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Is the mac mini supposed to be this SLOW?

Flynnstone said:
Careful with the RAM. Most desktops use DIMM memory and laptops (Mac minis) use SO-DIMM memory.
Attached are pictures showing the difference.
SO-DIMMs are smaller and more $
Click to expand...

Where are you getting that? According to Crucial, the Mac mini uses standard 184-pin DIMMs:

Link
 
bosrs1 said:
It does. There are no desktop macs that use laptop memory.
Click to expand...

Early G3 iMacs and G4 iMacs used laptop SO-DIMMs. But with regard to the Mac mini, you are correct, and the original poster is completely wrong. No laptop SO-DIMMs are used in the Mac mini. This information is plastered from one end of the net to the other, as well as being featured prominently on Apple's site. Why are people still making this mistake?
 
The mac mini does NOT use a SO-Dimm, it uses full size DDR RAM.

http://images.apple.com/macmini/images/designinsides20050111.jpg

Does that look like a Sodimm to you?
No.

To everyone that posts info on here; get your facts correct. All it takes is a little search on the Net. The kid cud have bought a Sodimm and wasted both money and time.

Advice to the mrzeve: id buy decent RAM, macs can sometimes be a little picky with it from my experience. Whilst i dont know if this is the case with the mini, it pays to be safe. As you know, theres also less chance of buying faulty RAM if you buy branded. Like crucial.
 
thecow said:
So yours, with 768mb of ram, never uses virtual ram? I have that much too and according to the activity monitor I have over 4Gb of hd space allocated to vram! Is this normal?
Click to expand...

I have 3.86 GB. 😀 Yeah, that's normal, and thats also why OS X gets so, uh, crappy with less than 5 GB of hard disk space remaining.

To clear up some confusion:
Mac Minis use standard DDR DIMMs.
512 MB is the de-facto standard for doing anything really with OS X. 768 MB is a nice amount to have, and 1 GB (1024 MB) is really nice (go fast!) but 512 is good.
Think:
512 MB- fast
768 MB- faster
1024 MB- fastest

And adjust accordingly for stuff like 2 GB (2048 MB) and 128 MB.
 
Logik said:
really? well dang... guess i will buy a powermac for sure then... no mac mini for me..

sorry my bad.. blow the wallet and get the 1gig then.. $130-140
Click to expand...

your choice is between a powermac and a mac mini? and the determining factor is the amount of ram slots? that's not very good... logik. (haha, had to use it)

a mac mini with 512 MB is a very darn good machine for the buck.
 
mrzeve said:
Hello all,

I just switched and I have to say, Im absolutely hating it.

I bought the mac mini (80gb hd stock version/1.42ghz/256mb ram/no bluetooth or wireless installed) and I have to say Ive never experienced something so slow since my 300mhz home built windows machine with 32mb of ram.

Anytime I try doing a small task I get the spinning multicolor disc cursos.

Anyway, Its been like this since day one. I have only the following applications open round clock (I close them and reopen them sometimes when the computers really hauling butt)

Adium X
iTunes
Safari

The following are open rarely, from time to time
iCal (open every night to wake me up in the morning, then shut off)
OSXVNC
iPhoto
Konfabulator

Thats it really. Nothing more.

I opened utility monitor (I think thats what it was called) when I was having the trouble and viewed the ram and the 256 wasnt even fully used.

I understand this is a laptop hardrive inside the mini, but comeon people I have a windows laptop on my lap right now, and its NOT even comparable. It feels like Im using the fastest computer on earth right now. My mini is OFF because I can not bare with it right now.

I ran the disk test that came with the mini, and everything turned up fine.

I repaired permissions before and after every software update.

Im really tearing my hair out guys. Please, reassure me that Im nuts.

.......anyone wana buy a mini 🙄
Click to expand...


I'll tell you why:

To quote anandtech:

The performance of the Mac mini in its standard form is unacceptable, even for a $499 machine. At first, I was afraid that the poor performance was due to the 1.25GHz G4. However, upon further investigation, the root of the cause revealed itself - 256MB of memory is simply not enough for OS X. When running one application, such as Safari or Mail, the 256MB of memory is enough, but as soon as you open more than one application, the memory quickly disappears. The problem with disk swapping on the mini is that it is using a 2.5" hard drive, which is significantly slower than a desktop hard drive. So, overall performance is reduced significantly. There's a ton of stuttering when multitasking (not even heavy multitasking) and it's completely caused by disk swapping.

Upgrading the system to 512MB of memory fixes all of the problems. You'd be hard pressed to get close to 100% CPU utilization on even the low end 1.25GHz G4 without resorting to video encoding, and most importantly, the system is as smooth as can be with 512MB. As I mentioned in the first Mac article, OS X's caching algorithms work wonders for perceived system performance, since there's very little disk swapping, but in order for the OS to do its thing, you need a certain minimum level of memory and that seems to be 512MB. Apple offers a 512MB upgrade for the mini for $70, which is slightly cheaper than what a DDR333/400 stick would cost you aftermarket, and it is an absolute must-have for this system. Working on a simple file, ftp or web server with no end user interaction in the OS, you can get by with a 256MB configuration, and the same goes for a single user, single application usage environment, but as soon as there's any element of multitasking at play, you need 512MB - any less doesn't do the system justice.

Honestly, the first time that I used the mini, I was quite frustrated with it, simply because there was just too much disk swapping going on. But after the 512MB upgrade, I was more than happy from a performance perspective. The 5400RPM drive in the system is actually fairly snappy (when not being swapped to) and application start times are pretty reasonable as well. There's a clear difference between the mini and Apple's PowerMac G5s, but despite the difference, the mini offers a pretty good level of performance, if it is configured with 512MB of memory.

Apple should not be allowed to sell any system with OS X with less than 512MB of memory; and you shouldn't buy the mini with less than 512MB of memory. It's as simple as that.

The performance of the 1.25GHz G4 is surprisingly good.
Click to expand...


To sum it up:
256 MB of RAM is not enough for OS X. Using more than one simple program like Safari will use more than 256 MB of RAM. Using more memory than you have means that some of the hard drive will be used as RAM.

One problem:
The Mac Mini has a SLOW HARD DRIVE.
As a result, disk swapping goes as slow as heck.
And with only 256 MB of RAM, you do a LOT of disk swapping.

Get 512 MB of RAM ASAP!

EDIT:
Crucial.com is what I recommend. Or dealram.com.

The exact type of RAM you want is PC2700. Standard desktop 184 pin, NOT laptop.
 
zyuzin4 said:
for some reason, my internal mac mini drive is faster than two of my extarnal drives :-?
Click to expand...

The bus connection maybe. ATA-133 vs. USB 2.0 could be it.
 
oingoboingo said:
Early G3 iMacs and G4 iMacs used laptop SO-DIMMs. But with regard to the Mac mini, you are correct, and the original poster is completely wrong. No laptop SO-DIMMs are used in the Mac mini. This information is plastered from one end of the net to the other, as well as being featured prominently on Apple's site. Why are people still making this mistake?
Click to expand...
I meant in the current product line. The last desktop to use So-Dimms was the iMac G4.
 
Sorry I didn't read all the posts, but When I used File Vault,( do not use file vault if you can at all possible do with out) I got some BBalls, turned it off and life got real good, I use a 12"PB 1.33 and 768ram with 10.3+
 
dotdotdot said:
Yes. It will work - thats what the Apple store uses in their mac minis. They are really, REALLY fast.
Click to expand...

I was just at the Apple Store in Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. Since I want to by a Mac Mini near the end of the year, i figured I should at least go in and try one out. I was really impressed. I really only used the IE and iPhoto, but ti was more than efficiant. My fiancee who was unsure about switching to Mac was very impressed. Needless to say, I'll be switching near the end of the year.


On a side note: iPhoto is a really great program. I was blown away by the Photo Book option. That is a HUGE selling point for my fiancee. We want to start a wedding photography buisness and if we could use wedding pictures to make a Wedding book with iPhoto, that would be tremendous.
 
mrzeve said:
Is $86 1 gig pc2700 ddr 64x4 a good deal?
Click to expand...

Update

It is a 1gig stick that I received. But it does not work with my mac mini.

Is it because the stick is 128 bitwide (I believe its 128, thats what the seller told me). Does the mini need 64 bit wide?

Heres a comparison
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=20-141-424&DEPA=1
Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail

Model# KVR400X64C3A/512
Item # N82E16820141424
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Kingston
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 3-3-3
Support Voltage: 2.6V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: 64M x 64 -Bit
Warranty: Lifetime

The onyl difference between this and the ram i have, is that the one i got is PC2700
 
Oh christ 🙄

Well, i dont think it matters really does it??

Just sell that RAM, then buy some proper mini stuff from crucial.

Good luck with it anyway
 
But whats wrong with what I got?

Besides that it doesnt work 🙄
 
When I put the 1gig stick in the machine, it beeps once on an attempted boot. Not a normal startup chime, just a beep.

Does that mean the ram is incompatible, or that the ram is not found, possibly indicating its dirty (its not - i cleaned it) or damanged?
 
Well RAM rarely gets "dirty", atleast not without getting broken.

Its just the type of RAM. Precisely i dont know. Macs are very picky about what kind of RAM they have. It can depend on Latency or modules on the RAM normally.

Whatever the reason is, you mini is pretty useless without more RAM. Its probably running half as fast as it would with 1 gig in.

U know if ur gonna switch, then u have to give the mac a fair chance. Otherwise you might not have bothered.
 
GET PC 2700 RAM

THe PC 3200 ram or DDR400 is for powermac G5, its not gonna fit your mac mini, I have a powerbook G4 with 1gb ram, its pretty fast, even with the 4.2krpm HD, dont worry, get 1gb. I have an emac 1.25GHZ to, with 768, AND IS FAST!!!!!
 
mrzeve said:
Never been on a forum and gotten so many replies. Thought this was a dream or something.

Anyone have any idea how much the Apple Genius Bar would charge be for a ram installation, that could play a factor in how much memory I purchase.
Click to expand...

They wanted $30 at the Glendale, CA Apple Store, last time I checked... 😀
 
clayjohanson said:
Konfabulator is a HUGE memory hog... combined with the fact that you only have 256 MB of RAM, I'm not surprised you're seeing beach balls. My Mac mini did the same thing until I upgraded the RAM to 1 GB... this has made a world of difference.

My recommendation: Upgrade the RAM to 512 MB or, if you can, 1 GB... this will make for a much smoother computing experience.
Click to expand...

I know it may seem obvious but consider a 512 stick for an upgrade to 768 if the gig seems too much right now. You can get a good one for between $60-80 (possible mail-in rebate) and it will probably suffice. I'd say 512 should be your minimum in today's computers despite the minimum recommendations often listed at 256 or, dare I mention, 128. My iBook is slower (according to Ghz rating) but it is quicker than my 1.6 GHz Centino laptop (which is great by the way). It is either the memory issue or something else is seriously wrong.
 
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