Will a 2014 (2.6GHz i5) play Sim City and stream mkv via Plex?

[mattoligy]

Hi guys, sorry if this kind of thing has been covered already but my head is spinning atm with all this talk of late 2012 quad core i7 Minis being much better than the latest offerings... So it's between a Fast CPU but old GPU or Fast/er/ GPU but slow/er/ CPU

I'm looking for a budget Mac to use via my 50" LED Samsung TV that will play games such as the latest Sim City well and (Main use) play large 1080p mkv movies via HDMI and stream to iPad/AppleTV via Plex and or Airplay etc.

These are my thoughts...

1) Will the improvement in the GPU with the Iris 5100 over the HD4000 outweigh the slower dual core CPU in this usage case?

2) Do things like Plex transcoding/streaming and VLC mkv viewing via HDMI and Sim City (Gaming) even use more than two cores? If not the 2012 quad core i7 may be overkill for these tasks!

3) Will either of these devices serve well as a long lasting media consumption and (light?) gaming solution?

4) Eventually will either of these devices play 4k movies and how well?

Thanks to anyone kind enough and smart enough to clear this up for me before i give up lol

 

[mattoligy]

Nice to know there's always people willing to help... :/

 

[benx1111]

I think mac mini is not good machine for gaming. But, if you really want it, maybe mini with better GPU, is better for you and the last, Plex working perfectly on the new mini.
I have 46" SmartTV samsung and new mini with i7,16gb,256ssd. and 1080p large mkv movies work more than perfect, with plex. Everything is fine.
But for gaming.. I don't think is a good idea.
Hope I help you.

 

[mattoligy]

I think mac mini is not good machine for gaming. But, if you really want it, maybe mini with better GPU, is better for you and the last, Plex working perfectly on the new mini.
I have 46" SmartTV samsung and new mini with i7,16gb,256ssd. and 1080p large mkv movies work more than perfect, with plex. Everything is fine.
But for gaming.. I don't think is a good idea.
Hope I help you.

Thanks for your reply

Been looking into alternatives and found the zotac zbox ei750 with a quad core i7 and iris pro graphics for around the same price as a Mac Mini! This thing is much more powerful than a Mac mini and looks smaller... Do Apple just not care about the Mac mini? Because this thing is seriously underspeced is it not!? I wanted an Apple media center that's pretty future proof but by the looks of it there isn't such a thing... These units will be out of date within a year, if not out of date already :/

I'm confused:/

 

[corvus32]

For a positive gaming experience (especially longer term at 1080p), look for something with Iris Pro minimum.

The least expensive Mac that meets that requirement is $1300 which is absurd.

 

[mattoligy]

For a positive gaming experience (especially longer term at 1080p), look for something with Iris Pro minimum.

The least expensive Mac that meets that requirement is $1300 which is absurd.

What Mac is that?

 

[Crosscreek]

What Mac is that?

The mid tier iMac.

 

[corvus32]

You may want to check out the GIGABYTE mini PCs.

The GB-BXi5-4570R has a fast 3.2GHz quad core i5 and Iris Pro graphics. Newegg currently has them for under $400 after rebate [LINK]. You will need to purchase the amount of RAM and the SSD of your choice separately, but this is a good thing IMO. The SSD can be mSATA or a standard 2.5" drive, or both. Unlike the Mini, you could have a small mSATA SSD for the OS, and a 1TB 2.5" drive for games, video, movies, etc.

Unless you feel OSX is worth an extra $1000, don't bother getting a Mac.

 

[mattoligy]

You may want to check out the GIGABYTE mini PCs.

The GB-BXi5-4570R has a fast 3.2GHz quad core i5 and Iris Pro graphics. Newegg currently has them for under $400 after rebate [LINK]. You will need to purchase the amount of RAM and the SSD of your choice separately, but this is a good thing IMO. The SSD can be mSATA or a standard 2.5" drive, or both. Unlike the Mini, you could have a small mSATA SSD for the OS, and a 1TB 2.5" drive for games, video, movies, etc.

Unless you feel OSX is worth an extra $1000, don't bother getting a Mac.

Thanks for the good advice