Is mac mini simply imac/macbook internals??

I've checked out the apple sites and I can't really find what I'm after!!

I'm interested to know if there are actually any differences in performance between the same processor/RAM spec Mac Mini and Imac?

I currently have a 1.8GHz, Core 2 Intel Macbook with 1GB RAM and I almost have the power that I require for music but not quite!!

Would a 2.66GHz Mini with 4GB RAM allow me a decent improvement on the Macbook?

Cheers for your help guys - appreciate it.

The new Mini would perform like the latest Macbook with the same specs of the Mini. An iMac though is a different machine with discrete video chipset and Desktop 7200 RPM hard drive. The latest Mini would out perform your old 1.8Ghz C2D Macbook though.

The 2.53 Mac Mini is a nice computer, but I would personally pump out the extra dollars and get an iMac or a MacBook Pro.

You can get a 3.06 C2D or even a i7 processor with the iMac along with a huge, beautiful screen, keyboard, and mouse.

Will the Mac Mini suffice the needs of the music program that you are using? You may need to use a quad core processor.

On the other hand, a simple RAM upgrade may be enough for making your MacBook usable with that program.

Also, there is no 2.66 Mac Mini, the highest specced is 2.53. That computer would be an improvement over your current computer, noticeable but not monumental.

thanks for that - see what you're saying.

So although performance improvement, I'm still going to hit the same problem with the 5400rpm drive speed and only limited monitor size it can run....

do you know, can the 5400rpm drive be upgraded to 7200rpm DIY?

Cheers

cheers for that alex!

Appreciate your advice!

Acousmatix said:

thanks for that - see what you're saying.

So although performance improvement, I'm still going to hit the same problem with the 5400rpm drive speed and only limited monitor size it can run....

do you know, can the 5400rpm drive be upgraded to 7200rpm DIY?

Cheers

Click to expand...

You can upgrade the drive on the Mac Mini, but I have heard that it is fairly hard to do so.

You can also upgrade the drive on your MacBook.

Acousmatix said:

thanks for that - see what you're saying.

So although performance improvement, I'm still going to hit the same problem with the 5400rpm drive speed and only limited monitor size it can run....

do you know, can the 5400rpm drive be upgraded to 7200rpm DIY?

Cheers

Click to expand...

The Current Mini is not all that limited in monitor size. You might run into issues with some large HD TV's but it should drive pretty much any normal monitor.

The hard drive can be changed in the Mini as well as the RAM, but you need to know a bit what you are doing. I have opened and changed the drives and ram on 3 minis and even the CPU on the older Mini. You can no longer upgrade the CPU though on the Mini, just like on the Macbook and other notebooks, it's soldered to the board.

I have a 7200 RPM WD Sata in my older Mini. Works great and is quite fast.

If you can afford an iMac though, I would go with that as it will be even faster and has that nice monitor.

The mini does have an available 2.66 as an upgrade option, although at $150, you're not really getting your money's worth.

The size of a monitor is really irrelevant. It has to do with the resolution of the display. The current mini can output up to 2560x1600 on a single display or 1920x1200 on dual displays. Don't see this as any sort of issue at all.

As for the CPUs, there is more happening there than just clock speed. There are a lot more strategies in the production of chips and what they're capable of than just clock speed today. The Passmark - CPU mark puts the chips in question in different realms. (Few people realize that there are maybe a half dozen chips Intel puts out with the exact same clock speed - they are not all created equal - this is one area where those that compare other off-the-shelf manufacturers price point fail to take into account - time and again I've seen Apple using the best chip in a particular clock speed, while many other manufacturers use the worst one to save a few bucks since the general public is not aware of this difference.)

The Benchmark for the specific chips in question:
1.83 - 1,033
2.53 - 1,803
2.66 - ranges between 1,903 and 1,973 - there are 3 chips at this clock speed rated above the 2.53 and with a quick search I can't determine which one Apple is using. Best case though is probably a 3-5% improvement over the 2.53 - once again, not worth the $150.

Bottom line, I believe you would see a noticeable improvement between your MB and the Mac Mini related to the CPU - With an 80% improvement in the benchmarks, I'd go so far as to say a minimum of 30-35% across the board and up to 50-60% on some CPU intensive tasks such as video encoding.

Couple that with the higher bus speed of the RAM on top of moving from 1GB to 4GB and the 9400M with 256MB standard vs the Intel GMA 950 with 64MB in your MB... (While the 9400M may not be a gamers card, it will just downright blow the doors off that Intel chip you have now.)

Upgrade the drive to a 7200RPM also...

While the Mac Mini is certainly no top of the line machine by todays standards, I believe you would be pleasantly surprised at the real world difference when running memory and/or CPU intensive tasks between the two machines you're talking about. imho... The current Mac Mini is a vastly superior machine when compared to your MB.

As dtravis pointed out, if you have the money for an iMac, I would go for one of those over the mini. But, I think you'd be happy with either one.

VERY well said Bobtomay as always. My thoughts exactly.

Also the Intel Core series of CPU's keeps getting better and better. The newer CPU's are quite a bit faster than the older ones even at the same clock.