Just bought Mac Mini AMD 6630. IT FLIES!

seong · Feb 20, 2012

Man, the last two weeks has been worth the experiment. I tried to live ONLY with the iPad 2, and while it did work up until now, I really missed that full desktop OS experience that i've been attached to for nearly 6 years!
I sold my Macbook Pro prior to the experiment, and with that money, I bought the higher end Mac Mini with AMD 6630. Of course, I had some extra money left.
Since I didn't want to spend too much money on my Mac Mini, I decided to only use Apple's bluetooth keyboard & mouse, and hook my Mac Mini to my HDTV using HDMI to HDMI cable. While I was reinstalling all those CS5.5 Master Colelction, FCP, Motion 5, iWork, iLife, etc, I could tell that this Mac Mini is a pure beast! I was expecting it to take about two to three hours to complete, which was common on my MBP 2009, but it only took 30 min total!
What was more impressive was, FCP and Motion 5 import/export/editing blowed my mind away! With the help of new CPU and dedicated GPU, I was able to export the same clip in mere 30 seconds, where my MBP took about two to three minutes.

Man, I'm never ever regretting buying this Mac Mini. It's small, powerful, yet aesthetically pleasing! Has anyone had this experience? BTW, having a 42" HDTV as a monitor is not a bad thing! Great for movie editing, watching 1080p videos, etc

Risasi · Feb 20, 2012

There is room for a second HDD in there. You should shoehorn in a 60-120GB SSD, and move the OS to that drive. Use the HDD for static storage. Then it will really scream.

seong · Feb 20, 2012

Risasi said:
There is room for a second HDD in there. You should shoehorn in a 60-120GB SSD, and move the OS to that drive. Use the HDD for static storage. Then it will really scream.

Hm, I didn't know there was THAT option. I would like to try it out, but I don't want to screw with my new Mac Mini right now

I'm sure I've seen some post on iFixit about this.

BBman · Feb 20, 2012

I share all the sentiments you described, I love my Mini and I have the same model you have. It is awesome!!!

I upgraded to an SSD three weeks after purchase and that was back in august of 2011, till this day I still get amazed everyday I turn on my mini. I have no regrets and the mini performs so good and buttery smooth not to mention real fast with upgrades Crucial M4 128GB SSD and Crucial 8GB ram.

If you're worried about installing SSD just watch videos on youtube to see how easy it really is and judge for yourself if you feel comfortable opening up your baby so soon, you wont regret it.

shortcut3d · Feb 20, 2012

The 2011 Mac mini's are so impressive I've considered selling my 2010 27" iMac 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel i7 and getting an Apple Thunderbolt Display. Much of the capability on my encoding machine, a 2011 Mac mini server, is all SSD drives and SSD Thunderbolt external drive. It was so much easier upgrading the Mac mini vs the iMac. The iMacs keep getting tougher to upgrade. I'm really holding off to see how the next Mac Pro is. Possibly drop down to one machine.

Lesser Evets · Feb 23, 2012

seong said:
... I bought the higher end Mac Mini with AMD 6630. Of course, I had some extra money left.

Man, I'm never ever regretting buying this Mac Mini. It's small, powerful, yet aesthetically pleasing! Has anyone had this experience? BTW, having a 42" HDTV as a monitor is not a bad thing! Great for movie editing, watching 1080p videos, etc

Good to hear. I'm waiting for summer when, supposedly, there will be an upgrade. I expect the new low-end mini will faster than your current model, and the minis are already blasting with speed. Wonder what the iMacs and Pros are like these days with 2x and 3x the speed of your mini.

I use a 30" old cinema display and it's wondrous for art/editing, but in reality it is a little too large for practicality in all other things. I'd prefer a 24" monitor with the same resolution.

seong · Feb 23, 2012

Lesser Evets said:
Good to hear. I'm waiting for summer when, supposedly, there will be an upgrade. I expect the new low-end mini will faster than your current model, and the minis are already blasting with speed. Wonder what the iMacs and Pros are like these days with 2x and 3x the speed of your mini.

I use a 30" old cinema display and it's wondrous for art/editing, but in reality it is a little too large for practicality in all other things. I'd prefer a 24" monitor with the same resolution.

Haha, well, one thing I can be sure is that the integrated GPU will never beat dedicated GPU, unless ivy bridge is some crazy stuff

lilsoccakid74 · Feb 23, 2012

seong said:
Haha, well, one thing I can be sure is that the integrated GPU will never beat dedicated GPU, unless ivy bridge is some crazy stuff

Was about to say the same thing, HD4000 will still be behind the 6630!

seong · Feb 23, 2012

lilsoccakid74 said:
Was about to say the same thing, HD4000 will still be behind the 6630!

yup.

Logic335 · Feb 25, 2012

Just got my today and I love the little things. I added 8 gb straight out of the box and I'm just awaiting my apple keyboard and mouseto come. I love it so far. The thing hardly makes any noise and it was easy to set up.

I'm a former pc user so I have to get use to the setup but so far so good

MJL · Feb 25, 2012

Lesser Evets said:
I expect the new low-end mini will faster than your current model.....

Faster does not always equate to better.

If I understand correctly the 6630 means you can use three monitors, both base and server model can only use two monitors.

Acorn · Feb 25, 2012

this doesnt have much to do with this thread but it sort of got me thinking. has anyone purchased one of those 2010 machines for parts on ebay and installed the dvd rom into the second hard drive slot and upper case onto a 2011 mac mini with amd sorta making it a super mini.

OliverOSX93 · Feb 25, 2012

Acorn said:
this doesnt have much to do with this thread but it sort of got me thinking. has anyone purchased one of those 2010 machines for parts on ebay and installed the dvd rom into the second hard drive slot and upper case onto a 2011 mac mini with amd sorta making it a super mini.

I wouldn't be sure. We really need a hacks and mods section on the forum. A few ideas like this have been speculated / show off.

seong · Feb 25, 2012

Acorn said:
this doesnt have much to do with this thread but it sort of got me thinking. has anyone purchased one of those 2010 machines for parts on ebay and installed the dvd rom into the second hard drive slot and upper case onto a 2011 mac mini with amd sorta making it a super mini.

Meh, if I were you, I would just not even other to buy parts from eBay. Just buy the external SuperDrive from Apple.

Lesser Evets · Feb 25, 2012

MJL said:
Faster does not always equate to better.

If I understand correctly the 6630 means you can use three monitors, both base and server model can only use two monitors.

Certainly. I am under the assumption that faster with two monitors is better than slower with three monitors since I gave up three monitors years ago as they eat power and give little benefit to me. Very few probably use 3. As time goes on, one is good enough with a decent resolution.

Ultimately, faster + Windows stinks because you are using Mac software. Faster + trapped under boulders and water isn't as good as slow and dry. But ultimately, a faster computer that meets your needs is better than a slower computer any day of the week.

pilot1226 · Feb 26, 2012

BBman said:
I share all the sentiments you described, I love my Mini and I have the same model you have. It is awesome!!!

I upgraded to an SSD three weeks after purchase and that was back in august of 2011, till this day I still get amazed everyday I turn on my mini. I have no regrets and the mini performs so good and buttery smooth not to mention real fast with upgrades Crucial M4 128GB SSD and Crucial 8GB ram.

If you're worried about installing SSD just watch videos on youtube to see how easy it really is and judge for yourself if you feel comfortable opening up your baby so soon, you wont regret it.

A few questions for you -

Where did you get the RAM and SSD from? How much did they cost?

When you put the SSD in, did you lose the ability to use your DVD drive? (does it take up that same slot?)

How do you move the system files from the native HDD over to the SSD?

The-Pro · Feb 26, 2012

pilot1226 said:
A few questions for you -

Where did you get the RAM and SSD from? How much did they cost?

When you put the SSD in, did you lose the ability to use your DVD drive? (does it take up that same slot?)

How do you move the system files from the native HDD over to the SSD?

2011 minis dont have a optical drive. You place it into the second HDD spot.

You use programs like SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner. These clone your HDD and then you can boot from the new one and everything is the same as it was before.

InuNacho · Feb 27, 2012

seong said:
I was expecting it to take about two to three hours to complete, which was common on my MBP 2009, but it only took 30 min total!
What was more impressive was, FCP and Motion 5 import/export/editing blowed my mind away! With the help of new CPU and dedicated GPU, I was able to export the same clip in mere 30 seconds, where my MBP took about two to three minutes.

Ugh, I like those improvements ALOT. As a student on a tight budget working on a older C2D book I'd love to have something in the budget range be able to work on stuff at home while I do light stuff on the road.
After seeing that I'm really tempted to get one and install SL on it considering that it's still cheaper then buying a MP 1,1 and upgrading it.

steve2112 · Feb 27, 2012

So, has anyone with t he 6630 had issues with overheating? I have read about some of them having that issue, so I've been holding off buying one.

FluffyPop · Feb 27, 2012

I have one of those too. It's much faster than I expected it to be and what was originally supposed to be my "second computer" is now my main machine (it's my first Mac). It's amazing

No more PCs for me!

And no, I haven't had any issues with overheating at all.

Cmd-the-World · Feb 27, 2012

steve2112 said:
So, has anyone with t he 6630 had issues with overheating? I have read about some of them having that issue, so I've been holding off buying one.

I have been using it for about 3 months and I have never encountered any over heating issues.

The only time I hear the fan rev up when I do a video chat via Skype. The noise isn't annoying and the other end can not hear it and the temps still stay in the range of high 70ºC low 80ºC. For me the temps are acceptable.

I thing I want to point out is when I installed an SSD instead of the normal boot drive I saw about 5ºC temp drop.

-----------------

InuNacho said:
...After seeing that I'm really tempted to get one and install SL on it considering that it's still cheaper then buying a MP 1,1 and upgrading it.

As far as I know you can not install SL on the 2011 Minis as SL does not have the drives for it to work. And neither can you install the 10.7.0 and it doesn't have the correct drivers either. As far as I know support for the 2011 Minis started from 10.7.1

Wicked1 · Feb 27, 2012

seong said:
Hm, I didn't know there was THAT option. I would like to try it out, but I don't want to screw with my new Mac Mini right now I'm sure I've seen some post on iFixit about this.

iFixit sells the kit for $69, however there are other ways to get the parts without spending that much.

I went SSD for boot and Hybrid XT for Data, so far the best combo I have done with Macs.

Intel 320 120GB SSD
Seagate Momentus XT 750
Crucial 8GB Ram
Base 2011 mini with 2.3

steve2112 · Feb 27, 2012

Cmd-the-World said:
I have been using it for about 3 months and I have never encountered any over heating issues.

The only time I hear the fan rev up when I do a video chat via Skype. The noise isn't annoying and the other end can not hear it and the temps still stay in the range of high 70ºC low 80ºC. For me the temps are acceptable.

I thing I want to point out is when I installed an SSD instead of the normal boot drive I saw about 5ºC temp drop.

Yeah, I saw a nice temp drop when I upgraded my 13" MBP. My 2009 Mini can get that hot, so it wouldn't be that big a deal.

spda242 · Feb 27, 2012

steve2112 said:
So, has anyone with t he 6630 had issues with overheating? I have read about some of them having that issue, so I've been holding off buying one.

My mini (with 6630) runs way to hot and loud. I have an temp above 70 degrees celcius and closer to 80 usually. This causes the fan to run loud. For me the fan are ok when it is below 1800 rpm but it usually runs closer to 2500 rpms.

If I want play around for a few secs with Mission Control, load a heavy webpages (Like a news paper, even with adblocker), copy files etc the fan winds up. On a good day I can watch a HTML5 clip on youtube without the fan going nuts. A handbrake run settles close to 90 degree and just below 5000 rpm.

The-Pro · Feb 27, 2012

Cmd-the-World said:
As far as I know you can not install SL on the 2011 Minis as SL does not have the drives for it to work. And neither can you install the 10.7.0 and it doesn't have the correct drivers either. As far as I know support for the 2011 Minis started from 10.7.1

You can install Snow Leopard. Several threads here on the forums and on the apple forums.
heres one: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1202095/
and another: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3209335?start=285&tstart=0

Just bought Mac Mini AMD 6630. IT FLIES!

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