Base iMac vs 2.6 GHz Mac Mini

[macnibblet]

I am in the market for a new Mac, and am planning to get a iMac, however, recently I have seen that the Mac minis offer significantly better performance for their price. I intend to use the device for casual to moderate gaming and occasional video editing. I am wondering how much faster a Mac mini with the above specs would be compared to the baseline iMac. And also, how do Intel HD Integrated Graphics 4000 compare to Nvidia GEFORCE 640 M. Thanks!

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I am also trying to decide whether Fusion Drive would be worth it for my uses.

 

[sonicrobby]

This would be easier if you put all the specifics up instead of just using "base model" and "2.6GHz". Quad core is better than dual core. All iMacs have quad cores, mac mini can have either dual or quad. Also, a dedicated graphics card is much better than integrated graphics. So the 640m is better than the HD4000.

I would say go with the iMac.

 

[imurdaddy]

For now...2.6ghz Mini is always quad core i7....

 

[macnibblet]

I apologize, here are the specs

iMac
21.5 inch
2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M with 512MB

Mac Mini
2.6GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost 3.3 GHz
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
1TB Fusion Drive
Intel HD Graphics 4000

 

[sonicrobby]

The specs are generally the same, you should notice no real difference in performance. The only question is if you really need that video card?

Depending what you mean by "moderate gaming" and what settings you play on, you may or may not want the dedicated graphics. If you can play games on low settings and/or with lower fps, the mini would be fine.

 

[macnibblet]

Hyper Threading?

Doesn't the i7 on the Mac mini have 8 virtual cores with the Intel Hyper-Threading. I believe that that is not available on the i5 on the iMac. Would this make much of a difference?

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I'm just wondering if the speed or the Fusion Drive and Hyper Threading woould make up for the lack of a video card?

 

[blanka]

Doesn't the i7 on the Mac mini have 8 virtual cores with the Intel Hyper-Threading. I believe that that is not available on the i5 on the iMac. Would this make much of a difference?

HT is very important. The Mini is almost twice as fast!. It is 13000 points on geekbench vs. 8000. 90% of the time that is more relevant than your GPU. GPU is only relevant with gaming, and then, get a PS4. The 640M is not much faster than the HD4000 too. the 650GT would be a nice improvement, but not the 640.
The Mini is easier to upgrade too: you can pop in a second SDD next to the built in HD (and use it as Fusion if you like, but for a third of the price), you can swap RAM for 16Gb under 100$.

Video Editing is the definitive reason to get a i7. Encoding movies really gains from HT.