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Speed difference between the 2012 i5 and i7 Mac Mini help
- Thread starter Colin0317
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The i5 is dual core. The i7 is quad core. If number of cores matters to the tasks you plan use the computer for, then you should certainly take note of this difference.
I jumped from the i5 Mac Mini, to the i7 and there is a considerable difference that I am noticing between the speeds, but you have to keep in mind, unless you're doing enough work, or running programs that require a large amount of resources you'll be fine with the i5.
It all depends on what type of work you're doing. I recently grabbed a base i5 refurb for the office and its completely fine for my purposes. My work flow is primarily MS Office, lots of PDFs, web browsers, and a little bit of coding thrown in. I rarely do video/audio editing so I didn't feel the i7 was necessary, but I did want an SSD. I added an SSD and it's perfect for my use. So far I don't notice much difference in average daily use between the i5 mini and my 2012 15" rMBP, which has the i7.
It will just depend on what you use it for. I have a standard i5 with 4GB. It runs iTunes 24/7 and I can still use Virtualbox to open a Linux operating system at the same time. Memory drops down to about 700-800MB free. Just doing normal browsing and file management I do not see any hesitation.
I did use the OWC kit and make mine a Fusion Drive, which helps with the user experience. The stock 500GB is very slow.
I did use the OWC kit and make mine a Fusion Drive, which helps with the user experience. The stock 500GB is very slow.
I have a late 2012 Mac mini completely stock with the core i5 processor. It is an exceptional computer. You can do everything the i7 model can do. Most people would not notice a difference. Unless your a power user or for some reason you think you have to have the best of everything than the core i5 version of the Mac mini will be plenty powerful for you. 
The i7 is a must if you are running VM's as it is quad core with multithreading providing you with 8 virtual CPU's. If you aren't running anything like that then go for the i5, pop an SSD in it and up the ram to 8GB.
I have both 2012 i5 and i7 models. The i5 is stock but with 8GB ram and the i7 server model has 1 x SSD, 1 x HDD and 16GB RAM.
I have both 2012 i5 and i7 models. The i5 is stock but with 8GB ram and the i7 server model has 1 x SSD, 1 x HDD and 16GB RAM.