New Mac Mini and Photoshop CS3

I'm thinking of getting a new 2.0 GHz Mac Mini but am wondering if the built-in Intel GMA 950 graphics processor has enough horsepower for moderate-duty Photoshop CS3 work (all photo editing) using a Dell 24" Ultasharp widescreen LCD monitor? All the specs I read seem to suggest that the 950 can handle what I'm asking, but I'd like to hear from somebody who is doing CS3 work on a Mini with a 24" LCD monitor before taking the plunge.

Thanks.

Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Aug 18, 2007 2:34 PM

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4 replies

Aug 19, 2007 7:42 AM in response to Mackinac

The Intel Mini can certainly handle a 1920 x 1200 monitor.

Photoshopping is going to be primarily computationally demanding, and demanding of the RAM and Virtual Memory system. Get as much RAM as you can. Although Apple doesn't provide it, you might consider the third-party option of putting in 3 or 4 Gigs of RAM (only 3 Gigs will be addressable.)

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMacand_Mac_mini_memory_performancetesting

I can't see the graphics system really being an issue, since you are dealing with static images, not video streams.

The Mini uses a notebook hard drive, which may be slower than larger 3.5" drives.

A firewire-connected external drive would probably help with Photoshop performance.

Aug 20, 2007 8:11 AM in response to Mackinac

Welcome to Apple Discussions!

Yes, the mini will handle this perfectly well. The integrated graphics is really not a limiting factor at all in terms of Photoshop use. You would, as Boece says, be wise to add as much RAM as possible, and you need to be aware that Photoshop likes a lot of drive space and works best on faster drives than on the mini's 5400rpm device, but given the power of the C2D mini, you would not expect to run into performance problems unless, perhaps, you were working with large RAW files.

Nov 2, 2007 3:51 AM in response to TJC69

It does indeed mean that if you put 4Gb RAM in a Core 2 Duo mini it will only be able to see 3Gb of it. There is, however, no real downside or risk in fitting 3Gb RAM into the system even though Apple only specs it up to 2Gb. The only 'issue' is that to fit 3Gb, you would need unmatched RAM modules (1 1Gb and 1 2Gb stick) which means you loose the optimum performance of matches pairs of RAM. However, the loss of performance from that would generally be exceeded by the gain in performance from the additional 1Gb RAM available to MacOS.

Upgrading RAM yourself is not easy, but it is certainly not hard for someone with a little experience of working inside computers and who can do such work with care. You need a couple of thin putty knives (or pastry knives if you are more at home in the kitchen than garden) to get the case open, and some disassembly is required, but it isn't a difficult task. If you look down the page at http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/mac_mini/intel you'll see links for a video of what's entailed.

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New Mac Mini and Photoshop CS3

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