Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Fast Q: How much ram for new Mini?
- Thread starter Murray M
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
flopticalcube
macrumors G4
I would get the 4GB. The price is in line with street prices and 2GB feels sluggish on Snow Leopard, IMO.
Hellhammer
Moderator emeritus
flopticalcube
macrumors G4
That would have been my first response but given that Apple only charges $100 more for the 4GB of RAM and that street for 2X2GB is about $120, it doesn't seem worth it to me, unless you get the stock mini faster than the BTO.
Hellhammer
Moderator emeritus
Get it with 4GB from Apple.
In 12months time you might feel like getting 8GB, but don't pay Apple's prices!
In 12months time you might feel like getting 8GB, but don't pay Apple's prices!
2GB is sufficient. it's mostly your CPU that will limit video playback and GPU (if hardware acceleration is utilized by your media playback software). and unless the video is encoded beyond the hdd's read/write limit, the hdd should have no problem either.
note that the iPad only has 256mb of ram, yet can play 720p h.264 videos.
note that the iPad only has 256mb of ram, yet can play 720p h.264 videos.
OldMike
macrumors 6502a
If anyone is considering upgrading their new Mac Mini, I would strongly recommend bypassing Apple and doing it yourself.
OWC has 4GB sticks for $127. Sure its a little more than Apple, but its a single stick instead of 2x2GB. When RAM drops in price you would be able to just add 4GB more to max it out at 8GB, where with the 2x2GB sticks you would have to throw both of them to the side in order to go to 8GB.
In the meantime you can run the Mac Mini with 1x1GB and 1x4GB for 5GB total. It works fine and benchmarks have proven that there is no performance hit when running sticks of different sizes. There is a better test somewhere showing a 5GB test that was a performance boost over the matched (2x2GB) test.
If you are going to want 4GB today, you might as well think about the future and how easy it is to access memory in these new Minis, and get the 1x4GB stick now, so that you can cost effectively go to 8GB when you feel like it.
OWC has 4GB sticks for $127. Sure its a little more than Apple, but its a single stick instead of 2x2GB. When RAM drops in price you would be able to just add 4GB more to max it out at 8GB, where with the 2x2GB sticks you would have to throw both of them to the side in order to go to 8GB.
In the meantime you can run the Mac Mini with 1x1GB and 1x4GB for 5GB total. It works fine and benchmarks have proven that there is no performance hit when running sticks of different sizes. There is a better test somewhere showing a 5GB test that was a performance boost over the matched (2x2GB) test.
If you are going to want 4GB today, you might as well think about the future and how easy it is to access memory in these new Minis, and get the 1x4GB stick now, so that you can cost effectively go to 8GB when you feel like it.