate the look of most towers. They're either the "gamer" style, which attracts too much attention, or the plain-and-stupid grey/black box design which honestly looks terrible. If someone could provide a tower about triple the size of the Mini with a nice design and OSX, I'd buy it. But as things look now, the Mini is the best option.
I need to point out that the fastest drives available on the market anymore are SSD's and (with the exception of a few), most are 2.5" drives so stating that it needs to have a 3.5" drive bay is outdated.....
The process intel is using now is 22nm. That means more power in laptops, on par with the desktop equivalents. In the past what you said held true. Not any more, and it has not for the last year at least.
The supposed underpowered Mac Mini 2.6 with i7 is Apple's current most powerfull quad core desktop.
So which laptop CPU is apple using that's on par with my i7-3770k? Not even going to get into the socket 2011 chips, which are way beyond the 3770 in performance.
That's so pathetic it's beyond words. Their most powerful desktop is a cheap little low-power notebook CPU. Says everything you need to know about Apple circa 2012.
The imac has a 'desktop' CPU, and the mini's 2.6 i7 is just as fast as the desktop CPU i7. The 2.6 i7 in the mini is as fast as the fastest quad core CPU 'desktop' processor, in any machine weather it is a laptop or desktop.
The supposed underpowered Mac Mini 2.6 with i7 is Apple's current most powerfull quad core desktop.
The 2.6 in the i7 mini is as fast as the imac i7 3.1 in the 21.5 and the i7 3.4 in the 27 imac. They are about the same. Look at the original post of this thread for bench marks. Actually very little difference between the three.
On geekbench all score over 13000! the 3.4 i7 is the same processor as the 3.1 just starts at a lower clock. But the exact same CPU. Both turbo up to 3.9.
The 2.6 in the Mini is as fast as the imac 27 3.4 i7 and 3.1 i7.
The imac is running a desktop CPU, the Mini a laptop CPU.
Hmm, maybe running to the edges of my understanding of processors.
I understand that they are almost, (or are), essentially the same chip, just clocked at different speeds. But the i7's in the iMacs can Turbo Boost to 3.9GHz, while the Mac Mini i7 Turbo Boosts to 3.6GHz.
Surely that means that the iMacs are faster than the Mac Mini, (though I don't know how much a 0.3GHz increase really is in real world perception)?
Hmm, maybe running to the edges of my understanding of processors.
I understand that they are almost, (or are), essentially the same chip, just clocked at different speeds. But the i7's in the iMacs can Turbo Boost to 3.9GHz, while the Mac Mini i7 Turbo Boosts to 3.6GHz.
Surely that means that the iMacs are faster than the Mac Mini, (though I don't know how much a 0.3GHz increase really is in real world perception)?
The numbers dont lie. You seen the benchmarks. The laptop CPU in the mini the 2.6 i7 has a more agressive turbo. Meaning the turbo ramps up quicker than its desktop counter parts. Even though it is overall 0.3Ghz slower. The 2.6 i7 has a wider range, 2.6 to 3.6. Or a range of 1Ghz.
The 3770 has half the range of 500 Mhz. 3.4 to 3.9. The 3770s has a range of 3.1 to 3.9. If you look at the passmark numbers the 3770S is faster than the 3770k!
I found Oracles machine or his hackentosh. Odd that he would name it a 'Mac mini'.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/1203281
The 2.6 i7.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench2/1198797
The numbers speak for themselves.
So, you can make the boxes thicker. Apple makes a stupid design decision and now it's a fundamental property of the universe and we can't even discuss outside that misshapen box? Will a mini twice as thick on your desk really look that bad, at 4 times the power with a 3TB HD and an SSD?
Apple offers ugly scrawny little things. Apple has anorexia. Their computers are so thin they're ugly already and they keep throwing out essentials to make them even thinner and uglier.
Why would you never put a tower under your desk? Out of sight it's less clutter than a mac mini on your desk would be. Why do you want to keep upgrading to a newer generation mac mini that still can't compete with destop hardware from 2 generations ago?
And saying it's all the power you need for the lifespan of the computer is so silly. The lifespan ends when the computer can no longer do the job.