Upgrade Mac Mini (Mid 2010) or New Mini?

[bellynoob]

My current Mac Mini is a Mid 2010:
Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB

It has the stock 320GB HDD and I was thinking to upgrade this to an SSD for slightly better performance and disk space.

Wondering if anyone has any opinions and/or suggestions if it might make more sense to get the current Mac Mini with an i7 CPU etc? The most intensive thing I do on it is photo management with Aperture and the occasional editing with photoshop.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[And]

If you can do what you need to do on your current machine, and I suspect you can with 8gb ram, I would hold on to it for now and upgrade when the next mini comes out. Join us in the waiting game!

 

[Fishrrman]

You can't "upgrade" the 2010 model to USB3 -- which is the most important tech improvement made to the Mini in the past several years...

An Apple-refurbished 2.3ghz i7 Mini is a very good value right now...

 

[bellynoob]

Thanks both! That has certainly given me something to think about. The SSD upgrade on my current Mini will likely be a waste!

 

[toddzrx]

The SSD upgrade on my current Mini will likely be a waste!

No it won't.

IMHO, your 2010 machine is the perfect age for an SSD upgrade. I did it to my current 2010 iMac and the 2006 MacBook Pro it replaced. The speed increase you'll experience in everyday use is well worth the cost. Speaking of which, there are some great deals on Newegg: 240GB for $120 or less. No-brainer.

 

[Jambalaya]

Thanks both! That has certainly given me something to think about. The SSD upgrade on my current Mini will likely be a waste!

Why do you think that ? I would say add a 500GB SDD and wait for a Mini refresh before buying new. As/when a new Mini comes you'll get a good price for yours if you decide to sell. I upgraded my 2009 machine last summer rather than wait for the "imminent" refresh.

EDIT: as for you comment that the SSD would give "slightly better performance" clearly that would be dependent upon what you do with the machine. If you download blackmagic speed test I would imagine you'd see a read/write result about 65? With an SSD this will be 250, so 5 times faster, this will help boot time, application load etc a lot. I'd say that's more than "slightly"

 

[drsox]

Thanks both! That has certainly given me something to think about. The SSD upgrade on my current Mini will likely be a waste!

If you have never used an SSD then you have no appreciation of the benefits. The main one isn't speed - it's zero access wait time. All local files open immediately. As well there is the 5-10x raw speed improvement for data transfers.

Most file accesses are on small files (OS related) and here's where you will see the benefit first.

I've been using SSDs since 2007 for OS drives - I'd never go back to HDDs.

 

[blanka]

Consider upgrading. You now have the ultimate HTPC mini, and it holds value extremely well. You can retrofit the 2010 with a BR player, and then it is a hell of a sexy HTPC, impossible with newer models. So people are still looking for 2010's.
The 2.3 quad however is 4-times as fast on PS and Aperture.
The 2010 does not go very well with SSD, it only has 300MB/s sata, where most SSD's are close to 550-600MB/s now.
I think you can go to a refurb 2012 quad for about 200$.

 

[wnorris]

Thanks both! That has certainly given me something to think about. The SSD upgrade on my current Mini will likely be a waste!

No way. Personally, I would take a 2010 Mini w/ SSD over a 2012 Mini w/ HDD any day of the week.

You likely use a very small amount of your current processor power most of the time. The SSD benefits will be evident in the majority of your tasks.

Note that I currently have a 2009 Mini w/ a hybrid drive and a 2012 i7 Mini that I just upgraded with a SSD. The 2012 Mini was miserable until I upgraded it to a SSD. As an above poster mentioned you have to have used a SSD to truly appreciate the benefits. I would never use a system w/o a SSD as it is by far the best upgrade you can make.

 

[philipma1957]

hey the 2010 hdd is really hard to pull out.

Many tiny wires that break easy. If you are not handy with tearing up gear do not do it.

 

[drsox]

hey the 2010 hdd is really hard to pull out.

Many tiny wires that break easy. If you are not handy with tearing up gear do not do it.

Don't think so. It's much the same as the current Mini except there's another board sensor to remove. I've replaced 4 drives on 3 Minis w/o any drive related issues. But I do advise the OP to get the right tools from iFixit - without them it can be a nightmare (esp not having the spudger or the mobo removal tool).

 

[blanka]

Do you know why the SSD makes so much difference, not because of the SSD per se, but because the stock internal HD's of the Mini's are so crap.
I upgraded my mini's with Scorpio Blacks and with Samsung 830's, and the difference between the stock 5400rpm and the scorpio is way more relevant than the difference between the scorpio and the Samsung 830.
If you consider the 80 bucks/750GB price of the scorpio, it is a way better upgrade for the money. The scorpio almost saturates the 3Gb/s of Sata 2.

 

[drsox]

Do you know why the SSD makes so much difference, not because of the SSD per se, but because the stock internal HD's of the Mini's are so crap.
I upgraded my mini's with Scorpio Blacks and with Samsung 830's, and the difference between the stock 5400rpm and the scorpio is way more relevant than the difference between the scorpio and the Samsung 830.
If you consider the 80 bucks/750GB price of the scorpio, it is a way better upgrade for the money. The scorpio almost saturates the 3Gb/s of Sata 2.

Not in my experience. I had 7200rpm drives but would never use them again as OS drives in place of SSDs, even with old SSDs with "only" 100MBps capability.