Mac Pro 2006 or new Mac Mini

[johntan]

Hi,
My imac g5 is dying and I'm trying to decide between getting a used Mac Pro 2006 or a new mac mini. I have a Mac Pro 2008 and very happy with it. The imac is used my my wife and the kids (grade school) basically for surfing, itunes, iphoto and a couple of games. The price of both will be close but I figured the mac pro is more powerful, will probably last longer and more flexible than the mini. Any opinions would be appreciated.

thanks.

 

[MRiOS]

well seeing as you have the 2008 Mac Pro, I'd say get them a Mini. the only exceptions I can think of that would warrant getting a Mac Pro tower (of any year) would be if they need a powerful graphics card for gaming (whether mac based or Boot Camping) or they need terabytes of space for movies, music, projects, etc.

Even still that second reason could still be met with a multi-drive external enclosure like a Drobo. Get the Mini, it should be just fine to handle school projects and web surfing for a long while.

 

[Diesel-Benz]

used Mac Pro 2006 or a new mac mini.
...
The price of both will be close

Where are you finding a MacPro cheaper or a new Mini more expensive than $1200?

Even the bottom-end Quad 2.0GHz MacPro's easily go for over $1000 every time and maxed out ram/cpu/HD Mini doesn't break $1200.
And that quad 2.0GHz MP would outright spank the Mini in every performance category.

 

[xUKHCx]

The 2006 Mac Pro with the fastest processor scores 5768 on geekbench while the fastest mac mini scores 3709. So in terms of power the Mac Pro does indeed spank it.

If you look at the buyers guide the Mac Mini is due for an update very soon. The absolute best i'd expect it to get would be up to 5945 on geekbench which is the current lowest end Macbook pro. The Mini and Macbook always tend to trail the macbook pros so the above comparision point is probably a bit high. With apple you can never tell but I'd suggest that the next mac mini will be similar in terms of processor power on bench mark suites to that mac pro. Obviously in day to day tasks such as web browsing, itunes and such you don't even need the power of the current mac mini.

The games are another matter so you would need to look at the specs for those particular games and see what others have said about them.

 

[Diesel-Benz]

With games, definitely avoid the mini, its GPU is very weak.

 

[DustinT]

You have to weigh the power costs of running a Mac Pro against the Mini. A Mac Pro can easily draw 400 watts of power fully loaded and rarely goes under 150 watts. Whereas the Mac Mini will idle around 10 watts of power and under full load draws less than 50 watts. Depending on how much power costs in your area this can lead to substantial savings.

 

[maxp]

The 2006 Mac Pro with the fastest processor scores 5768 on geekbench while the fastest mac mini scores 3709. So in terms of power the Mac Pro does indeed spank it.

A current gen imac (i3 1 cpu dual core 3.2) beats my old 2cpu dual core 3.0ghz...oh dear.

 

[karsten]

the mini is somewhat limiting due to its form factor depending on what you want to do with it.

 

[Shattentor]

For the stated purpose the Mac Mini probably is the better choice. It is much smaller, draws a lot less power and will serve your needs very well. The only reasons not to get it now is that it is due for an update very soon, as has already been said. But I see no reason for going with a large Mac Pro tower, as its advantages are never going to be used.

 

[ActionableMango]

For the stated purpose the Mac Mini probably is the better choice.

Yes, exactly.

 

[DustinT]

the mini is somewhat limiting due to its form factor depending on what you want to do with it.

For the stated purpose the Mac Mini probably is the better choice.

These two posts pretty much sum it up. The Mini is great for what you said you need. Just make sure you aren't going to get frustrated with the lack of expandability and you'll love it.