Hey I want a Mac Mini and planning on getting the latest mini with 2.26 GHz. I will upgrade it to 4GB of RAM but was wondering how much is it worth it to upgrade the hard drive from a 5400 rpm to a 7200 rpm internal drive? How much added speed and performance will I see? I don't use any intense apps just the usual Apple ones and Photoshop and Microsoft Office. I'm looking for faster boot speeds and snapy performance but I'm wondering if its worth it given the time and price. Also will my fan turn on that more will the added heat? Any personal experiences or opinions are appreciated. Thanks.
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Mac Mini To The Max?
- Thread starter maxthedrummer
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Upgrading the HDD from 5400RPM to 7200RPM will have a benefit. Ho many times? 1.33x the performance, if the platter densities on the drives are the same - NCQ also might make this number larger as well (which is standard on hard drives, but it scales on a non linear factor as far as I know*). And although Apple doesn't tell you, if you get a drive with a large cache it will also add to the performance.
*Can't visualize the math currently.
*Can't visualize the math currently.
I wouldn't buy 2.26 Mini, you won't notice any difference. Spend your money on RAM and I highly recommend SSD, use it as your boot drive and store your files into external. SSD will get your Mini to boot in 10 seconds and all apps opens immediately.
...but the faster processor isn't worth the cost of the upgrade... get a 20" iMac from the refurb section.