Mac mini help

[nydennis]

I'm looking to move to a Mac mini in my bedroom. I currently have a 2600k in a mini tower. I really need to lighten the load in the bedroom. I don't play games anymore and I figure that since I have the Mac Book Pro, iPad, iPhone, that I would go the mac mini route for the bedroom.

My Needs
Internet browsing. Usually 10 tabs open at a time.
Downloading from Usnet frequently.
Playing music, some video watching, etc
I have a 28 inch monitor.

I would put a second HDD into the Mini and put one of my SSD's as the main boot drive. All my Usenet files once processed will transfer to my Synology Nas to play videos/music throughout the house. I would also up the ram myself to at least 8gb.

Not sure which unit to get. The Lion server i7 2.0? The i7 2.7 dual-core? or even lower unit?

 

[secretanchitman]

any of the mac mini models will be fine. up to you if you want to spend extra for the processor, but i dont think you'll need it. the intel hd gpu does a decent job, but the discrete amd radeon 6630 will be a much better choice.

as for the server, i dont think you'll need it. 2.0ghz quad core plus two 500GB 7200rpm drives are nice, but since you are putting a second hd and an ssd in there already, theres no need for it.

 

[r0k]

I think you can make do with the lowest end current Mac Mini. 10 tabs open, music and movies should all run just fine on that level of hardware. OS X tends to be more "hardware friendly" and you really shouldn't expect to find yourself wishing you had bought a more "future proof" more expensive Mac mini.

 

[kaioshade]

The only problem you will have with getting the low end mini as opposed to the Server version is the dual hard drives. While each model of Mini allows two hard drives to be placed in the unit, only the server version has two by default, and the other versions do not have the mounting equipment included to add a second drive. You will need to purchase a kit to add the second hard drive into the mac mini if you do not get the server edition.

 

[vailr]

I currently have a 2600k in a mini tower. I really need to lighten the load in the bedroom.

Are you saying the existing machine takes up too much room, or uses too much electricity?
Or: produces too much heat?
Why not just re-use the existing machine and make it into a Hackintosh?
Another mini-sized option:
ASRock CoreHT 252B Intel Core i5 2520M Mobile Sandy Bridge Processor Intel HM65 Intel HD Graphics 3000 1 x HDMI Remote Control Barebone
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856158025

 

[Kadarin]

Are you saying the existing machine takes up too much room, or uses too much electricity?
Or: produces too much heat?
Why not just re-use the existing machine and make it into a Hackintosh?
Another mini-sized option:
ASRock CoreHT 252B Intel Core i5 2520M Mobile Sandy Bridge Processor Intel HM65 Intel HD Graphics 3000 1 x HDMI Remote Control Barebone
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856158025

It's likely that the current mini tower makes too much noise. The Mac Minis, unless they're under heavy load, are silent.

 

[lokiju]

For what you described, the lowest end model would work for your needs IMO.

Save the money for the extra RAM and drives.

 

[bobdole369]

wife uses a 2008ish model mac mini (one of if not the first intel C2D mac minis) productively - editing photos all day long. Any model will do fine.

 

[nydennis]

The only problem you will have with getting the low end mini as opposed to the Server version is the dual hard drives. While each model of Mini allows two hard drives to be placed in the unit, only the server version has two by default, and the other versions do not have the mounting equipment included to add a second drive. You will need to purchase a kit to add the second hard drive into the mac mini if you do not get the server edition.

With the Server version I would also be losing two hard drives instead of the one 500gb one. I'd replace that with a 1tb that people are using in the mini's now. I the kit should be roughly 40 dollars or cheaper I believe.

 

[kaioshade]

With the Server version I would also be losing two hard drives instead of the one 500gb one. I'd replace that with a 1tb that people are using in the mini's now. I the kit should be roughly 40 dollars or cheaper I believe.

You are exactly right. As long as you are willing to get a kit, you are good to go.

 

[nydennis]

Also the reasons that I want to get something like the mini is the Tower is a dust magnet, loud, generates a decent amount of heat. This is in a bedroom. I would move the computer to another room. With my 4 bay NAS in a closet in another room storage would no problem at all. Just trying to change things up.

The mini would just fit better in a small bedroom for me and be neater. I was even debating on getting a smaller monitor but I am sure to regret that.