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MacMini 09 with 8Gb RAM

M

macsig

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 27, 2006
236
0
Marina del Rey, CA
Hello guys,
I'd like to buy the new MacMini Server Edition but I wander I need 8Gb of RAM and after googling I found this article and OWC currently sells (for $500) 8Gb RAM kit

My question is: Why if the new MacMini can use 8Gb RAM, Apple doesn't support it? Do you think they will release some kind of update later on this year to officially support 8Gb?


Thanks


Sig
 
Can the machine actually use 8 gigs of ram? If it can, and you can put it in without breaking anything, what difference would 'apple supporting it' mean?

Apple wants to guide you to more expensive models if you want to use vast amounts of ram (they're evil geniuses at upselling), so even if there wasn't a hardware restriction on the amount of ram the mini used, I doubt they'd enable it.
 
I don't understand why Apple doesn't support it. According to 123macmini.com, 8GB will be fully utilized on the 2009 Mac Mini only if you have Snow Leopard and the Firmware Update back in August.
 
As long as it works, you don't really need "apple to support it". But if what your asking is "Will apple release a mac mini with 8gb". They probably will I'm guessing on the next update.
 
They don't support it because a mini + 8GB would be $1,999 and the server would be $2,399 with their price for 4GB DIMMs. They did the same with the Mac Pro. A 2.66GHz quad with 16GB was more expensive than a 2.66GHz octo with 16GB in 2GB DIMMs and when they lowered the price for 4GB DIMMs on the 8 core Mac Pro they added it as an option and supported it on the quad. It is just how they handle the options/marketing on their systems.
 
There are so many bottlenecks on the Mini that so much RAM will not solve anything. I have a 2.2 w/ 4GB 1066 and a 7200 HDD. What test would you like me to run for you?
 
As long as it works, you don't really need "apple to support it". But if what your asking is "Will apple release a mac mini with 8gb". They probably will I'm guessing on the next update.
 
Imagine a great deal of computing happening when you force the size of a 2 liter Cola through the bottleneck you'll have much less bandwidth and processes waiting in line.

Sure you'd have 8GB RAM that never gets used but your 5200RPM hard drive can't even cache all the RAM your throwing at it.
 
MacMini2009 said:
What are the bottlenecks and why would it be a waste?
Click to expand...

Well it is based on laptop components, and typically the base hard drives Apple puts in are slow. I have a 1.8 ghz version I use as an htpc and as a file server for my other macs. It originally had a 60 gb drive and 512 mb of ram. I upgraded to the max amount of ram (2 GB) and saw almost zero percent improvement. Once I put in a 500 gb 5200 rpm drive that I saw a huge improvement. It is currently set up as my htpc, an external 1.5 tb drive hooked up through firewire 400 to serve up tv shows and movies, the internal is used for the os and for downloads and its hooked up to the network through wired ethernet connection. I can stream a 1080p 6-8 gb file to another mac while watching standard def content on the mini without a glitch. When configured correctly they make a great home server, or small business server. The only reason it is going to get replaced is because it can't play 1080p content very well. If you want to use a mini for heavy duty video editing or content creation then it would be waste because it is a much slower machine then a mac pro. I can't imagine what else you would need 8 gb ram, but for server use, general duty home computing I imagine 8 gb would be wasted.
 
I forgot to say that when I buy my next mini it will have the minimum ram and base hdd with the fastest Cpu I can order. I will upgrade the Hdd and Ram myself. Not to hard and a far better value, and buy doing this I can select the fastest components to turn it into a little screamer. Since Mac Os x can handle my server duties fine I will not get the server addition, but it does seem a very good value when compared to other options out there.
 
bigdaddyp said:
Well it is based on laptop components, and typically the base hard drives Apple puts in are slow. I have a 1.8 ghz version I use as an htpc and as a file server for my other macs. It originally had a 60 gb drive and 512 mb of ram. I upgraded to the max amount of ram (2 GB) and saw almost zero percent improvement. Once I put in a 500 gb 5200 rpm drive that I saw a huge improvement.
Click to expand...

Mine's even older, same usage. I seldom boot from the internal drive. Firewire is noticeably faster, and that's just to my eye, haven't even bothered with benchmarks.

I'm thinking about an SSD upgrade for inside, just as a boot/application disk.
 
JAT said:
Mine's even older, same usage. I seldom boot from the internal drive. Firewire is noticeably faster, and that's just to my eye, haven't even bothered with benchmarks.

I'm thinking about an SSD upgrade for inside, just as a boot/application disk.
Click to expand...
I believe in the past that some reviewers benchmarked booting from an external firewire against the internal and saw huge gains.
I bet that you would see some very significant gains if you did the ssd drive. And best of all later if you buy a new mini you can move it to the new one.
 
bigdaddyp said:
I believe in the past that some reviewers benchmarked booting from an external firewire against the internal and saw huge gains.
I bet that you would see some very significant gains if you did the ssd drive. And best of all later if you buy a new mini you can move it to the new one.
Click to expand...

Contrary to popular belief the gains aren't that remarkable with a SSD in mac for usual business apps. However for large volume processing, then yes definitely.
 
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