Making my Mac Mini faster

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Hello all.

I have a 2007 model Mac Mini that I want to make faster.

I bought this off of somebody fairly recently and when I started it up, I found it took forever to load anything and everything.

I looked at the specs on it and the RAM was only 1GB and the HD memory had a max of 512 MB.

I was just wondering if anybody had any suggestions on RAM units and Hard Drives I should look at that are compatible with the Mac Mini.

I am looking into putting at LEAST 6 GB of RAM into it and a SSD with at LEAST 250 GB.

If anybody could point me in the right direction and/or give me a list of stuff I could check out it would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thank you for your time!
Michael Szoke
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Black MacBook 2.2GHz C2D, 4GB Ram - iMac G4 700MHz, 512MB Ram
The 2007 Mac Mini maxes out at 3GB of ram, so you won't be putting 6GB in there like you wanted.

If your HD only has 512MB left, that would cause the extreme slowdown you've been experiencing. Delete some stuff IMMEDIATELY, 10-15GB of space minimum is recommended to keep your computer running smoothly.
 

pigoo3

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2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
BEFORE you start talking about how you want to "at LEAST" upgrade the ram and storage to specific amount...it would probably be a good idea if you (and us) knew EXACTLY what model Mac-Mini model you have.

For example...there are 4 different model Mac-Mini's that could fall into the "2007 Mac-Mini" category...and of these 4 models...they have a max ram of between 2 & 4 gig (so you can forget about the "at LEAST" 6gig of ram idea).

Secondly...do you really think that it's a good idea to install "at LEAST" a 256gig SSD? Since a 256gig SSD will cost you in the neighborhood of $225-$250...and the Mac-mini itself is probably worth (at best $225)...maybe less.

The bottom line is...we would need to know exactly what model Mac-Mini you have before any questions can be answered with any accuracy.

- Nick
 
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Ah okay, thank you!

And I will make sure I do that. Would you happen to know what the highest amount of memory I can put in there is, and if it will support a (preferably intel based) SSD?
 
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Okay, and I'm not entirely sure what the specs or model of it is. The person I bought it off of just said it was a 2007 model.

I'm going to assume that it would be better just to order a newer Mac Mini for use with Music Production? (running Pro Tools and Reason Essentials as my VST's)
 

pigoo3

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Ah okay, thank you!

And I will make sure I do that. Would you happen to know what the highest amount of memory I can put in there is, and if it will support a (preferably intel based) SSD?

I'm sure you posted just after I posted above.;) Let us know exactly what Mac-mini model you have...then we can start answering questions.:)

- Nick
 
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Yeah, sorry about that one, I posted it and when I refreshed the page I saw your post. My bad!
 

dtravis7


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Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
Once you are booted up, Click on the Apple in the Top LEFT corner of the screen and then click on About this Mac. Post the CPU Speed, RAM and OSX Version. If you click on More Info you can find the specs on the Hard Drive there also. Also what Graphics Chipset do you see in the list?

There should be a label somewhere on it with the model and basic specs as shipped.

Tell us the above info please so we can better help you!!
 
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2010 i3 27" 16gb Ram
If you go the SSD route. you can buy a cheaper one since that mac mini only has sata 150 so a sata 3 super fast one will not gain you anything.

and yes it is propably ddr2 pc5300 dram.
 
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Okay, I'm back!

Here are (some of) the specs!

Version: 10.5.8 (I have yet to do an update)

Processor: 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4
Memory: 512 MB DDR SDRAM
Startup Disk: *
Model Identifier: PowerMac 10.1
Graphics Chipset Model: ATY,RV2800


If there is anything else, let me know please!
 

pigoo3

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Here are (some of) the specs!

Version: 10.5.8 (I have yet to do an update)

Processor: 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4
Memory: 512 MB DDR SDRAM

This is exactly why we need to get the model info straight BEFORE answering any questions!

- This Mac-Mini is not from 2007...but from 2005!
- It's maximum ram is 1 gigabyte (so no "at LEAST" 6 gig ram upgrade)
- OS 10.5.8 is the newest OS version it can run (which it is already running)

And since this is a 2005 Mac-Mini...it has a PPC G4 cpu...not an Intel cpu (which would be much better).

Finally...I've actually purchased one of these about 2 years ago for $50 bucks (but $90-$100 is probably closer to it's actual value.

- Nick

p.s. Regarding the 256gig SSD. You could probably install one (this Mac-mini has an ATA/IDE drive not SATA)...but would you really want to install a $250 SSD into a $100 computer??;)
 
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This is exactly why we need to get the model info straight BEFORE answering any questions!

- This Mac-Mini is not from 2007...but from 2005!
- It's maximum ram is 1 gigabyte (so no "at LEAST" 6 gig ram upgrade)
- OS 10.5.8 is the newest OS version it can run (which it is already running)

And since this is a 2005 Mac-Mini...it has a PPC G4 cpu...not an Intel cpu (which would be much better).

Finally...I've actually purchased one of these about 2 years ago for $50 bucks (but $90-$100 is probably closer to it's actual value.

- Nick

p.s. Regarding the 256gig SSD. You could probably install one (this Mac-mini has an ATA/IDE drive not SATA)...but would you really want to install a $250 SSD into a $100 computer??;)


Thanks so much for the info!! I found somebody that has an older pc tower that still has a RAM card and HD in it, so I'll probably just salvage those and use them until I have saved up enough money to buy a newer model.

Thank you so much for all of your help!
 

dtravis7


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MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
Nick already said it all. I own the 1.5Ghz model of that which was just before the Intel Mini came out. They over clocked the 1.42 Ghz G4 to 1.5Ghz, It came with Airport stock, had 64-Megs VRam instead of 32.

It's still useful for basic internet usage and a few other things, but it's getting old! Leopard 10.5.8 is the end. 1GB Ram is the limit. Right now I am using it for a PVR on my Sony WEGA CRT TV and for a Web Server. Works great so far with the few sites I am hosting.

The very first 1.66 Core Duo Intel Mini walks all over it though! :D
 

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