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Mac mini

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Re: Mac mini

#41

Post by CrazyStat »

stephenr wrote: post #26
tabs_masterrace wrote: post #21

Still no real GPU. It's the reason I went back to a MacBook. What drew me in is the desktop class i7. At the time the Mini outperformed all other Macs in benchmarks, and it is noticeable and fast during compile times etc. Once you connect a 4k Screen (or even more screens), an eGPU becomes a must have. The integrated one just can't do smooth UI rendering. For example typing in IntelliJ always felt laggy, because it t…

The performance depends very greatly on the resolution you run the 4K screen at. If you're using a non-evenly scaled resolution (i.e. not exactly 1x or 2x rendering) it's not gonna be fantastic. Running at 'default' 2x my 2018 runs 2x 24" 4Ks without issue - the problem most people have I think is that they buy much larger displays and then want to use a higher rendered resolution, which is where the iGPU will strugg…

> the problem most people have I think is that they buy much larger displays and then want to use a higher rendered resolution

I'm not going to buy a 4k screen with the intention of running it at 1080p. There are plenty of large 1080p screens out there.

If I buy a 4k screen it's because I want to run it at 4k.

Re: Mac mini

#42

Post by qayxc »

thefounder wrote: post #33
gorgoiler wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but a more charitable take is that the high price goes to subsidize macOS development. Having just moved to a Windows 10 shop running on cheapest-possible Dell hotdesking workstations, I’m starting to miss macOS and all its command-spacebar glory!

Perhaps you should buy something more in the price range of the mac-mini to make a real comparison rather than the cheapest dell.

I don't think they have much choice in what their employer deems sufficient for getting work done.

Re: Mac mini

#43

Post by phkahler »

jagger27 wrote: post #6

Only up to 6-core 8th generation CPUs, and it looks like the base 6-core SKU is the i5-8500, which doesn’t have Hyperthreading. Ouch. It’s such a shame that’s the best Intel can do in that thermal envelope. AMD is about to ship Ryzen 4000 mobile chips with lower TDP, great integrated graphics, higher clock speeds and more cores. It would have worked fine in the Mac mini. Imagine how good the desktop APUs will be when…

>> Imagine how good the desktop APUs will be when those come out.

I'm starting to think there won't be any more desktop APUs. The next logical step would be an 8 core CPU with better GPU than the 3400G. That would be good enough desktop for a huge swath of the market and might kill sales of higher end chips.

I use a 2400G for software development. It's the fastest cpu I've ever owned. It runs a 4k desktop, 4k video, or 4k gaming (old stuff I'm not a "gamer") without even running the fan loudly.

The main thing I want is AV1 decode on the GPU.

Re: Mac mini

#44

Post by djsumdog »

Juliate wrote: post #11
rvz wrote: post #5

The Mac Minis are still expensive and underwhelming (even when maxed out) when compared with the top of the range NUCs with even AMD GPUs. The Skull and Ghost Canyon NUCs are great for Linux CIs or building large projects or I could even go far to either Hackintosh a few NUCs to surpass the need to buy a Mac Mini anyway for next 5 years. Thanks, but I would skip this Mac Mini and go for the latest maxed out NUC inste…

Are Hackintosh a practical reality? (genuine question)

I ran a hackintosh for years. It used the retail OS plus some custom kexts. My last OS was Snow Leopard before I sold it. I got a real MacBook Pro with Lion and hated hated hated it. Hated it so much I started running Linux in a VM again and eventually switched to a Linux desktop again.

I don't know how well the modern macOS versions as Hackintoshes, but I suspect the community is still strong. The current challenge is probably around all the specialized hardware security and encryption chips on modern Macs, as well as the newer restrictions on signed/unsigned kexts and all the recent kernel/system API lock downs.

Re: Mac mini

#45

Post by nutshell89 »

rillweed wrote: post #38
nutshell89 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a maxed out Mac Mini with the 8th Gen hexa core i5, 64 GB ram and 1TB of storage along with a Radeon Rx 580 8GB in a Razer Core X. I think if you're using it for a specialized application with eGPU support, game development, or gaming in Windows via bootcamp it's a passable solution (albeit with lower performance than a native card). On the for something like web development, it's finicky - Chrome won't pick…

what is the xMac?

In theory it would be a headless, modular, user-upgradeable mid-range mac - essentially a low-end Mac Pro or prosumer machine targeted towards gamers, enthusiast developers, DIY artists, etc.

Re: Mac mini

#46

Post by KMnO4 »

Juliate wrote: post #11
rvz wrote: post #5

The Mac Minis are still expensive and underwhelming (even when maxed out) when compared with the top of the range NUCs with even AMD GPUs. The Skull and Ghost Canyon NUCs are great for Linux CIs or building large projects or I could even go far to either Hackintosh a few NUCs to surpass the need to buy a Mac Mini anyway for next 5 years. Thanks, but I would skip this Mac Mini and go for the latest maxed out NUC inste…

Are Hackintosh a practical reality? (genuine question)

I built a Hackintosh since my old Mini died before the refresh. Glad I did, since the $440 (tax in) components I bought trump every one of the $799+tax base model Mini specs

Re: Mac mini

#47

Post by zaphoyd »

larrik wrote: post #30
stephenr wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The performance depends very greatly on the resolution you run the 4K screen at. If you're using a non-evenly scaled resolution (i.e. not exactly 1x or 2x rendering) it's not gonna be fantastic. Running at 'default' 2x my 2018 runs 2x 24" 4Ks without issue - the problem most people have I think is that they buy much larger displays and then want to use a higher rendered resolution, which is where the iGPU will strugg…

Isn't "4K" the resolution??

Macs have the option to run a 4K screen at different "effective dpis" via scaling. The default ~200% scaling factor gives you a 1920x1080 work area that is twice as sharp. A lot of folks (myself included) choose to draw larger work surfaces (I use a 5120x2880 canvas with 2560x1440 work area on my 24 inch 4Ks). A 4K screen is high enough DPI that when scaled text still looks very nice (nicer than a native res 1440p display). Doing this (especially on multiple displays) requires a lot of GPU power.

Re: Mac mini

#48

Post by everdrive »

tabs_masterrace wrote: post #21

Still no real GPU. It's the reason I went back to a MacBook. What drew me in is the desktop class i7. At the time the Mini outperformed all other Macs in benchmarks, and it is noticeable and fast during compile times etc. Once you connect a 4k Screen (or even more screens), an eGPU becomes a must have. The integrated one just can't do smooth UI rendering. For example typing in IntelliJ always felt laggy, because it t…

Mac Mini doesn't need a real GPU in my opinion -- what they need is a mid-level desktop that accepts a real GPU. $1000 - $1500 with decent specs. But, we know they won't move into that space.

Re: Mac mini

#50

Post by tosh »

zaphoyd wrote: post #28
tosh wrote: post #7

Anyone has experience with Mac Mini + eGPU combo and can share a bit about it (e.g. as alternative to Mac Pro or iMac?)

I use a 2018 Mac mini with an OWC Helios FX enclosure with a stock AMD Vega 56 GPU. My workload is some light gaming (Mac only no windows/boot camp) and 3x4K displays in scaled modes for web/software dev. The mini itself is compact, fast, and generally great. Handles VM based dev workloads well. It’s small and quiet (not always silent though). I used the machine with just the built in integrated GPU for a few months.…

great overview, thanks!
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