Will Mini ever get desktop CPU (e.g. 4770R)?

johngwheeler · Jan 15, 2014

I've just been reading about the Gigabyte Brix Pro NUC computer, showcased at CES 2014.

Man, this thing looks interesting! It has a 3.2GHz (3.9GHz turbo) quad-core i7-4770R with Iris Pro 5200 graphics, and measures only about 4.5x4.5x2.5 inches (c. 11x11x6 cm), so is considerably smaller than the Mac Mini.

You can fit a 2.5" SATA III drive plus mSATA SSD.

Do you think the next Mini will try to use one these desktop CPUs (65W TDP)? I'm wondering whether the engineering experience of the Mac Pro could be translated to a super efficient small form factor Mini. Or would they worry that it could erode Mac Pro sales, and keep the Mini deliberately at a lower level with mobile CPUs?

jwhazel · Jan 15, 2014

johngwheeler said:
Do you think the next Mini will try to use one these desktop CPUs (65W TDP)?

I don't. They're being sold for $650 (US). The 4770R is not a cheap processor. You still have to add storage and memory and the inevitable Apple tax. By the time you have a running system, you're at iMac prices and you don't even get a KVM. You could put a less expensive/powerful cpu in, but then why not just stick with a mobile one in the first place?

Edit: so just adding 8gb ram ($75) and a 750gb hard drive ($70) on the BRIX puts you at nearly $800 before tax. Thats a *lot* of money for not a lot of system in the PC world.

johngwheeler · Jan 15, 2014

jwhazel said:
Edit: so just adding 8gb ram ($75) and a 750gb hard drive ($70) on the BRIX puts you at nearly $800 before tax. Thats a *lot* of money for not a lot of system in the PC world.

Maybe, but it would be quite competitive with Mac Mini, price wise! Current 2.6GHz Mini is $899 ($799 + $100 CPU upgrade). Get the same 3rd party RAM ($75) or Apple upgrade to 8GB ($100) , and you're almost at $1000.

As far as I can see the Brix has just about the same features as the Mac Mini (with the exception of Thunderbolt & SD card), but has a significantly faster CPU, and will probably be $100-200 cheaper.

That sounds quite reasonable to me!

johngwheeler · Jan 15, 2014

i7-4770R with Iris Pro no more expensive than mobile CPU

jwhazel said:
I don't. They're being sold for $650 (US). The 4770R is not a cheap processor.

FYI, the Mini's 2.6GHz i7-3720QM costs between $390-$400. The official price for the i7-4770R is $392, so no difference.

If Apple could get the thermal design of the Mini to support 65W CPUs, they would be on to a winner even if they left everything else the same. Think about it, near top-end iMac performance (albeit without a dGPU) with Iris Pro graphics. Isn't this what everyone wants in the Mini?

The possible exception being that Apple wants to ensure that the Mini remains "entry level", and keeps the processor options limited so as to encourage upselling to iMac or Mac Pro.

philipma1957 · Jan 16, 2014

I would love to see the i7 4770r in a mini. but they need a quiet machine the gigabyte brix is noisy.

it would not be a direct iMac killer or mac pro killer as the 5200 iris gpu is good but does not compare to a real gpu. what I don't need is a radical design change .

take the same machine and lift it a half inch add a bigger heatsink with a better fan and more powerful psu. we would be good to go.

The best thing I can say is the gigabyte BRIX is more powerful then the mac mini 2012 in cpu power and in GPU power this is good as it means apple finally needs to make a better mini.

Crosscreek · Jan 16, 2014

philipma1957 said:
I would love to see the i7 4770r in a mini. but they need a quiet machine the gigabyte brix is noisy.

it would not be a direct iMac killer or mac pro killer as the 5200 iris gpu is good but does not compare to a real gpu. what I don't need is a radical design change .

take the same machine and lift it a half inch add a bigger heatsink with a better fan and more powerful psu. we would be good to go.

The best thing I can say is the gigabyte BRIX is more powerful then the mac mini 2012 in cpu power and in GPU power this is good as it means apple finally needs to make a better mini.

It would be nice to a a desktop processor in the Mini but I think Apple uses the mobile processor because of the server option. If you have a room full of these the energy savings would be substantial.

philipma1957 · Jan 16, 2014

Crosscreek said:
It would be nice to a a desktop processor in the Mini but I think Apple uses the mobile processor because of the server option. If you have a room full of these the energy savings would be substantial.

i do agree with you in general,but there could be an exception in this case.

the gigabyte brix will outperform the mini in cpu and gpu pretty much a first in small form factor machines.

Secondly the new 4k tv's are on the way. the current 2012 minis will not be that good with them an iris 5200 may be okay.

time will tell what happens. for me the 2012 quad does the job as I have all 1080p screens.

Crosscreek · Jan 16, 2014

philipma1957 said:
i do agree with you in general,but there could be an exception in this case.

the gigabyte brix will outperform the mini in cpu and gpu pretty much a first in small form factor machines.

Secondly the new 4k tv's are on the way. the current 2012 minis will not be that good with them an iris 5200 may be okay.

time will tell what happens. for me the 2012 quad does the job as I have all 1080p screens.

I haven't seen the 5200 GPU run 4k. I know from experience that 15 rMBP with Iris Pro will struggle with UHD at 30hz. Broadwell is suppose to improve GPU by 40% over Haswell which would probably solve the 4k GPU issue.
I was wrong about Iris Pro 5200. I have seen it because it was the 15 rMBP chip and there was some lag in the touch pad on UHD. The 13 rmbp with the Iris 5100 was unusable on the UHD.

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Will Mini ever get desktop CPU (e.g. 4770R)?

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