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Mac Mini Server or i5 with AMD Video Card

L

lickitysplit

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 26, 2010
122
0
I'm planning on purchasing a Mac Mini as a HTPC because its so small and I've always wanted one. To make a long story short I will most likely end up putting Windows 7 on it so that I can play blurays from disc on it since OSX doesn't support it. I'm trying to decide between the two and my biggest concern is having choppy video playback because of the video card. My question is will the Server be able to handle any type of video playback I throw at it even though it has the integrated intel chip? Or would it be best to stick with the higher end Mac Mini Non-Server?

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
MadDragon1846 said:
As far as i know, all the minis can run hd video fine. Apparently theres the occasional slowdown on really high bit rate blu ray rips, but apart from that I havent heard any complaints.

I'll see if i can find the stuff i was reading about it and post the links
Click to expand...

Thanks, I tried searching for bluray info in the Mac Mini section and didn't really come up with any information. As far as bluray rips I probably won't be ripping blurays, I'll more likely be using them on the disc when I install a bluray drive into an enclosure. Not sure if that will make a difference.
 
I ended up going with the Mac Mini Server. Ordered it online with 8gb of ram and next day delivery for less than the apple store sells the mini for.
 
Good choice :)

I went for the 6630m to hopefully be able to play Diablo 3 at reasonable graphics, otherwise I'd of probably gone for the server too.

Unfortunately i chose the i7 upgrade, and I couldnt find anywhere but apple selling that version, so I'm in for a wait before mine turns up. :(
 
MadDragon1846 said:
Good choice :)

I went for the 6630m to hopefully be able to play Diablo 3 at reasonable graphics, otherwise I'd of probably gone for the server too.

Unfortunately i chose the i7 upgrade, and I couldnt find anywhere but apple selling that version, so I'm in for a wait before mine turns up. :(
Click to expand...

Well my main reason for not going with the AMD was because I have a SB i7 quad desktop with a 1GB 6950 for gaming. This machine will be strictly a HTPC that I plan to rip my DVD collection to so I went with the server for the better CPU but didn't really need to dedicated video.
 
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