Opened my new Mac Mini - some info

[tobyg]

The CPU is not socketed. It can not be changed.

There is a little, what appears to be, temperature sensor on the front of the hard drive. If you change your hard drive, you'll have to remove this and stick it on the new hard drive. It's just stuck on with some double sided tape.

Also confirmed - upgrade from 1GB to 2GB and I now get 256MB VRAM.

3DMark2006 v1.10 scores:

Mac Mini 2.0ghz 1GB RAM - Single 1GB DIMM (128MB VRAM)
3DMarks : 1502
SM2.0 : 525
HDR/SM3.0 Score : 551
CPU Score : 1772

Mac Mini 2.0ghz 4GB RAM - 2x2GB DIMMS (256MB VRAM)
3DMarks : 1932
SM2.0 : 691
HDR/SM3.0 Score : 712
CPU Score : 1816

[robotartfashion]

oh wow, no end user processor upgrades down the road?

that could be a shame depending on who you are

ah well, i'm still waiting to hear from those who get it if the 2.26 will be enough along with the new graphics card to make sure that 1080p files will not studder

thanks for the info

[Maven1975]

Originally Posted by robotartfashion

oh wow, no end user processor upgrades down the road?

that could be a shame depending on who you are

ah well, i'm still waiting to hear from those who get it if the 2.26 will be enough along with the new graphics card to make sure that 1080p files will not studder

thanks for the info

I use the latest 1.86 SSD MacBook Air and 1080p is not an issue with Plex. So, the Mac Mini will be fine as a HTPC.

[shinchan72]

What type of RAM do the new mac mini's use ?

I''m going to grab the 599 for my youngest who has a decent monitor already. Going to upgrade to 2gb or maybe 4 depending on price and dual boot XP for a few of his games and Unreal and WoW he can play inside OS X.

(he's 6 and not a graphics whore so the elitist who want to start screaming about the 9400m not running WoW or Unreal please dont bother)

[jjahshik32]

I just bought the $599 model as well.. do you have a guide to take the mac mini apart?

[shinchan72]

Let me know how it goes JJ - I'm just curious how much of an ordeal it is to add RAM to the thing

[twoodcc]

Originally Posted by jjahshik32

I just bought the $599 model as well.. do you have a guide to take the mac mini apart?

i think you need to check out ifixit.com

[panzer06]

Originally Posted by tobyg

The CPU is not socketed. It can not be changed.

There is a little, what appears to be, temperature sensor on the front of the hard drive. If you change your hard drive, you'll have to remove this and stick it on the new hard drive. It's just stuck on with some double sided tape.

Also confirmed - upgrade from 1GB to 2GB and I now get 256MB VRAM.

How do you get into the new mini. The last time I worked on one was the old G4 mini and you opened them with Spackle spreaders. Is it easier to get into these? Do they use laptop hard drives or desktop drives? Is it laptop ram or desktop ram? (picture looks like laptop ram)

Cheers,

[robotartfashion]

Originally Posted by panzer06

How do you get into the new mini. The last time I worked on one was the old G4 mini and you opened them with Spackle spreaders. Is it easier to get into these? Do they use laptop hard drives or desktop drives? Is it laptop ram or desktop ram? (picture looks like laptop ram)

Cheers,

from what i've heard/seen you still use a spatula/putty knife, its pretty much the same case, laptop hard drives and laptop memory, just like all of mac's products except the macpro

[jessica.]

A processor upgrade, or lack thereof is actually not uncommon for most of Apple's line. However, the hard drive seems to be a slight issue, just a slight. Anyone with a little ability can probably take care of it, but they seem to be making it difficult.

[tobyg]

Originally Posted by panzer06

How do you get into the new mini. The last time I worked on one was the old G4 mini and you opened them with Spackle spreaders. Is it easier to get into these? Do they use laptop hard drives or desktop drives? Is it laptop ram or desktop ram? (picture looks like laptop ram)

Cheers,

Same way, but it did seem a bit easier. Maybe those plastic clips aren't as hard. I made two TINY little scratch marks on the metal/plastic where I slid the putty knife in...

It's almost impossible not to mark it. I wish I had some plastic shims, those would probably help a lot.

[cleric]

Well the VRAM is good news. The cpu not so much but oh well.

[jjahshik32]

I got as far as opening the mac mini up with the putty knife and removing the casing.. but other than that there are 4 screws right?? What else do you need to get the top part opened??

could you help?

[OneMike]

yea the 256MB with the ram upgrade is good news. Makes the top end mini not worth it IMO.

[tobyg]

Originally Posted by jjahshik32

I got as far as opening the mac mini up with the putty knife and removing the casing.. but other than that there are 4 screws right?? What else do you need to get the top part opened??

could you help?

4 screws, and then unhook a ribbon cable in back.. then move the two back antennas out of the way (unhook from the top) and lift slowly and unhook the front antenna. That's about it.

[brop52]

Yeah DDR3 RAM and 2.5" HDDs are cheaper these days. I paid an arm and a leg for both back in October. There is no reason the higher end Mini should be so expensive. Hell you can get a 7k320 2.5" Hitachi HDD for $59.98 after $20 MIR or a 5k320 2.5" Hitachi for $49.99 after $10 MIR these days on Newegg. The DDR3 RAM is $52.99 for Crucial 2X2GB at Newegg.

So you start with the Low End MM for $599 add the 5k320 HDD for $49.99 and 4GB of RAM for $52.99.

Total 2GHz MM, 5k320 HDD, 4GB DDR3 RAM for $701.98 and an extra HDD/RAM to do what you want with. Or $711.97 for the 7k320 HDD.

[tobyg]

Posted some 3DMark scores in the first post of this thread.

[panzer06]

Originally Posted by brop52

Yeah DDR3 RAM and 2.5" HDDs are cheaper these days. I paid an arm and a leg for both back in October. There is no reason the higher end Mini should be so expensive. Hell you can get a 7k320 2.5" Hitachi HDD for $59.98 after $20 MIR or a 5k320 2.5" Hitachi for $49.99 after $10 MIR these days on Newegg. The DDR3 RAM is $52.99 for Crucial 2X2GB at Newegg.

So you start with the Low End MM for $599 add the 5k320 HDD for $49.99 and 4GB of RAM for $52.99.

Total 2GHz MM, 5k320 HDD, 4GB DDR3 RAM for $701.98 and an extra HDD/RAM to do what you want with. Or $711.97 for the 7k320 HDD.

Agreed, just bought the Crucial ram and already have 7200rpm 500GB Seagate in external housing.

Now I just need to decide to pull the trigger on the mini. I really want a iMac but I already have 20" 1600x1200 Samsung, 22" Dell 1920x1080 HDCP & 24" Samsung 1920x1200 HDCP monitors so I have a real hard time justifying another 20" or 24" all in one, especially since the mini is probably fine for my Word, Excel, Acrobat Pro and occasional Windows under VMware work.

Finger almost pressing submit order button...

Cheers,

[DoFoT9]

Originally Posted by tobyg

The CPU is not socketed. It can not be changed.

There is a little, what appears to be, temperature sensor on the front of the hard drive. If you change your hard drive, you'll have to remove this and stick it on the new hard drive. It's just stuck on with some double sided tape.

Also confirmed - upgrade from 1GB to 2GB and I now get 256MB VRAM.



3DMark scores:

Mac Mini 2.0ghz 1GB RAM - Single 1GB DIMM (128MB VRAM)
3DMarks : 1502
SM2.0 : 525
HDR/SM3.0 Score : 551
CPU Score : 1772

Mac Mini 2.0ghz 4GB RAM - 2x2GB DIMMS (256MB VRAM)
3DMarks : 1932
SM2.0 : 691
HDR/SM3.0 Score : 712
CPU Score : 1816

why is it normally 128MB?? or is it always that with 1GB?

Originally Posted by Maven1975

I use the latest 1.86 SSD MacBook Air and 1080p is not an issue with Plex. So, the Mac Mini will be fine as a HTPC.

geez even the old mac mini could play 1080p content without stuttering

[Cave Man]

Originally Posted by tobyg

4 screws, and then unhook a ribbon cable in back.. then move the two back antennas out of the way (unhook from the top) and lift slowly and unhook the front antenna. That's about it.

Does it look like another hard drive could fit in place of the optical drive? I'm sure the screws wouldn't align, but that's why we have Velcro, right?

[tobyg]

It came with 1GB. I bought a 4GB kit. Confirmed just putting a single 2GB in (and removing the stock 1GB chip), it bumped up to 256MB VRAM. But then I put the other 2GB chip in to do more tests, and of course even with 4GB it's 256MB VRAM.

Yes, if you've read about this all day, its 128MB VRAM which is shared with your systems main ram when you only have 1GB of RAM. 2GB or greater, the system automatically takes 256MB of that for VRAM.

[tobyg]

Originally Posted by Cave Man

Does it look like another hard drive could fit in place of the optical drive? I'm sure the screws wouldn't align, but that's why we have Velcro, right?

Sure, but the SATA port isn't the same as the one for the HD. I doubt you'd get that to work without some sort of adapter. It uses the same sata connector that I've seen on sata optical drives now a days.

[TechWhore]

Originally Posted by tobyg

It came with 1GB. I bought a 4GB kit. Confirmed just putting a single 2GB in (and removing the stock 1GB chip), it bumped up to 256MB VRAM. But then I put the other 2GB chip in to do more tests, and of course even with 4GB it's 256MB VRAM.

Yes, if you've read about this all day, its 128MB VRAM which is shared with your systems main ram when you only have 1GB of RAM. 2GB or greater, the system automatically takes 256MB of that for VRAM.

Can you confirm what brand you bought and cost?

[tobyg]

Originally Posted by TechWhore

Can you confirm what brand you bought and cost?

Oh I paid a lot. I bought a 4GB Patriot kit at Fry's. $90 for the kit.

But I wanted it today, not in a few days.

I had to return the first kit I bought to Fry's. One of the 2GB modules didn't work (Which is why I only tested with 2GB at first, one module was broke). Exchanged it this evening and the new kit is working.

[alphaod]

I'm tempted to return my MacBook.