Help for buying..

[emamarro]

Hallo, I have 2 options at same price and wondering about best performance,especially for video card, are they similar?
Thank you for help
Ema

(new)
Mac mini (Late 2014)
2,6 GHz Intel Core i5
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel Iris 1536 MB

(second hand)
iMac 21'5(Late 2011)
2,5 Ghz Intel Core i5
8 GB DD3 1333 Mhz
AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB

 

[Floris]

Personally I'd go for the Mac Mini. But maybe I have different needs than you?

 

[emamarro]

Thank you, I was concerning to have a quality monitor, this was one reason not to go directly to new mac mini..

 

[Floris]

The video card might seem a bit less, but I don't know how well that older mac will deal with the modern OSX and just half a gig of memory on the gpu. Maybe an older card, but more modern mac with 1,5gb ram on that gpu will be a nicer experience.
On the other hand, i dont know if either device lets you upgrade the ram, and to how much. Being able to get 16gb in there or better is worth looking into with everymac.com

Monitors aren't too expensive these days, and that mac mini might just come with hdmi, displayport, or whatever it has..

 

[emamarro]

The video card might seem a bit less, but I don't know how well that older mac will deal with the modern OSX and just half a gig of memory on the gpu. Maybe an older card, but more modern mac with 1,5gb ram on that gpu will be a nicer experience.
On the other hand, i dont know if either device lets you upgrade the ram, and to how much. Being able to get 16gb in there or better is worth looking into with everymac.com

Monitors aren't too expensive these days, and that mac mini might just come with hdmi, displayport, or whatever it has..

So you think I can use a 4k monitor with mac mini? Sounds good! I just saw around in forum some issues with high resolutions with Sierra update..

 

[Floris]

I think it's worth to check with everymac.com which mac mini that is, what it has port wise.
And then which OS you can install on it, it's 2014, surely sierra works on it.
And based on those ports, maybe a 4k dell monitor will work fine, yeah.
I dont know which one that is, the mac mini, it's recent enough to support 4k probably, might have a tb or dp port.

 

[emamarro]

I think it's worth to check with everymac.com which mac mini that is, what it has port wise.
And then which OS you can install on it, it's 2014, surely sierra works on it.
And based on those ports, maybe a 4k dell monitor will work fine, yeah.
I dont know which one that is, the mac mini, it's recent enough to support 4k probably, might have a tb or dp port.

Thank you, I just checked:

Display Support: Dual Displays Resolution Support: 2560x1600*
Details: *This model supports "up to two displays" at 2560x1600, both at millions of colors, via the two Thunderbolt 2 ports. It supports Thunderbolt digital video output and native Mini DisplayPort output as well as DVI, VGA, and Dual-link DVI using Mini DisplayPort to DVI, Mini DisplayPort to VGA, and Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapters. It also supports 1080p at up to 60 Hz via the HDMI port. DVI output additionally is supported using an HDMI to DVI adapter. All adapters are sold separately.

 

[Tomorrow]

That Mini is three years newer than the iMac. Nothing about that iMac is special enough to overcome that gap - I'd get the Mini and not think twice about it.

My MBP has Iris graphics and I'm driving a 29" ultrawide simply because I don't need to spend so much money on something larger, but it's well-capable of working with something larger and with higher resolution.

 

[emamarro]

That Mini is three years newer than the iMac. Nothing about that iMac is special enough to overcome that gap - I'd get the Mini and not think twice about it.

My MBP has Iris graphics and I'm driving a 29" ultrawide simply because I don't need to spend so much money on something larger, but it's well-capable of working with something larger and with higher resolution.

What resolution are you using with your 29"?
It seems taht Mini can get 2550x1600 only pluggin by direct thunderbolt, HDMI and any other adapter will cut to 1980x1080. Unfortunately there are not monitors around with direct thunderbolt plug to buy...-(

 

[Samuelsan2001]

What resolution are you using with your 29"?
It seems taht Mini can get 2550x1600 only pluggin by direct thunderbolt, HDMI and any other adapter will cut to 1980x1080. Unfortunately there are not monitors around with direct thunderbolt plug to buy...-(

There are thunderbolt monitors they are expensive. However thunderbolt 2 ports support display port 1.2 cables with a mini display port to display port cables.

Something like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Splaks®-Ta...=8-4&keywords=mini+displayport+to+displayport

Or mini display port to HDMI like this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CSL-Displa...&sr=8-2&keywords=mini+displayport+to+hdmi+2.0

 

[Tomorrow]

What resolution are you using with your 29"?
It seems taht Mini can get 2550x1600 only pluggin by direct thunderbolt, HDMI and any other adapter will cut to 1980x1080. Unfortunately there are not monitors around with direct thunderbolt plug to buy...-(

Native resolution for the monitor - 2560x1080. Using a Thunderbolt to DisplayPort cable.