What would YOU do? (Mini Upgrade)

[elliot.rose]

I have TWO late 2012 Minis - I want to upgrade ONE

Mini #1: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 / 16 GB RAM / 500GB HDD

Mini #2: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 / 10 GB RAM / 1TB Fusion Drive

(2012 Late MAC Mini https://support.apple.com/kb/SP659?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US )

Mini #1 Started running very slowly when I upgraded the OS.

Mini #2 Is running an older OS -and I don't want to risk upgrading the OS

I bought a 500GB SSD + a data doubler [allowing two drives in one machine] to make ONE useable MAC MINI with the latest OS

So, what would YOU do?

1. If you upgraded ONE MINI with the new SSD - which one would you upgrade?
2. Would you instead combine all the best elements: 16GB of RAM, 1TB Fusion Drive, (plus the new 500GB SSD) in one MINI - and if so, which Mini is better suited for that? The 2.3gz i7? or the 2.5ghz i5?
3. In option #2: Is all that hardware in a Mac Mini going to cause problems with overheating? These minis both run hot.

Thanks for any help you can give me - I hope my question makes sense - and I hope you are all healthy

 

[Jack Neill]

i7/16/500 SSD Mac 1 is slow af because of the platter drive.

Throw the Fusion drive in the trash where they belong.

Mail me the other one.

With the one you mailed me:

i5/16/2TB MX500

 

[lazy_desi_]

upgrade the i7.

swap the ram and install nvme ssd

 

[Jack Neill]

upgrade the i7.

swap the ram and install nvme ssd

Pretty sure the 2012's are old SATA 3's I think.

 

[elliot.rose]

i7/16/500 SSD Mac 1 is slow af because of the platter drive.

Throw the Fusion drive in the trash where they belong.

Mail me the other one.

With the one you mailed me:

i5/16/2TB MX500

What about adding the 500GB HDD as a second (storage) drive to the mini with the 500SSD?
Does the mix cause any problems?

I already have a Drive Dock I use for Time Capsule backups.

 

[Boyd01]

I don't see how you can have a fusion drive AND a 500gb SSD in the same Mini. The Fusion Mini should already have two disks inside - a 128gb SSD plus a 1TB hard drive, that's what a Fusion drive is. If it were me, I would pull the 1TB hard drive fron the quad mini and put the 500gb SSD in it. You would then have two SSD's in that machine (128 + 500). Then also put the 16gb RAM in that machine.

I also have a 2012 quad Mini, but mine is the 2.6ghz with an original Apple 256gb SSD. I boot it from 1TB USB 3.0 Samsung T3 SSD with Sierra and it works very well with Final Cut Pro and Logic. I recently installed Catalina on the internal SSD and it seems to work fine, but I really haven't used it much. The biggest limitation of these old machines is HD4000 graphics however.

 

[elliot.rose]

I don't see how you can have a fusion drive AND a 500gb SSD in the same Mini. The Fusion Mini should already have two disks inside - a 128gb SSD plus a 1TB hard drive, that's what a Fusion drive is. If it were me, I would pull the 1TB hard drive fron the quad mini and put the 500gb SSD in it. You would then have two SSD's in that machine (128 + 500). Then also put the 16gb RAM in that machine.

I also have a 2012 quad Mini, but mine is the 2.6ghz with an original Apple 256gb SSD. I boot it from 1TB USB 3.0 Samsung T3 SSD with Sierra and it works very well with Final Cut Pro and Logic. I recently installed Catalina on the internal SSD and it seems to work fine, but I really haven't used it much. The biggest limitation of these old machines is HD4000 graphics however.

 

[elliot.rose]

I was not aware that a fusion drive was actually TWO seperate drives. Thanks