Apple says it's 85W and it stresses when running 1080p - probably around 60W or 70W. The MP1,1 with one CPU, the 5870, and two 2GB DIMMs would be about 60W when playing 1080P video. So, yeah, close to the same or the MP1,1 might be a little less.
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Retired Mac Pro as HTPC
- Thread starter Shaggymax
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Apple says it's 85W and it stresses when running 1080p - probably around 60W or 70W. The MP1,1 with one CPU, the 5870, and two 2GB DIMMs would be about 60W when playing 1080P video. So, yeah, close to the same or the MP1,1 might be a little less.
Err..
My 2007 spec mini plays 1080p OK (no fans screaming, cpu not pegged).
My core i7 MBP plays 1080p video while consuming maybe 3 percent CPU. A core i series mini will be similar. An ATV will do it in far, far less.
I think the HD4000 stresses a bit as I mentioned. But either way, even i it consumes 40Was opposed to 80W on the MP1,1 that's only like $5 a month difference if you run them 24/7 - so really not a big deal.
My question concerning the Mini is how useful is it as a HTPC with no digital audio output? HDD space is prolly enough - my 4,505 movies only takes up about 2.5TB or so.
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That's not true is it? Even the specs on the Apple site says it's Digital Analog stereo and only mentions HDMI as having multi-channel digital output.
Is Apple wrong? I dunno I don't have a Mini. <shrug>
Audio
Audio line in minijack (digital/analog)
Audio line out/headphone minijack (digital/analog)
HDMI port supports multichannel audio output
Support for Apple iPhone headset with microphone
Built-in speaker
Audio line out/headphone minijack (digital/analog)
HDMI port supports multichannel audio output
Support for Apple iPhone headset with microphone
Built-in speaker
I did not use them for movies as I have dedicated BD player. I will try on Monday to play DTS DVD and will let you know.
Yep. Most HT receivers now have graphic equalizers while older models didn't have equalizers. For my Marantz I still use a remote to control volume, tone, effects. For my Mac Pro I still do it manually with the mouse to fast forward the blu ray player.
a 2011 mini is more than adequate for my htpc. it's dead silent, uses almost no power and operates as a delightful part of my home network.
I generally control it with a track pad or my old 2007 mini's remote or my iphone with an app or a wireless keyboard. All are adequate, I've never really bothered to decide which to use permanently.
running multiple tasks on the old 1,1 mac pro, I could occasionally hear the fans and my hearing for low decibel sounds isn't particularly good.
The mini maxed out is still silent from a few feet away from it as far as I can tell.
You can pick up 2009-2011 minis on a level of cheapness that only makes sense in light of the fact that new minis are cheap and the older ones drop in price with each new iteration merely to reflect the newest model's occupying the previous model's price.
While a stock 1,1 mac pro can usually be had for under $300 on craigslist new york. 2011 minis often sell for $350. If you plan on running multiple tasks, either model would need more ram and the old 1,1 ram is just obnoxiously expensive compared to 2011 mini ram which is regularly on sale on new egg.
At the end of the day, I'm glad I have the mini for my htpc. the old 1,1 pro was an energy hog and while it was good for the tasks I used to use it for, it was not ideal for the htpc. Also, it was big and clunky and never quite fit well around the rest of the home theatre.
My advice, sell the pro, get a newer model mini. If you were going to use it for something else, it might be worth it to hold on to the old pro.
I generally control it with a track pad or my old 2007 mini's remote or my iphone with an app or a wireless keyboard. All are adequate, I've never really bothered to decide which to use permanently.
running multiple tasks on the old 1,1 mac pro, I could occasionally hear the fans and my hearing for low decibel sounds isn't particularly good.
The mini maxed out is still silent from a few feet away from it as far as I can tell.
You can pick up 2009-2011 minis on a level of cheapness that only makes sense in light of the fact that new minis are cheap and the older ones drop in price with each new iteration merely to reflect the newest model's occupying the previous model's price.
While a stock 1,1 mac pro can usually be had for under $300 on craigslist new york. 2011 minis often sell for $350. If you plan on running multiple tasks, either model would need more ram and the old 1,1 ram is just obnoxiously expensive compared to 2011 mini ram which is regularly on sale on new egg.
At the end of the day, I'm glad I have the mini for my htpc. the old 1,1 pro was an energy hog and while it was good for the tasks I used to use it for, it was not ideal for the htpc. Also, it was big and clunky and never quite fit well around the rest of the home theatre.
My advice, sell the pro, get a newer model mini. If you were going to use it for something else, it might be worth it to hold on to the old pro.
I started doing this with an old g5
Hi,
I started using my old g5 as a HTPC a few years ago. And I don't think it looks too hideous. I have the optical out plugged into an AVR along with a DVI to HDMI cable. I then have a USB to digital coaxial bridge plugged into a DAC and hifi. My usage of it has changed. I used to use it for music, movies and internet tv. But now partly due to it being too old for most internet TV, partly because I was too lazy to rip all my DVDs and most importantly because my other sources are much more convenient I now only use it for music. At which it is very good. Because it is so old there are no issues with software updates or system maintenance. It just rips and plays music using apple remote. I personally feel that this makes it's usage very convenient. Meanwhile, I feel blu rays are far superior to downloaded films, cost the same, and I watch too infrequently to get into ripping. The catch up TV, on demand services on my sky box and blu ray are now so good it almost completely removes the need to use an HTPC for anything other than music.
Power consumption; obviously your mac pro will consume a lot of power. But, the effect of this can be minimised by setting a schedule. Why have it on at night or when you aren't there?
A friend and my Dad both use a mac mini as an HTPC. A couple of things have put me off this route. One is the need for an external dvd drive. They both have the apple one, which compared to your mac pro's internal drive is noisy and slow. The other is expansion/backup. Both have filed their machines whilst still under applecare. They then needed to add unsightly external drives. Obviously the other option is network storage. But... Internal/local storage is rarely glitchy, network storage can be. It is likely to require more troubleshooting and boxes too. Having said that I'm sure it works perfectly for some people. Your mac pro however can easily internalise plenty of storage.
The apple tv is a good product. But from my point of view has a few flaws. one is the need for a good network and storage elsewhere. The other is that the optical out is fixed at 48khz. This is perfect for DVDs but has the potential to produce jitter when playing ripped cds (44.1khz). This ramble't bother a lot of people however.
The big downside would be the fan noise. You can take steps to minise the effect of this. Not least by listening at a good volume!
So in summary. You may find the the advantages of your mac pro make it excel vs the other options in some areas, while the abilities of your other sources negate the advantages of replacing it with one of the other options.
Thanks and apologies for rambling.
Hi,
I started using my old g5 as a HTPC a few years ago. And I don't think it looks too hideous. I have the optical out plugged into an AVR along with a DVI to HDMI cable. I then have a USB to digital coaxial bridge plugged into a DAC and hifi. My usage of it has changed. I used to use it for music, movies and internet tv. But now partly due to it being too old for most internet TV, partly because I was too lazy to rip all my DVDs and most importantly because my other sources are much more convenient I now only use it for music. At which it is very good. Because it is so old there are no issues with software updates or system maintenance. It just rips and plays music using apple remote. I personally feel that this makes it's usage very convenient. Meanwhile, I feel blu rays are far superior to downloaded films, cost the same, and I watch too infrequently to get into ripping. The catch up TV, on demand services on my sky box and blu ray are now so good it almost completely removes the need to use an HTPC for anything other than music.
Power consumption; obviously your mac pro will consume a lot of power. But, the effect of this can be minimised by setting a schedule. Why have it on at night or when you aren't there?
A friend and my Dad both use a mac mini as an HTPC. A couple of things have put me off this route. One is the need for an external dvd drive. They both have the apple one, which compared to your mac pro's internal drive is noisy and slow. The other is expansion/backup. Both have filed their machines whilst still under applecare. They then needed to add unsightly external drives. Obviously the other option is network storage. But... Internal/local storage is rarely glitchy, network storage can be. It is likely to require more troubleshooting and boxes too. Having said that I'm sure it works perfectly for some people. Your mac pro however can easily internalise plenty of storage.
The apple tv is a good product. But from my point of view has a few flaws. one is the need for a good network and storage elsewhere. The other is that the optical out is fixed at 48khz. This is perfect for DVDs but has the potential to produce jitter when playing ripped cds (44.1khz). This ramble't bother a lot of people however.
The big downside would be the fan noise. You can take steps to minise the effect of this. Not least by listening at a good volume!
So in summary. You may find the the advantages of your mac pro make it excel vs the other options in some areas, while the abilities of your other sources negate the advantages of replacing it with one of the other options.
Thanks and apologies for rambling.
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