Another Mac Mini upgraded to T7600!

macenforcer · Jun 9, 2007

So I got me a mac mini base model and decided to fill it up turbo style.

New mac mini specs:

- 2.33ghz Core 2 duo T7600
- 2gb Ram
- Superdrive
- Airport N
- 100gb 7200rpm HD. (250gb Scorpio on order)

Upgrades went without a hitch. System runs 3 degrees hotter than before. Fan stays at about 2100rpm at idle compared to 1900rpm like before. No real difference in noise at all.

I must say, it is a really fast, quiet and great little system now. I love it so much I am selling my Mac Pro. So basically for about $1400 I have the fastest little computer you can get. I like it.

monke · Jun 9, 2007

Wow. That's one smoking Mini.

Dont Hurt Me · Jun 9, 2007

sweet but its still crippled by integrated graphics, if only apple had a way to get something better in it.

plinden · Jun 9, 2007

What's the cost breakdown on the $1400, and where did you get the components?

I know it gives bragging rights, but considering the T7200 is half the price and only 330 MHz slower than the T7600, I wonder if you have the best bang for the buck. Not criticizing, but it usually isn't worthwhile to be right on the bleeding edge.

And what are you doing for the wireless N? Is that a Mac Pro airport N card, like the one people have added to MBPs?

This is the sort of thing I wouldn't mind doing to my own base model mini in increments, as the cost of the components come down. Although it handles it current job as the media center without a hitch, I wouldn't mind doing a bit of tinkering.

Still, $1400 on top of $600 gives you a $2000 Mac with no GPU upgrade possible.

Edit: Oops, I think I misread your original post. Is it $1400 including the original mini? I would still like a cost breakdown on this, since the T7600 is pretty much $650-$750 everywhere I look.

dswoodley · Jun 9, 2007

Dont Hurt Me said:
sweet but its still crippled by integrated graphics, if only apple had a way to get something better in it.

Crippled? Crippled how? Unless you use as it a replacement for your Macpro (and who is silly enough to do that?) how on earth is it crippled? My core solo, CORE SOLO, performs eavery daily task and some non-routine complicated ones without a hitch.

Awesome mod, by the way, to the original poster.

plinden · Jun 9, 2007

dswoodley said:
Crippled? Crippled how? Unless you use as it a replacement for your Macpro (and who is silly enough to do that?) ...

The original poster?

macenforcer said:
I love it so much I am selling my Mac Pro.

Digital Skunk · Jun 9, 2007

If Apple wants to keep the mini on the market I hope they make that same upgrade... and add a better graphics card I guess. Keep the cost under $800 and the mini would still be able to hold it's own.

macenforcer · Jun 9, 2007

You know I have read millions of posts on the poor 950 integrated graphics but I must say I like it. I have it hooked up to a 24" Dell flat panel and it works great. Have not seen any problems with it. The only problem is that it won't work on a 30" flat panel monitor. No, no problems with integrated graphics. I don't play games on my mac so I don't care.

Yes, I do have a mac pro. But here is the deal. I ran tests on xbench. Here is the skinny.

Xbench mac mini upgraded: 190.44
Xbench mac Pro: 206.59

Not that much of a difference. Not saying the mini is as fast, no the mac pro is twice as fast in some stuff but for what I do its good to go. I got the Turbo.264 device and it makes the mini almost as fast at the mac pro in encoding ipod movies. The mini really is a great machine.

Cost breakdown

$583 - Mac mini with gov discount
$659 - CPU T7600
$44 - N card
$90 - Ram
$90 - HD
$100 - Superdrive

Total: $1566

But I had the ram already, had the superdrive, had the hard drive and had the N card. The superdrive and ram I had in my kids imac, he don't miss it. The hard drive and N card I had lying around. Only real expense was the CPU but it was well worth it.

Here is the deal on cpu.

You get the cheaper $300 chip right.

Then next year or later the T7600 chip is $300 and you buy that one. Now sell your T7200 chip on ebay, you might get $50 for it. So after several yrs you end up paying the same amount but the whole time you used a slower chip. Might as well go for the fast one now and enjoy it. Besides I didn't want to open my mini for a brain transplant twice you know. on top of that the T7600 is a better chip than the T7200. Runs cooler.

Dimwhit · Jun 9, 2007

That's one damned fine mod! Glad to hear it works great.

kalisphoenix · Jun 9, 2007

A $1566 computer with integrated graphics?

macenforcer · Jun 9, 2007

kalisphoenix said:
A $1566 computer with integrated graphics?

Its called a macbook. Don't you have one?

flopticalcube · Jun 9, 2007

A lot of graphics card snobs here on MacRumors. Most computer users DON'T play games on their computers.

Gymnut · Jun 9, 2007

macenforcer said:
Its called a macbook. Don't you have one?

Lol, well to be fair the Macbook does have a screen albeit 13.3in.

Just out of curiosity, is this type of upgrade not for the feint of heart or is pretty straightforward?

kalisphoenix · Jun 9, 2007

macenforcer said:
Its called a macbook. Don't you have one?

Yeah, but mine is portable and still has a warranty 8)

flopticalcube said:
A lot of graphics card snobs here on MacRumors. Most computer users DON'T play games on their computers.

Nor do I, as evidenced by the fact that my only Mac with non-integrated graphics is, what, seven years old?

But $1566 seems pretty steep for a machine with these specs. Low ceilings. Barriers to upgrading. I have a Mac mini too -- I'd just spend the balance in a different way, and so I picked the most obvious shortcoming of the Mac mini to express my difference of opinion.

plinden · Jun 9, 2007

I would think of it more as a satisfying hobby. I'll probably upgrade my Mini similarly (no need for a superdrive, and I have a 500GB external HDD) in a year or 18 months. Wireless N would be nice, but only when the rest of my home network is N. By the way, what exactly is the wireless N card?

But I'll likely do it incrementally. RAM first, then CPU when I can get > 50% performance gain for $200 - ie. when the T7400 or T7600 reach that price. So the cost of the refurb mini ($520) and the upgrades ($90 for the RAM, $200 for the CPU) would give me a similar machine for about $800.

kalisphoenix · Jun 9, 2007

True, and I've enjoyed doing much the same thing before (pimping out a B&W Mac G3, for instance). I don't intend to be offensive, mind you.

But a Mac mini seems a strange thing to hotrod. A G4 Cube seems a much better choice -- its graphics, 3.5" HD, a spare PCI slot iirc. Not that it could approach the power of the OP's mini, of course, but it wouldn't approach the cost either.

I love my Mac mini, don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to put any money into it aside from RAM

If the OP likes it, that's all that matters.

PCMacUser · Jun 9, 2007

flopticalcube said:
A lot of graphics card snobs here on MacRumors. Most computer users DON'T play games on their computers.

That's true, but when I had a 1.66 core duo mac mini for a day, it was hooked up to my Dell 24" LCD monitor, and it was dropping frames when watching movies at 1920x1200. That's where I'd need a discrete graphics card with some horsepower.

macenforcer · Jun 9, 2007

PCMacUser said:
That's true, but when I had a 1.66 core duo mac mini for a day, it was hooked up to my Dell 24" LCD monitor, and it was dropping frames when watching movies at 1920x1200. That's where I'd need a discrete graphics card with some horsepower.

This is the most common misconception. Its not the graphics card here its the cpu. I can run full HD 1080 now with no dropped frames with the new CPU. Heck I can run more than one without dropped frames.

Vidd · Jun 9, 2007

I'd rather spend that amount of money on an iMac.

flopticalcube · Jun 9, 2007

macenforcer said:
This is the most common misconception. Its not the graphics card here its the cpu. I can run full HD 1080 now with no dropped frames with the new CPU. Heck I can run more than one without dropped frames.

Indeed. Even my "measly" 2GHz MacBook can output 1080p with no dropped frames.

macenforcer · Jun 9, 2007

Vidd said:
I'd rather spend that amount of money on an iMac.

I have an imac also. Nice machine but I want it to be small, real small. I love the size of my mini. Its quiet and super fast. Its fun to use my mac and look at it sitting there and thinking, wow, thats tiny man. Plus it can have many more uses later on like a tv hub or in your car or kitchen, anywhere space is an issue.

Mini's are cool man.

Vidd · Jun 9, 2007

I really like the Mini, actually.
If I had a nice display (and they actually decided to upgrade the Mini), I'd be very tempted to get one.
An AIO simply suits me better as my next computer purchase.

MAC1988 · Jun 9, 2007

I noticed you are putting a 250GB Hard drive, i thought the mini was only capable of holding 160gb hdd, would i be fine if i ordered a 250gb Western digitial??

speakerwizard · Jun 9, 2007

have you seen this post https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/297040/ about gfx cards in mac mini?

macenforcer · Jun 9, 2007

Doesn't it look cool? Look at that old apple symbol I pulled off my Powermac 9500!

Another Mac Mini upgraded to T7600!

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