Which Mac Mini for Adobe CS5 and Final Cut Express?

[rhurst]

Hi all,

New forum member here, planning to make the switch from PC to Mac in the coming weeks. I'm quite impressed with the Mac Mini that I use at work (2009 model), and I'm planning to get my own 2011 model.

I am primarily interested in using it for Adobe CS5 and Final Cut Express (not Pro). I understand that there are other Macs better suited to these applications, but they aren't really in my price range, and I've read numerous success stories from other Mac Mini users who use these programs.

Which of the following Mac Minis would be best suited for CS5 and Final Cut Express?

"Standard" Mac Mini (with upgrades)
- 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7
- 8 gigs of RAM
- AMD Radeon HD 6630M with 256 MB of RAM
- single 750GB (7200-rpm) hard drive
- separate external hard drive via FireWire (as scratch disk)

or

Mac Mini Server (with upgrades)
- 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
- 8 gigs of RAM
- Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor with 384 MB of RAM (shared)
- dual 750GB (7200-rpm) hard drives (both internal)

I guess a simpler way to put it is: which is more important for photo & video editing, a faster CPU or a decent graphics card?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[chappers]

For Photo editing then a good fast CPU is probably the better alternative.

However as Apple have just announced a new Mac Mini, you may find the latest ones more suited to your needs, plus we now have a new version of Final Cut which I have no experience off. However with background rendering it may be better with more CPU and RAM. However I can't find any spec on the video chip used on the new mini's, the FCPX spec does state a HD300 card or better.