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Mac Mini vs. 2006 Mac Pro

S

superpalmtree

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
166
0
North Dakota
I have a 2010 Mac Mini Server which is a fine machine. I don't use the server aspect and I have a client who wants to purchase it from me for his small business.

I found a 2006 Mac Pro for $1300 locally. I thought I could install a SSD HD and a 8800GT graphics card and have a nice secondary system.

Would a 2006 Mac Pro w/Dual Xeon's & SSD be much faster then a Mac Mini 2010 edition with Core 2?

I guess just looking for some input before I buy a 4yr old system.

Thanks
 
I don't think there would actually be a huge difference in speed, although the mini may struggle with the graphics, compared to the pro. Personally, I'd just keep the mini
 
alust2013 said:
I don't think there would actually be a huge difference in speed, although the mini may struggle with the graphics, compared to the pro. Personally, I'd just keep the mini
Click to expand...

No, the Pro will kill the Mini. OP, get the Pro, that machine even today is still a beast.
 
noodle654 said:
No, the Pro will kill the Mini. OP, get the Pro, that machine even today is still a beast.
Click to expand...

I agree, I'm definitely leaning towards the Mac Pro 2006. $1300 for a mint condition system, dual cpus, 6gb ram, 7300gt, wireless built in, seems like a decent deal. I have an extra 256gb samsung ssd to pop in (with mods/sled), and a 8800gt from ebay is $250.

Thanks guys -- if anyone else has an opinion it's great to hear.
 
superpalmtree said:
I agree, I'm definitely leaning towards the Mac Pro 2006. $1300 for a mint condition system, dual cpus, 6gb ram, 7300gt, wireless built in, seems like a decent deal. I have an extra 256gb samsung ssd to pop in (with mods/sled), and a 8800gt from ebay is $250.

Thanks guys -- if anyone else has an opinion it's great to hear.
Click to expand...

Hell yeah, sounds good. That machine will run circles, have fun with it.
 
My apologies, I lied. It is late and I am tired. I don't know what I was thinking, maybe the G5. Anyhow, ignore my previous post.
 
Hi,

I have made (more or less) the same switch 4 months ago, from a 2009 2.26 mini to a 2006 Mac Pro. Sold the mini for 550 pounds and got the Mac Pro for 900. Had to invest in more memory (1GB->4GB, used), a graphics card (Radeon 3870, used), a 30GB SSD (new) and a 1TB drive (new) and was good to go.

Am sure that the decision was the correct as the Pro is sooooo much faster than the mini, even with a old graphics card such as the 3870. On the other hand, the power consumption wen through the roof.

Bear in mind the 2006 Pro may face the chop from 10.7 if Apple restricts that OS to computers able to load the 64 bit kernel. Hopefully, I will be able to a more modern machine before next year's WWDC (assuming Macs are featured in that one...) just in case.
 
Just keep in mind, that the 2006 model uses EFI32. What that means, is you're already limited in GPU choices (it's expected the ATI cards will still be using EBC rather than EFI64, and still function, but there's currently no solid proof that the card will work yet), and will soon be unable to upgrade to newer versions of OS X (Apple has indicated they won't support a dual Kernel OS for long; 10.7 or 10.8 at the latest, will see K64 only). Personally, given the slow releases of 10.6 (updates - they're just now getting around to seeding 10.6.5), I'm actually expecting the axe to fall with 10.7.

Just something to consider before you buy, as the Mini is unaffected with the OS X aspect (until they decide to intentionally break OS X updates for EFI64 based systems). ;)
 
nanofrog,

You are right. The reason I didn't mention the EFI32 snafu regarding graphics cards is because he mentioned a 8800GT as a possible upgrade route. I assumed he was aware of that limitation.

Still, I believe we are probably one year away from knowing if the 2006 Mac Pro will be supported by 10.7.
 
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