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Jlong24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 28, 2012
6
0
I've been debating for the past couple of days which type of mac mini I should get, this will be my first mac. I just wanted some advice from you who have macs if i should spend the extra 200 for the mac mini 2.3 or the 2.5 I5. It will be mostly used for school although i do want to make sure i can play games such as star craft on a fairly high setting while maintaining a good frame rate. I just want to make sure it last a few years and stays up to date so is it worth paying 200 extra?
 

Jlong24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 28, 2012
6
0
then thankyou for saving me the money haha i just needed a few people to sell me that i didnt need to spend the extra 200 on something i didnt need, although i still think ill be upgrading the ram to 8gb
 

chickenwingfly

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2012
633
22
I just want to make sure it last a few years and stays up to date so is it worth paying 200 extra?
Yes, even for "casual gaming" which you can benefit from the 6630M like the previous poster said, vs the HD 3000 which is pretty crappy (the HD4000 on Ivy Bridges is better but still NOT better than the current 6630M).

Now as you know Mac is a difficult platform to game on, but the better hardware the more FPS you can squeeze off. For instance, the Skyrim port on my "high end" mini i5 runs a bit crappy, can't even imagine that on the HD3000.
 

Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903
For playing Starcraft, you absolutely need the 2,5 model.
 

shaki29

macrumors newbie
Jul 27, 2012
7
0
For photoshop, what would you recommend, the 2.3ghz or the 2.5ghz? (adding 8gb RAM of course).
My photoshop tasks are website / apps / UI design, not heavy tasks such as print.
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
For photoshop, what would you recommend, the 2.3ghz or the 2.5ghz? (adding 8gb RAM of course).
My photoshop tasks are website / apps / UI design, not heavy tasks such as print.

For photoshop, the difference wouldn't be huge. You might be able to benefit from the better graphics card.
 

vastoholic

macrumors 68000
Jan 28, 2009
1,957
1
Tulsa, OK
I bought the 2.5 purely for the graphics card as I do some light gaming as well, mostly portal. I didn't need the extra processing power, but I guess it just gives me that much more longevity down the road.
 

Jlong24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 28, 2012
6
0
I think i may just buy the 2.3ghz and test it out and if it doesn't do all i need it to then ill just go back and return it and get the better one.
 

Poki

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2012
1,318
903
I think i may just buy the 2.3ghz and test it out and if it doesn't do all i need it to then ill just go back and return it and get the better one.

That's a good idea. I'm just saying you won't be able to play Starcraft 2 on higher settings.
 

chickenwingfly

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2012
633
22
I think i may just buy the 2.3ghz and test it out and if it doesn't do all i need it to then ill just go back and return it and get the better one.
I think at this point if you're seriously considering the lowest end model, you should wait and see if the Mac Mini gets a refresh to Ivy Bridge, so you could have the HD 4000 on it, which is roughly 15% "faster" than the HD 3000.

And since you said you wanted to have this machine for a long time (knowing of course, the limitations of these low to mid-end range computers), then you gotta ask yourself if $200 more will be worth it down the road and you'll not feel remorse of not having invested them in say, one year from now.

And since you say you are intending to play "some games" (not just StarCraft) then it's no secret that most ultra books carry a "secondary" graphics card and not just the Intel HD* in order to benefit from it at gaming.
 

lilsoccakid74

macrumors 6502
Apr 13, 2010
282
0
then thankyou for saving me the money haha i just needed a few people to sell me that i didnt need to spend the extra 200 on something i didnt need, although i still think ill be upgrading the ram to 8gb

2.3 model will play Starcraft at very low settings, you will need the 2.5 model for gaming for sure;)

Starcraft runs well on my 2.5 with 1920x1080 and mostly high settings. (with ssd +8gb)
 

blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
That's a lot for a refurb. They were new on action last month here for 150 bucks less: 649.
 

Roy G Biv

macrumors 6502
Dec 26, 2010
362
104
Hello. Would the cheaper Mini be good enough to play 360p Youtube videos and Spider Solitaire in boot camp? It would be native resolution on a 640x480 monitor. Thanks.
 

Jlong24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 28, 2012
6
0
Mac ftw

Went and bought the mac mini 2.3ghz and upgraded the ram. works like a charm. once you go mac you never go back. OSX>PC!
 
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