Which Mac mini should I purchase?

[dogslobber]

Some of the 2011 Minis had discreet AMD graphics chips which are faster than the 2012 HD4000 integrated graphics.

http://www.macworld.com/article/201...i-offers-an-attractive-bang-for-the-buck.html

Also, some benchmarks of 2012 V 2014 Minis.

http://barefeats.com/macmin14.html

The 2012 Mini was released during Obama's first term in office.

 

[PilotWoo]

Buy a current model with 8GB Ram. Buy an external SDD. Boot from the external SSD and use the internal HDD as a time machine drive. This combo works brilliantly. I have never struggled for speed, plus you get a warranty and there is no need to open it up.

 

[9fiftyfive]

Buy a current model with 8GB Ram. Buy an external SDD. Boot from the external SSD and use the internal HDD as a time machine drive. This combo works brilliantly. I have never struggled for speed, plus you get a warranty and there is no need to open it up.

I have an internal SSD laying around

 

[Zobrien]

I have an internal SSD laying around

I have a 09' Mac Pro and I love it- Mac Pro is probably the best line of Apple computers that have been made, especially the cMP. Unrivaled upgradability, amazing speed for the year it is, and looks amazing. Snag one while you can, you won't be sorry.
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I have a 09' Mac Pro and I love it- Mac Pro is probably the best line of Apple computers that have been made, especially the cMP. Unrivaled upgradability, amazing speed for the year it is, and looks amazing. Snag one while you can, you won't be sorry.

Oh, and this is coming from a previous Windows guy. Built 5 since last summer, but still love apple

 

[9fiftyfive]

I have a 09' Mac Pro and I love it- Mac Pro is probably the best line of Apple computers that have been made, especially the cMP. Unrivaled upgradability, amazing speed for the year it is, and looks amazing. Snag one while you can, you won't be sorry.
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Oh, and this is coming from a previous Windows guy. Built 5 since last summer, but still love apple

What are your thoughts on the 2008 though? I won't care about using the latest OS X, so are there any other deal-breaking advantages?

 

[Zobrien]

What are your thoughts on the 2008 though? I won't care about using the latest OS X, so are there any other deal-breaking advantages?

08' is still a great computer. I would take it over a Mac mini any day. Mac mini you can't expand hardly at all compared to the Pro. Plus the pro is going to pack much more power for how much you are going to pay for it compared to if you spent the same amount on Mac mini or iMac.

 

[9fiftyfive]

08' is still a great computer. I would take it over a Mac mini any day. Mac mini you can't expand hardly at all compared to the Pro. Plus the pro is going to pack much more power for how much you are going to pay for it compared to if you spent the same amount on Mac mini or iMac.

Thanks for the input! I feel my purchase is justified

 

[Zobrien]

Oh- and upgradeable graphics card
for if you decide to edit more, or even get into gaming. With the Mac mini or iMac, you are stuck with what you get.

 

[9fiftyfive]

Oh- and upgradeable graphics card
for if you decide to edit more, or even get into gaming. With the Mac mini or iMac, you are stuck with what you get.

Looking at them on EveryMac right now. Can I potentially have 4 GPUs in my system?

 

[Zobrien]

Looking at them on EveryMac right now. Can I potentially have 4 GPUs in my system?

Depends on how many watts they suck up. I think natively if you have ones that use PCIE there are only 2 pcie cord slots on motherboard. If you wanted to use something over 250 watt each card or use more than 2 that you either get an external psu or swap one of the CD drive's out for a psu.
[doublepost=1486331014][/doublepost]

Depends on how many watts they suck up. I think natively if you have ones that use PCIE there are only 2 pcie cord slots on motherboard. If you wanted to use something over 250 watt each card or use more than 2 that you either get an external psu or swap one of the CD drive's out for a psu.

Then* sorry

 

[9fiftyfive]

Depends on how many watts they suck up. I think natively if you have ones that use PCIE there are only 2 pcie cord slots on motherboard. If you wanted to use something over 250 watt each card or use more than 2 that you either get an external psu or swap one of the CD drive's out for a psu.
[doublepost=1486331014][/doublepost]
Then* sorry

Nice, I can get more than one though

 

[Zobrien]

Nice, I can get more than one though

Yep definitely worth the money

 

[9fiftyfive]

Yep definitely worth the money

Are all of the NVIDIA GTX 6** cards compatible?

 

[Zobrien]

Are all of the NVIDIA GTX 6** cards compatible?

Yes, everything up until the 900 series I believe. The 1xxx series are not.

 

[9fiftyfive]

Yes, everything up until the 900 series I believe. The 1xxx series are not.

Nevermind, I meant a GTX 745 (which is OEM). I'm looking to only use 10.9 on this system

 

[kschendel]

As long as you know what the limits are, a 2008 (3,1) is a perfectly acceptable choice, and I'd expect it to run Linux just fine. (reFind is your friend if you want to dual boot.)

 

[9fiftyfive]

As long as you know what the limits are, a 2008 (3,1) is a perfectly acceptable choice, and I'd expect it to run Linux just fine. (reFind is your friend if you want to dual boot.)

rEFInd is amazing! I don't know exactly what I'd do with a dual boot but I have a few extra HDDs laying around that I could put OSes on

 

[JamesPDX]

Thanks! My budget is now lowered, and I was thinking about getting an 8-core Mac Pro 2008. Thoughts?

To get it to work properly, your cost will meet or exceed the price of a 2012 Mini.

 

[monkeybongo]

I thought about a Mac Pro but I think there was some article on electricity usage where it would cost much more than a Mac mini over a period of time. I keep mine on 24/7 and mostly use it as a home server.

$141.07 per year for MP versus $12.56 for a Mac Mini, According to this article: http://loewald.com/blog/2009/04/mac-and-pc-power-consumption/

If you aren't going to really maximize the speed, then you're better off buying a Mac mini and saving the electricity costs to fund the next future purchase.