New Mac Mini or Old Mac Pro 1,1

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Level 1

21 points

New Mac Mini or Old Mac Pro 1,1

My older Mac Pro 1,1 cannot update to Maverick whih means I cannot upgrade a few of my apps including Final Cut X. Without getting into a lot of details, I have a basic question: How much would a new Mac Mini improve performace and speed over my current older Mac Pro? I can't afford the new Mac Pro but am frustrated as video editing is very slow. Thoughts?

Tech Specs For Current Mac Pro:

Processor 2 x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon

Memory 10 GB 667 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM

Graphics ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB

Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63b)

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 16, 2014 5:31 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BDAqua

Level 10

239,219 points

Jan 16, 2014 7:09 PM in response to jrc362

Mac Pro has a better Video card, but...

Mac Pro "Quad Core" 2.66 (2009/Nehalem)... Geekbench: 8269/9237

Mac mini "Core i5" 2.5 (Late 2012)... Geekbench: 6643/7469

Mac mini "Core i7" 2.3 (Late 2012)... Geekbench: 10626/11825

Mac mini "Core i7" 2.6 (Late 2012)... Geekbench: 11367/12807

Used?

iMac "Core i7" 2.8 21.5-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 10248/10690

iMac "Core i7" 3.4 27-Inch (Mid-2011)... Geekbench: 11648/12651

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Answer 2

Jan 17, 2014 2:25 AM in response to jrc362

Although, as per benchmarks that BDAqua has posted, has better

Geekbench performance numbers, the Mini could be somewhat

inadequate for any type of video work since it only has the Intel

HD4000 graphics processor. This is a performance parameter

that is not covered with Geekbench.

You will be better off buying something that has a discrete video

processor like an iMac or perhaps just finding a newer MacPro

that is in good shape.

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Answer 3

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,978 points

Jan 17, 2014 2:58 AM in response to jrc362

There have been discussions in ASC and other sites online where the topic of upgrading the graphic card (processor) to another model, some have found success with a few issues; depending on the build year and OS X the computer has, the later driver support for more has been included.

•Graphic card upgrade MacPro 1.1 - an ASC discussion:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5094918?answerId=22216756022#22216756022

•How I installed Mac OS X 10.8 Mt Lion on my 2006 MacPro 1.1:

http://www.jabbawok.net/?p=47

Maybe this line of consideration may help.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

edited

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Answer 4

jrc362 Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 20, 2014 7:26 PM in response to jrc362

Hello All,

Appreciate the info left here. Sorry to get back on so late! A LOT to think about. Thanks. So after a little more thought I'm realizing I may have other options i.e. buying a newer, though not brand new Mac Pro. Perhaps my next thought is for another forum but I thought I would throw it up here first since I already have it started here. The main reason I want to upgrade/buy a new/used computer is that I use Final Cut X for video editing and my Mac Pro1 seems to struggle when doing basic rendering (very slow). Also, I cannot upgrade the OS to Maverick with this older version, which means I cannot upgrade Final Cut X. Over the years I have invested in added memory, a new graphics card (so I could us FCPX) and larger internal hard drives to store video. My mac pro is full to the brim! My knowledge of "tech stuff" is extremely limited which is why I was looking for advice here. As I said, I found much more than I anticipated here and now my head is swimming a bit. So, given what you know now and considering that my budget is a huge consideration, what would you do if you were me?

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