Is this Mac Mini fast?

Question

Is this Mac Mini fast?

I was going fo rthe 2.7Ghz i7 upgraded Mac MINI, but when I saw the benchmark tests. I was shocked as to how slow it was.

I looked at the Mac MINI Server, and wow, 4 cores = more power.

I do a lot of HD video using iMovie HD andn I use HandBreak to turn my DVD collection into MP4 movies to watch on my Apple TV.

So far, I see no difference in the speed between my 2011 Mac MINI server quad core i7 and my 2010 Mac MINI core duo.

Have I made a mistake? I was hopeing for some speed here.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.2), Quad Core i7

Posted on Oct 31, 2011 1:23 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Ge0ph

Level 2

426 points

Oct 31, 2011 4:33 PM in response to Vernon Alexander

Put a SSD in there, it will be fast. Right now it's your hard drive that's holding it back.

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Answer 2

steve359

Level 6

17,169 points

Oct 31, 2011 6:49 PM in response to Vernon Alexander

Bump the memory as high as you can. The more time the applications and the data can be "active", the faster it is.

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Answer 3

Nov 1, 2011 4:15 AM in response to Vernon Alexander

Turn off the server functions and speed will increase dramatically.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4827

BTW, Geekbench scores:

2011 Mac Mini i7 quad core = 9455

2011 Mac Mini i7 dual core = 7807

2010 Mac Mini 2.4 GHz C2D = 3680

Even the i5 versions tested by Macworld blow away the C2D

Minis. The i7's will be even faster.

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Answer 4

Nov 1, 2011 3:54 PM in response to Vernon Alexander

OK, wow it is faster without the server function!! Thanks woodmeister!

BUT.........

When using HandBreak to make a MP4 of one of my DVDs so I can play it on my Apple TV and place the movie in iTunes.

The MINI heats up..RAPIDLY! The fan is blasting away!

Is this normal?

I know the MINI and other apple computers have sensors to detect excess heat and will shut down the computer before it is damaged.

Is that correct?

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Answer 5

Nov 1, 2011 3:58 PM in response to woodmeister50

Oh and I got the 8453 score from geekbench with the server on and 9455 with the server off.

Thanks again.

Now if only OWC would lower their RAM prices so I can get 16gigs in there and I want to install a SSD.

That should be plenty fast for what I need.

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Answer 6

sfatula

Level 2

158 points

Nov 1, 2011 9:50 PM in response to Vernon Alexander

Handbrake uses all of the CPU, so, it would in fact be normal to heat up when doing X264 encoding. So, yes, you will hear fan noise, which is ok.

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Answer 7

Nov 2, 2011 3:23 AM in response to Vernon Alexander

May want to check Newegg for RAM.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007635%2060000041 4%20600213067&IsNodeId=1&name=16GB%20%282%20x%208G%29

I put an 8 GB Corsair upgrade in my Macbook Pro

and has been working fine. Newegg also has a good return

policy if it doeasn't. Crucial is pricier but most people

will say it is the most reliable.

And yes, Handbrake will really get things cooking and is quite normal.

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Answer 8

Nov 7, 2011 5:23 PM in response to woodmeister50

Just for fun.

HandBreak to compress 8GIG movie to 1.2 GIG m4v file

Mac MDD G4 Dual 1.25 ghz (2gig of RAM)= 6fps or 9 houres 57minutes.

Mac MINI 2010 Core 2 duo (8 GIG opf RAM) = 40fps or 3 hours 32 seconds

Mac MINI 2.0 i7 4 core (4 GIG or RAM) = 100fps or 23 minutes.

Amazing!

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Answer 9

Nov 8, 2011 2:27 AM in response to Vernon Alexander

I've been sitting on the fence wanting to get the quad core

mini, and I think your experience may get me off my butt

and get one on order.

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