Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Mac Mini 2009 running at 2560x1600

ebd.i.am

ebd.i.am

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
436
1
Sacramento, CA
Thinking of changing my order from my 24" iMac to a Mac Mini with a 30" display.
I don't mind sacrificing some performance if I can get more desktop space to work in.
I'm also on a set budget so I can not afford a Mac Pro pared with a 30" display.

My question is will the new Mac Mini (2009) be able to run 2560x1600 resolution on a 30" display using the Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter?

Or will I run into problems such as flickering, or lag, or just in general slow video performance?
If it can not run it smoothly at that resolution then I definitely will keep my current order.

Thanks! :) :apple:!!
 
G

Gregintosh

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2008
1,914
533
Chicago
I think the performance drop will not be significant for certain tasks like running Mail, Safari, iWork, and perhaps to some degree Photoshop (if you work with small files and just do some casual editing).

I don't know about iLife apps like iMovie and GarageBand. The lower processing power will result in slower performance there. They should still be usable, so if you are just a casual user you won't have a problem, but if you spend a lot of time doing music or video editing, I think it will be best to get the iMac in this case.

I was thinking of doing the same thing actually, but now that I got into sound editing with Logic, I really don't want to sacrifice the power. Though having that higher resolution would just kick ass for the web design and project management work I do.
 
K

kasakka

macrumors 68020
Oct 25, 2008
2,361
1,060
The Dual Link DVI adapter has had lots of problems though and the Apple 30" monitor is also dated and overpriced at this point.

It's also worth mentioning that OSX doesn't have the DPI scaling option Windows has so on a 30" I feel that text is a bit small. Hopefully this'll be fixed in Snow Leopard.

Otherwise the 9400M should be powerful enough to run 2560x1600.
 
ebd.i.am

ebd.i.am

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
436
1
Sacramento, CA
kasakka said:
The Dual Link DVI adapter has had lots of problems though and the Apple 30" monitor is also dated and overpriced at this point.

It's also worth mentioning that OSX doesn't have the DPI scaling option Windows has so on a 30" I feel that text is a bit small. Hopefully this'll be fixed in Snow Leopard.

Otherwise the 9400M should be powerful enough to run 2560x1600.
Click to expand...

I was planning on getting the LG W3000H-Bn 30" or SAMSUNG SyncMaster 305T 30" not the Apple 30" Cinema Display.

So just to clarify the new Mac Mini should run 2560x1600 just fine with the Dual-Link DVI Adapter?
 
B

bugout

macrumors 6502a
May 11, 2008
721
40
is everything!
it "should" run fine.. The issue is a problem with the apple displayport to dual link dvi adapter. There have been many reports of it being very buggy.

I would wait a bit for a mini displayport to displayport cable to come out (shouldn't be long now) and get a 30" with a displayport connection.
 
ebd.i.am

ebd.i.am

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
436
1
Sacramento, CA
Does another company make a similar Dual-Link DVI Adapter?

If I am going to switch to a Mac Mini and 30" Display I want to order it soon and not have to wait just for a cable that is not buggy to come out.
 
Spanky Deluxe

Spanky Deluxe

macrumors demi-god
Mar 17, 2005
5,282
1,745
London, UK
I don't know about the adapter, I've heard some people have had issues but then a lot of other people haven't I don't think.

As far as 30" displays go, don't hesitate! I'd advise against buying a 30" display from Apple right now since its pretty obvious that they'll be refreshed at some point in the coming months with a completely new design in line with the 24" LED display. I doubt it'll be long now until third party mini display port to display port adapters become available at which point you might want to consider switching from the DVI-DL adapter to a display port only method (assuming you go for a screen with display port connections).

I've been a user of a 30" ACD for about two and a half years now and I've never once regretted my purchase. Simply breathtaking!!
 
K

kasakka

macrumors 68020
Oct 25, 2008
2,361
1,060
As far as I know the Dell 3008WFP is the only 30" with Displayport at the moment too, but that's not a bad thing since at the moment they can be had for reasonable prices and at least the one I've got is excellent.
 
ebd.i.am

ebd.i.am

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
436
1
Sacramento, CA
Hearing all this is making my lean towards my iMac more now haha

I need a computer asap but the 4-6 week wait of the iMac is killing me. But I don't want to get a Mac Mini and 30" Display if I am going to run into issues down the road.

:confused:
 
Spanky Deluxe

Spanky Deluxe

macrumors demi-god
Mar 17, 2005
5,282
1,745
London, UK
You'd be covered for those issues though. If its a case of some DVI-DL adapters being iffy and some not then you could always just pop to an Apple store with the cable and have switch it for a new one.

BTW Contrary to some other people might have mentioned, running a 30" ACD from a Mac Mini will not make any applications run slower than if a smaller display were connected as long as the application isn't 3D accelerated. Games will obviously suffer but anything 2D, i.e. Photoshop, Safari, etc etc, will remain largely unchanged. The only kind of 2D stuff that you could be affected by is OS X acceleration in regards to things like Expose, however, that's largely video memory based. If you put 2/4GB of RAM in your Mini then you definitely wouldn't have any issues.
 
ebd.i.am

ebd.i.am

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
436
1
Sacramento, CA
Spanky Deluxe said:
You'd be covered for those issues though. If its a case of some DVI-DL adapters being iffy and some not then you could always just pop to an Apple store with the cable and have switch it for a new one.

BTW Contrary to some other people might have mentioned, running a 30" ACD from a Mac Mini will not make any applications run slower than if a smaller display were connected as long as the application isn't 3D accelerated. Games will obviously suffer but anything 2D, i.e. Photoshop, Safari, etc etc, will remain largely unchanged. The only kind of 2D stuff that you could be affected by is OS X acceleration in regards to things like Expose, however, that's largely video memory based. If you put 2/4GB of RAM in your Mini then you definitely wouldn't have any issues.
Click to expand...

After reading the reviews for the adapter it seems its with all the adapters not just a hand full so returning it probably wouldn't help. Another thing I noticed is when people change the graphics to performance mode the issue sometimes is corrected. I don't think Mac Minis have this option huh? Just for laptops?

If I do switch I do plan to get the 9400 256MB and 4GB ram too.
 
B

bugout

macrumors 6502a
May 11, 2008
721
40
is everything!
All models have 256GB of vram if you upgrade the RAM... You dont need to purchase the upgraded model.. Just get the cheap one and upgrade the ram yourself.
 
ebd.i.am

ebd.i.am

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
436
1
Sacramento, CA
C

cawesjmu

macrumors 6502
Apr 4, 2004
382
0
Richmond, VA
That's because the 599 model comes with 1GB of RAM and the 799 comes with 2 GB. The more RAM you have, the more it can share with the video.
 
Spanky Deluxe

Spanky Deluxe

macrumors demi-god
Mar 17, 2005
5,282
1,745
London, UK
ebd.i.am said:
Oh ok so by upgrading the RAM it also increases the VRAM to 256MB. :rolleyes: Hah thanks.

Still trying to decide if I should cancel my iMac......
Click to expand...

Question though, if you're considering buying a Mac Mini then why would you want the 4850 in the iMac so much? It strikes me a bit odd that you'd be willing to wait an extra 4-6 weeks purely because of a slightly better graphics card in an iMac when you're considering settling for a Mac Mini with a graphics card that is significantly weaker.

Sure you've still got to decide what's better for you, a 24" iMac or a Mac Mini + 30" Display but it really depends on what you plan on doing with it. If its any kind of graphic design/coding/word processing/web surfing/movie editing etc, i.e. anything that doesn't have a heavy 3D dependency then the Mac Mini with a 30" screen would probably be the better option - you can always upgrade to a different computer later on when you can afford it after all. If what you do is heavily 3D based i.e. 3D design or general gaming then you might be better off going with an iMac and maybe buying an extra display later on when you can afford it.

As far as my display goes... put it this way: I'd consider not replacing my Mac Pro with another Mac Pro and going with a Mac Mini instead if I felt it was more in my interests. I wouldn't consider getting a 24" display to replace my 30" display though.
 
robbieduncan

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
bugout said:
All models have 256GB of vram if you upgrade the RAM... You dont need to purchase the upgraded model.. Just get the cheap one and upgrade the ram yourself.
Click to expand...

Strictly speaking both models have 0Mb of VRAM. When they have at least 2Gb of main memory installed they both use 256Mb of main memory as shared VRAM. This is nothing like have real VRAM...
 
ebd.i.am

ebd.i.am

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 19, 2006
436
1
Sacramento, CA
Spanky Deluxe said:
Question though, if you're considering buying a Mac Mini then why would you want the 4850 in the iMac so much? It strikes me a bit odd that you'd be willing to wait an extra 4-6 weeks purely because of a slightly better graphics card in an iMac when you're considering settling for a Mac Mini with a graphics card that is significantly weaker.

Sure you've still got to decide what's better for you, a 24" iMac or a Mac Mini + 30" Display but it really depends on what you plan on doing with it. If its any kind of graphic design/coding/word processing/web surfing/movie editing etc, i.e. anything that doesn't have a heavy 3D dependency then the Mac Mini with a 30" screen would probably be the better option - you can always upgrade to a different computer later on when you can afford it after all. If what you do is heavily 3D based i.e. 3D design or general gaming then you might be better off going with an iMac and maybe buying an extra display later on when you can afford it.

As far as my display goes... put it this way: I'd consider not replacing my Mac Pro with another Mac Pro and going with a Mac Mini instead if I felt it was more in my interests. I wouldn't consider getting a 24" display to replace my 30" display though.
Click to expand...

That is some good analysis I must admit haha!

My first route was to order a 24" iMac with all top of the line parts I can not change out such as the CPU and GPU, I would later upgrade the RAM and HDD myself to the maximum it will allow. I planned on using the machine for surfing the web, music, videos, word processing, and some moderate gaming in leopard and windows.

Now after waiting a week since I ordered my iMac I realized I do not game on the pc all that much since I have a xbox and playstation. Then I thought it would be nice to have much more desktop space to work within when I type up documents for my classes. I hated switching between windows on my 15" MBP. I would rather have two or three windows open side by side allowing me to easily view them all. That's why I thought I could take the hit in less performance for a larger display. I'm on a set budget so I could not get the iMac + a large display or a Mac Pro + a large display. The Mac Mini + a 30" display seemed like the best alternative route.

But after reading all the reviews for the Dual-Link DVI Adapter its beginning to turn me away from the idea.

robbieduncan said:
Strictly speaking both models have 0Mb of VRAM. When they have at least 2Gb of main memory installed they both use 256Mb of main memory as shared VRAM. This is nothing like have real VRAM...
Click to expand...

Is there any difference in terms of performance/speed from real VRAM and VRAM shared from the RAM?
 
ftaok

ftaok

macrumors 603
Jan 23, 2002
6,487
1,572
East Coast
ebd.i.am said:
But after reading all the reviews for the Dual-Link DVI Adapter its beginning to turn me away from the idea.
Click to expand...

You could go dual screen with the mini.

Get a pair of 20" or 24" LCDs and the miniDP-DVI adapter.

You could span two 1600x900 Dell screens for $420 plus $30 for the adapter.

Alternatively, you could go two 1920x1200 Dell screens for $1040 plus $30.

Or a combination of a 20" and 24".

If you go dual 24", you'd get more screen space than a single 30".

ft
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom