Late 2014 Mac Mini Benchmarks Indicate Decreased Multi-Core Performance

[star-affinity]

What options are there from others?

Does anyone know what options there are from other computer makers? Aren't all the Intel NUC's with Haswell also dual core? I know there is a Gigabyte BRIX with quad-core i7 processor, but I heard that runs pretty hot – fans kick in and makes noise.

 

[hachiman]

The first rule of Hackintoshing is that you never never never update until at least a few days after an OS X update drops. Then, before updating, check the Hackintosh forums for reports of any serious issues.

Also, always back up everything before updating so you can easily revert to your previous working installation in case you lose sound or whatever.

Second rule is to use exactly the recommended build parts recommended by the experts at Hackintosh sites. This will maximize your chances of everything working and enhances your ability to get help if something goes wrong (since other folks have probably encountered the same issue).

My primary machine at home has been a Hackintosh for about 4 years. Everything works... USB3, sound, iMessage, sleep, etc. With recent hardware upgrades my $500 Hack is about 2.5X faster than the fastest new Mac Mini.

FWIW I wouldn't recommend Hackintoshing for the casual Mac user, it's more for those who don't mind tinkering with stuff and who are fairly technical. It's not for early adopters either.

So you're basically proving going PC is better in performance to price ratio. The tricky part is to find all the right parts to get it to run just right if you want a hackintosh.

I thought about doing a hackintosh, but I'd rather not hassle with it breaking after every update.

 

[flat five]

The point he was making is that modern software is generally optimized to use multi-core, which he showed with his screenshots. I'm not sure why you have a problem with that?

??
I said there's no difference using mail on 2,4,or6 core.. yes, mail.app (and safari) is multi threaded.. but neither have any CPU intensive tasks therefore it's pretty irrelevant (or certainly bad examples to be using when trying to make a case for buying more cores)
. a singlecore computer will run them equally well as a 12core.

 

[alchemistTi]

Even mid 2011 quad mini's beat the 2014's by a considerable amount.

Geekbench:
mid 2011 i7-2635QM 2GHz @ 8590

 

[hachiman]

Does anyone know what options there are from other computer makers? Aren't all the Intel NUC's with Haswell also dual core? I know there is a Gigabyte BRIX with quad-core i7 processor, but I heard that runs pretty hot – fans kick in and makes noise.

I mentioned this earlier already, but there are plenty of options. Here's a really good one. You get alot more for your money compare to a Mac mini.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha/pd?oc=dkcwa04&model_id=alienware-alpha

Read thru page 30 of this thread for more details.

I have to go now.

 

[brdeveloper]

My 2010 Mini looks so modern.

 

[star-affinity]

I mentioned this earlier already, but there are plenty of options. Here's a really good one. You get alot more for your money compare to a Mac mini.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha/pd?oc=dkcwa04&model_id=alienware-alpha

Read thru page 30 of this thread for more details.

I have to go now.

Thanks, but ”starting at $800”?
Hmm… I know the Mac mini quite quickly goes there too when adding more memory etc.

Also, I'm looking for something that draws very little power – I'm afraid this Alienware won't do that. But seems nice otherwise!

 

[brdeveloper]

??
I said there's no difference using mail on 2,4,or6 core.. yes, mail.app (and safari) is multi threaded.. but neither have any CPU intensive tasks therefore it's pretty irrelevant (or certainly bad examples to be using when trying to make a case for buying more cores)
. a singlecore computer will run them equally well as a 12core.

The thing is, a lot of people use Minis for more advanced tasks, e.g., when he/she can't afford an iMac, or wants to use it with a better display, or maybe wants to invest on an external audio adapter.

In the above tasks, a 2012 i7 Mini can be the best deal.

 

[rog]

So glad I got my i7 2.6 Quad core Mini when it first came out. 2 years later, the $2499 iMac is only slightly faster on multi-core performance. I was hoping to upgrade to a faster Quad i7 Mini with this update, but since I don't want half the speed 2 years later, I think I'll have this Mini for quite a long time. It's also faster than all the i5 iMacs. Maybe Apple should have just killed it off. They haven't made a compelling, affordable iMac or Mini in years now.

 

[Sym0]

Do you realize what you have done! Send that company another 5k for their margins. I don't know about you but I care more about Apple's margins than me saving dough. We should do the same for other companies as well.

WTF?

Ok - thats fine and all but the $10K 12-core nMP just wasn't fast enough, and I saved $5K and got the performance I needed. If they offered dual CPU they might have seen my money. But I doubt it since competitor dual CPUs are cheaper and twice as fast.

As I said, you need to utlise the GPUs to get your value out of them, I didn't need huge GPUs.

Apples problem, not mine.

----------

??
I said there's no difference using mail on 2,4,or6 core.. yes, mail.app (and safari) is multi threaded.. but neither have any CPU intensive tasks therefore it's pretty irrelevant (or certainly bad examples to be using when trying to make a case for buying more cores)
. a singlecore computer will run them equally well as a 12core.

Correct but when you have 10 apps open, OSX (or W7/8/8.1) can allocated a core to each task, and leave one for the OS. Its not so much faster tasks, but preventing slower tasks. More cores = more chances things will tick along at optimal speed more often.

I haven't yet experienced a slow down since the first 4-core i7 popped 5-6 years ago. I make sure all my new laptops and workstations are quadcore hyperthreaded at minimum, even if its just for emails.

The dual core units kicking around other users desks give me the hour glass trying to do a second task like log in to a chrome webpage while MYOB is running. That's a 1990s experience. Dumb.

 

[hachiman]

Thanks, but ”starting at $800”?
Hmm… I know the Mac mini quite quickly goes there too when adding more memory etc.

Also, I'm looking for something that draws very little power – I'm afraid this Alienware won't do that. But seems nice otherwise!

Then you won't mind the cpu performance. There are some other micro PC makers out there. I'm mobile now so you will have to do the legwork and find it yourself.

Check newegg, they would probably have a few themselves. I know what you're trying to go for, a PC that draws the same power as an alarm clock.

 

[435713]

WTF?

Ok - thats fine and all but the $10K 12-core nMP just wasn't fast enough, and I saved $5K and got the performance I needed. If they offered dual CPU they might have seen my money. But I doubt it since competitor dual CPUs are cheaper and twice as fast.

As I said, you need to utlise the GPUs to get your value out of them, I didn't need huge GPUs.

I was being sarcastic there, perhaps I wrote that where it didn't show well enough. I was saying that the competitor price was a good price and the nMP was a bit high for the performance and jokingly said you should have paid 10k for the other one. It was an Apple profit margin joke, not directed towards you. Just ribbing Apple there not you.

I thought saying "send the other company 5k more" should have been an indicator. This is the net though so I guess you thought I was serious. haha

 

[prowlmedia]

Not simply it can't I expect Apple have a roadmap and design for the new
broadwell chips. But Intel has scuppered that for the moment. So a simpler route is to use the existing dual core socket, Make one design for this generation then release something new.

 

[sagehen76]

Canceled MacMini order

Canceled my 2014 MacMini order (i7, 16GB, 1TB Fusion Drive) for $1,510 with tax and purchased a brand new 2012 MacMini (i7 quad-core, 1TB, 16GB RAM from 3rd party) for $906; saved $604 and could simply not justify spending over $1500 for mac mini. I will miss out on faster drive and graphics, but worth the save - plus need the fire wire for older hardware.

 

[lowepg]

So what is the "street value" of a used

Mac Mini, 2.3, 4G Ram, 1TB HD?

 

[MacGuffin]

A new breakthrough in personal computing

Say, is this thing fast enough to play tic-tac-toe on?

Has it got recipe-sorting capabilities?

How many colors can it display?

(Eeeeevil laughter)

 

[star-affinity]

Then you won't mind the cpu performance. There are some other micro PC makers out there. I'm mobile now so you will have to do the legwork and find it yourself.

Check newegg, they would probably have a few themselves. I know what you're trying to go for, a PC that draws the same power as an alarm clock.

Thanks for your tip. I'd like the quad-core in a Mac mini, but not the desktop version (or whatever it is in the Gigabyte BRIX that makes it run hot).

 

[crazzapple]

??
I said there's no difference using mail on 2,4,or6 core.. yes, mail.app (and safari) is multi threaded.. but neither have any CPU intensive tasks therefore it's pretty irrelevant (or certainly bad examples to be using when trying to make a case for buying more cores)
. a singlecore computer will run them equally well as a 12core.

Good Lord... If all you need is email you can run that on any $200 disposable device. We're talking about desktop computers here; where if you're doing actual work (not just stuff you can do on an android tablet) you will benefit from quad-core.

 

[GoKyu]

Pathetic Mac Mini update. Absolutely no desire to upgrade my 2011 model

I'm in the same boat - and what's sad is, I had the money for the i7 model 9 months ago, but I kept saying "No, I'm not spending all this money for a computer that's only a year newer than what I have. A new Mini *has* to be coming soon."

So I waited and waited...and this is what they give us?

I should've bought the Quad i7 when I had the chance (and the money...need to save up again now.)

Seriously looking to go the Hackintosh route if it's not super complex (I keep reading about having to patch things...I did all that with Linux - I wouldn't want to have to continually do that with OS X.)

At least I could get a machine that can handle more than 16 gigs and will be fast for a long time.

 

[flat five]

Good Lord... If all you need is email you can run that on any $200 disposable device. We're talking about desktop computers here; where if you're doing actual work (not just stuff you can do on an android tablet) you will benefit from quad-core.

not sure why you're telling me this.. go tell it to the guy talking about emailing on a quad is faster than 2core.

idk.. all your points are things I've already said or certainly already know.. again-- I think you're either misinterpreting me or just trying to battle for some weird reason.. twilight zone style

 

[crazzapple]

not sure why you're telling me this.. go tell it to the guy talking about emailing on a quad is faster than 2core.

idk.. all your points are things I've already said or certainly already know.. again-- I think you're either misinterpreting me or just trying to battle for some weird reason.. twilight zone style

Oh sorry I misinterpreted you. I agree with you that more cores is better for real work.

 

[flyinmac]

You nailed it, every part of it. I think the worst example of their behaviour occured recently. When yosemite beta's were out, some bright folk decided to upgrade the bluetooth cards in their 2010/2011 MBP's to bluetooth cards of the same footprint/format that support bluetooth 4.0LE (required for handoff/continuity), taken from later MBP's.

It all worked great, and allowed people to continue using their laptops with these new features for a longer period of time. But some Apple staff, who seemed to have nothing better to do than read rumour forums caught onto this, and purposely coded a check in the relevant kernel extension to see if the bluetooth card in the laptop was what originally came with that model laptop - if not the kernel extention would not load.

I have so many issues with this. The fact they would purposely stop a small percentage of users keeping their laptops useful for a greater period of time, its beyond me. Are they hoping to push planned obsolence on us in this way? They hoping these people would run out and buy a 2014 rMBP?

They can, and do, go out of their way to screw us over for a few dollars. Ironically the old "You will know them by their fruit" quote fits Apple perfectly.

Apple has always demonstrated this behavior... It's unfortunate that they are so set on forcing us to abandon machines that are fully meeting our needs except for one minor enhancement that is required, and then they tie our hands through software coding so that our only option is to replace our acceptable computer with either a stripped down less capable model, or with a ridiculously overpriced model that is more hardware than we need. All because we simply need one minor tweak or enhancement to keep our current machine useful for the next 3 or 4 years.

 

[AppleSOS]

^ What's that supposed to mean? You have a brain and critical thinking, I assume? There's no hidden meaning or agenda in the way I talk - work it out. I say what I mean and I mean what I say - I don't play mind games.

You don't have to be a jerk about it. We are talking about Macs and you say they shouldn't buy Apple products? That is completed outside of the discussion at hand.

 

[hachiman]

I'm in the same boat - and what's sad is, I had the money for the i7 model 9 months ago, but I kept saying "No, I'm not spending all this money for a computer that's only a year newer than what I have. A new Mini *has* to be coming soon."

So I waited and waited...and this is what they give us?

I should've bought the Quad i7 when I had the chance (and the money...need to save up again now.)

Seriously looking to go the Hackintosh route if it's not super complex (I keep reading about having to patch things...I did all that with Linux - I wouldn't want to have to continually do that with OS X.)

At least I could get a machine that can handle more than 16 gigs and will be fast for a long time.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-m...287565&skuId=4840689&st=Mac mini i7&cp=1&lp=1

Get it quick! it's on sale too. $749, free shipping.

Once best buy get the new units, they are gone.

I hope you owners of quad core Mac mini are happy. Even after 2 years, it's better than ever! And in demand!

 

[GoKyu]

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macmini.html

Thanks for that. I was trying to write them a full letter, but looks like there's a character limit

I did get the point across though - I certainly hope many others write about their disappointment.