Haha totally agree, what an anal wank to pick out something like that and post a definition of it and everything
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Which is the better all round machine? I7 dual or quad ?
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Haha totally agree, what an anal wank to pick out something like that and post a definition of it and everything
The clock speeds can be very confusing. The clock speed is limited by how much heat the CPU produces, and four cores can produce more heat than two.
If Intel sells a CPU with "4 cores, 2 GHz" that means all four cores can run at 2 GHz permanently without producing too much heat to cause any damage. But if you use only 2 cores, then they will run at much higher speed, for example 2.8 GHz, and if you use only one core, it will run at even higher speed, for example 3.4 GHz, because two or one cores produce less heat and can be allowed to run faster.
So the quad core processor will _always_ run faster than the dual core. If only one or two cores are used, it will run at slightly faster clock speed; if four cores are used it will run at least 50% faster even though the clock speed is lower.
Long story short.. my mini is the best all around mini machine and although it's three feet away at ear level I have never heard it- nor is it ever warm to the touch. 
I made the investment based on system longevity of hardware and potential to work with future OS / third party compatibility; it was a no brainer! (not a gamer and if I were I wouldn't be looking at a mini )
With boot ssd:
I made the investment based on system longevity of hardware and potential to work with future OS / third party compatibility; it was a no brainer! (not a gamer and if I were I wouldn't be looking at a mini )
With boot ssd:
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Long story short.. my mini is the best all around mini machine and although it's three feet away at ear level I have never heard it- nor is it ever warm to the touch.
I made the investment based on system longevity of hardware and potential to work with future OS / third party compatibility; it was a no brainer! (not a gamer and if I were I wouldn't be looking at a mini )
With boot ssd:
People seem to be moaning about the fan noise on the server mini...its fans do spin faster compared to the stock mini's. Never even heard it under full load?
That geekbench score is great though...
I agree as well, I have a badly dyslexic friend who spells very badly, people like this guy are always nit picking at his posts.
Long as you can understand what people mean then just leave it the hell alone.
To the op, id go for the iMac if you don't already have a screen and stuff.
Just some addition information between 2 processors http://ark.intel.com/compare/52231,53463 there are some features not available on quad that deal with virtualization ( not sure how much parallels or fusion currently take advantage of these currently. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2775219?start=0&tstart=0 ). Also you do get an extra 256MB + of ram on dual because of dedicated gfx, if you're using vm's and OS X you'll want all memory you can get.
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I had both the i5 2.5 with the AMD GPU and i7 2.0 Server Intel HD3000 non-descrete. While I use my system to do a lot of web, email and other basic things. I do use it a great deal for ripping music and/or movies. In my test at home just a real time test. I can tell you the server kicks the crap out of the i5 2.5. This was an important factor for me because cutting ripping time in half and sometimes even more in some cases saves me time and my time is valuable to me. I ended up sending the i5 back to Amazon and kept the server version for my purposes.
Like so many have said you have to decide what are you going to be doing. If you are like me and doing a lot or ripping the choice is very clear. If you will only occasionally rip, but most do web, email, word processing, you don't need the server as you won't see much benefit.
This really isn't that hard of a decision when you think about what you'll be doing or using your Mini for. People tend to complicate things when they really aren't that complicated at all.
Like so many have said you have to decide what are you going to be doing. If you are like me and doing a lot or ripping the choice is very clear. If you will only occasionally rip, but most do web, email, word processing, you don't need the server as you won't see much benefit.
This really isn't that hard of a decision when you think about what you'll be doing or using your Mini for. People tend to complicate things when they really aren't that complicated at all.
that is an interesting question that i would like to find out... which is the best all arounder?
i feel like both are tied because of features that the other lacks.
one has two more cores while the other has a dedicated gpu but limited vram?
one is cheaper, but has a slower stock hdd?
one is more expensive but has two faster hdd's?
i think it's a tie.
?????
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i think it's between the dual i7 and the quad i7, though.
i feel like both are tied because of features that the other lacks.
one has two more cores while the other has a dedicated gpu but limited vram?
one is cheaper, but has a slower stock hdd?
one is more expensive but has two faster hdd's?
i think it's a tie.
?????
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i think it's between the dual i7 and the quad i7, though.
I think 'all around' would be the i7 with discrete graphics (I spelled that right, right?) simply because you still have a strong CPU and better GPU than the intel HD3000. However, the server is not bad, I may get one, so if your uses don't need the better GPU then buy the server.
Oops - He was thinking about the Mac Pro or an iMac. In the end he bought the 27" iMac because he was told it would be less noisy and have less heat than the Pro. However the noise is still more than he likes it to be.
Don't make up numbers. The mini server quad i7 has a max turbo boost speed of 2.9ghz. The dual core i7 can turbo boost to 3.4ghz. So for single threaded applications the dual core i7 can be faster.
Fan noise?
Much worse on my new i7 than my 2009 C2D 2.0Ghz. Of course the new machine is way faster, but for viewing similar webpages with heavy use of Flash or watching TV (using Elgato's eye tv hybrid), the new machine is much more noisy :-(
It does encode movies in handbreaking a LOT faster, but at a screaming 5500rpm for the poor fan (and me!). Same goes for playing Civ V - I am running it at 2560x1600 for my 30" display, which probably doesn't help...
I really need a cpu throttling utility. Why the f. has Apple not build that into Activity Monitor as it is in task manager on Windows?!
Much worse on my new i7 than my 2009 C2D 2.0Ghz. Of course the new machine is way faster, but for viewing similar webpages with heavy use of Flash or watching TV (using Elgato's eye tv hybrid), the new machine is much more noisy :-(
It does encode movies in handbreaking a LOT faster, but at a screaming 5500rpm for the poor fan (and me!). Same goes for playing Civ V - I am running it at 2560x1600 for my 30" display, which probably doesn't help...
I really need a cpu throttling utility. Why the f. has Apple not build that into Activity Monitor as it is in task manager on Windows?!
This may sound like a really generic question as the discussion has really gone high level, but to those who have the 2.5 i5 w/ AMD - does it just feel snappy?
I'll basically be having Photoshop and Illustrator open at the same time along with a bunch of web pages and Coda open on another desktop instance (not VM, just another "Space" taking the term from SL) with iTunes playing most of the time. I don't game really, but once in a while a game'll come out like Diablo 3 I'll want to play, but most of it is on my xbox.
Once in a while I'll be utilizing Parallels to run some stuff on Windows, but mostly I'll remain only running Lion.
I tried to go to the Apple store and test it out, but they only had the old Core 2 Duo models around. And they were running lion, and it was REALLY sluggish. Like I'd click on Mission Control and you could physically see the jitter of the it struggling.
I'm just worried about getting frustrated with sluggishness switching between that kind of work flow and seriously considering the Server with the hope that I can get a discrete card via Thunderbolt sometime next year as my next upgrade to the system.
I'll basically be having Photoshop and Illustrator open at the same time along with a bunch of web pages and Coda open on another desktop instance (not VM, just another "Space" taking the term from SL) with iTunes playing most of the time. I don't game really, but once in a while a game'll come out like Diablo 3 I'll want to play, but most of it is on my xbox.
Once in a while I'll be utilizing Parallels to run some stuff on Windows, but mostly I'll remain only running Lion.
I tried to go to the Apple store and test it out, but they only had the old Core 2 Duo models around. And they were running lion, and it was REALLY sluggish. Like I'd click on Mission Control and you could physically see the jitter of the it struggling.
I'm just worried about getting frustrated with sluggishness switching between that kind of work flow and seriously considering the Server with the hope that I can get a discrete card via Thunderbolt sometime next year as my next upgrade to the system.
I've got a mini that I use for mostly basic desktop/office apps -- MS Office, iWork, Safari, Preview (for PDF markup), Parallels and MS Remote Desktop.
I went with the 2.5GHz i5 with the AMD, upgraded to 8GB of RAM and a 120GB SSD from OWC (and kept the stock 500GB HD).
Its an office machine, so I'm not doing any DVD/BD rips on it, so I didn't need the quad but I did want the dedicated GPU for smoothest UI effects as it's driving two displays. I tried my i7 MacBook Air on a large (30" Dell) display and things like Launchpad were jittery, so I opted for the GPU on the mini.
However, my vote for best all-around would be the 2.7GHz i7 with the AMD GPU.
I went with the 2.5GHz i5 with the AMD, upgraded to 8GB of RAM and a 120GB SSD from OWC (and kept the stock 500GB HD).
Its an office machine, so I'm not doing any DVD/BD rips on it, so I didn't need the quad but I did want the dedicated GPU for smoothest UI effects as it's driving two displays. I tried my i7 MacBook Air on a large (30" Dell) display and things like Launchpad were jittery, so I opted for the GPU on the mini.
However, my vote for best all-around would be the 2.7GHz i7 with the AMD GPU.
Yeah that's what I noticed right off the bat. The UI was just really jittery and clunky. My wife's mac mini w/ 4gb of ram runs super smooth in SL. But the 2.66ghz 2010 server edition running Lion was painful to watch with Launchpad and switching screens in Mission control.
So I'm assuming you mean that the i5 2.5 w/ AMD has none of that? I'd be curious if anyone sees it with either the 2.3 base line or the server.
I'm confused. Glad I found this thread. I will be buying a MM for Logic Pro and as a htpc. I thought the server MM was the fastest with the i7 quad core. If I don't need a server should I just buy the entry level MM and upgrade to i7 and not worry bout dual core? Logic and other media apps use 64bit so...
A server=the HD Configuration and server software so what is special a bout a server edition that I might need? Replace boot HD with SSD, add 1TB HD and be done with it?
A server=the HD Configuration and server software so what is special a bout a server edition that I might need? Replace boot HD with SSD, add 1TB HD and be done with it?
I went from using a Mid 2009 Mini 2.0 Ghz, 4GB ram, 500 GB Hybrid SSD, to a 2011 Base Mini and all I can say is WOW.
I am waiting for my 8GB upgrade from NewEgg, however even with the 2 GB this thing Boogies thru all sorts of things I throw at it especially Encoding in BH, holy Cow.
Not fond of Lion though with the little things Apple took out but over all I think I have changed enough to look like SL, and one thing ticks me off is lact of Power PC App support, I love Mac Ripper but can't use it
I am waiting for my 8GB upgrade from NewEgg, however even with the 2 GB this thing Boogies thru all sorts of things I throw at it especially Encoding in BH, holy Cow.
Not fond of Lion though with the little things Apple took out but over all I think I have changed enough to look like SL, and one thing ticks me off is lact of Power PC App support, I love Mac Ripper but can't use it