Which PC configuration would be similar to Mac mini 2020?

[RenatoBB]

Hey

I have the Mac Mini 2012 and I really wanted to buy the Mac mini 2020 but it is very expensive where I live. If I were to compare the Mac Mini 2020 with a PC what would be the corresponding configuration? (I'm not talking about dimensions, just hardware). Thanks.

 

[velocityg4]

Any 8th generation or later Intel Core CPU will be as good as or better than the Mini. Varying on if you choose i3, i5 or i7 as the mini equivalent. You'll also want something with an NVMe SSD. For AMD I'd go with the Ryzen 2000 series or later. You'll be hard pressed to find Thunderbolt 3 though. Most won't even have USB 3.1 Gen 2.

DIY would be your best option. If you were thinking of a hackintosh. You can find a list of recommended parts on Tonymacx86.

 

[Kaida]

nuc8i5beh is pretty easy to hackintosh. when i did it, only the Bluetooth and wifi is not working.

[Guide] Installing macOS Mojave (10.14.2) on Intel NUCi5BEH using Clover UEFI + updating to Mojave (10.14.6) on post#2

Caveat: read first! This guide has become outdated and no longer works as is. Jump to post #2: updating to Mojave (10.14.6) or Catalina. Overview The purpose of this guide is to provide a step-by-step procedure to install Mojave (10.14.2) on an Intel NUCi5BEH, it is a simplified version of...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[frou]

The Mac Mini is an unbalanced machine because it has strong CPU and SSD but very weak graphics. If you self build a desktop system, it should not be this unbalanced.

 

[tyc0746]

I bought an Intel NUC as I couldn't stand to pay Apple almost 3 x the price to spec something similar (£1400 for a quad-core i3/1TB/16GB). It's even smaller than I expected.

I chose one with am 8th gen quad-core i5 (Intel Core i5-8259U with same UHD Graphics 630) and added my own choice of 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM for a total of less than £500. Pay a bit more and you can get 10th gen i5/i7/i9.

It isn't currently running MacOS, but that's fine as it's only acting as a media centre. Not sure how easy/compatible it is for hackintosh-ing though.

Everything else I have is Apple (2 x iMacs, 2 x MacMinis, 3 x iPads, 2 x iPods, 3 x iPhones) - but I can no longer be bothered disassembling MacMini/iMacs to upgrade something that should be simple (used to have a cheese-grater MacPro that was forever being upgraded).

 

[RenatoBB]

Thank you all for the answers.

I thought about buying a NUC but I don't know if I can choose a better video card for it. I use my mac mini to work, but most programs are Windows only so maybe it's time to switch to a PC. I will miss Mac OS

@tyc0746: am I able to build a NUC so that it looks better than the mac mini 2020? hexa-core and use a better board?

I also found something like this: NUC6i7KYK (Skull Canyon)

 

[steve217]

I got an IdeaCentre from Lenovo (510) last July for $350 at a Best Buy sale. It has the same i3 as the Mac mini and 8gb of RAM. I bought one for my wife to replace her 10 year old Dell and she has been quite happy with it. For browsing and Microsoft Office, 8gb is plenty. The machine came with a 1TB spinner but for $50 more, I dropped in a SATA SSD and for what it does, that machine is quite snappy. The build quality isn't that impressive - it must have the world's flimsiest optical drive door and a really puny power supply - but for maybe $400 total, I'm not complaining.

The current Intel IdeaCentre from Lenovo has the 10th gen but that still has the UHD 630 graphics and it's $200 more.

The equivalent current $350 cheapo from Lenovo has a Ryzen 3 3200G, 4C/4T with Vega graphics.

 

[velocityg4]

Thank you all for the answers.

I thought about buying a NUC but I don't know if I can choose a better video card for it. I use my mac mini to work, but most programs are Windows only so maybe it's time to switch to a PC. I will miss Mac OS

@tyc0746: am I able to build a NUC so that it looks better than the mac mini 2020? hexa-core and use a better board?

I also found something like this: NUC6i7KYK (Skull Canyon)

If you want something small with graphics power. Build a mini ITX PC. The NUC I've seen are basically a Mac Mini. But without multiple Thunderbolt controllers/ports, just one. I don't know of any where you can upgrade the GPU.

 

[Kaida]

NUC is still using laptop CPU, the 2018/2020 Mac mini uses desktop CPU so it will be more powerful.
Can check out the NUC10 i7, that has 6 cores and 12 threads too. The power brick is super huge though..

Intel NUC 10 Performance Kit – Intel Core i7 Processor (Tall Chassis)

Intel NUC Kit NUC10i7FNH, w/ US cord, single pack.

www.amazon.com

 

[iluvmacs99]

I just recently bought a ready made PC gaming desktop from Asus on sale. It has a Core i5 9th gen CPU which is a 6 core and comes with a 256Gb M.2 blade drive which is pretty fast. It comes also with an Nvidia GTX1650, which is only about 32% slower than my RX580 inside my Mac Pro 5,1. Performance wise is faster than a Mac Mini Core i5 and the graphics smokes whatever iGPU that's inside the Mini and smokes my Mac Pro. It is slight slower than the Core i7 9th gen. The price I paid was like the same as a base Core i3 mini, but for the 9th gen i7 model with an even more powerful GPU the same price as the mini i5. Most of my software I use now on the Mac have their Windows equivalent, but the software themselves shine when working with Nvidia graphics, not AMD and I can no longer justify paying Apple tax for a lacklustre performance. And for Apple going to Apple Silicon basically sealed my fate. The Mac Pro will be my last mac.

 

[McScooby]

I'm sort of in the same boat, but decided to wait it out (catalina'll be supported for 2 more years) by which time an apple sillicon mini will have dropped. I fully expected it to be a screamer compared to today's machines, both for CPU & GPU!

 

[tyc0746]

NUC is still using laptop CPU, the 2018/2020 Mac mini uses desktop CPU so it will be more powerful.

Are you sure?

The i3 MacMini uses the Intel I3-8100B mobile chip.
The i5 MacMini uses the Intel I5-8500B mobile chip.
The i7 MacMini uses the Intel I7-8700B mobile chip.

All come with the same integrated/embedded Intel UHD 630 GPU - and with an eGPU you’d be able to have whatever GPU you want.

But my NUC was bought as value for money, rather than high performance.

You can get them with faster CPUs and Radeon graphics (e.g. nuc8i7hnk) - but expect to pay closer to £700 for that, plus whatever SSD/RAM you configure/buy.

 

[Wotcher]

You can get them with faster CPUs and Radeon graphics (e.g. nuc8i7hnk) - but expect to pay closer to £700 for that, plus whatever SSD/RAM you configure/buy.

That comes with an i7-8705G which is a 4-core/8-thread CPU. All things being equal, it will probably not outperform the mini's i7-8700B. Graphics is another matter and likely that NUC will hand the mini's ass on a platter.

I bought a refurbished mini last month (i7-8700B/16GB/512GB) and upgraded the RAM to 64GB. I also have a NUC7 (NUC7i7BNH) and I used the 16GB memory from the mini to upgrade from 8GB (so now i7-7567U/16GB/512GB).

It's 6-cores vs. 2-cores, but if I'm just browsing Macrumors there's not much of a difference. But when running Office on the web (Word/Excel/PPT), I do notice lags here and there, and if I'm running Lightroom, the mini is the clear winner.

But holy crap the NUC is LOUD. Even when idle the fan is definitely present and audible while the mini is very quiet. When the CPU is pegged at > 60%, the NUC sounds like a small jet taking off right next to me.

With that being said, however, the NUC is cheaper, but it's also missing things like 4x TB3, which for some people will make adding eGPU and TB3 docks a better/flexible option since they won't have to share the same TB3 controller and give each the full bandwidth.

 

[frou]

Are you sure?

The i3 MacMini uses the Intel I3-8100B mobile chip.
The i5 MacMini uses the Intel I5-8500B mobile chip.
The i7 MacMini uses the Intel I7-8700B mobile chip.

Vanilla 8100/8500/8700 are desktop chips according to Intel ("Coffee Lake S").

The "B" variants in the Mini are just a different physical shape/connection to be able to fit on the cramped motherboard. They are still 65W chips like the vanilla ones and have the same cores, clocks, cache, etc:

Intel product specifications

Intel® product specifications, features and compatibility quick reference guide and code name decoder. Compare products including processors, desktop boards, server products and networking products.

ark.intel.com

 

[tyc0746]

Vanilla 8100/8500/8700 are desktop chips according to Intel ("Coffee Lake S").

The "B" variants in the Mini are just a different physical shape/connection to be able to fit on the cramped motherboard. They are still 65W chips like the vanilla ones and have the same cores, clocks, cache, etc:

Intel product specifications

Intel® product specifications, features and compatibility quick reference guide and code name decoder. Compare products including processors, desktop boards, server products and networking products.

ark.intel.com

I knew the U suffix normally denotes power-saving, mobile ones., but was going by Intel’s own description for the usage.

As there doesn’t seem to be any difference, wonder why the Intel page says the B suffix are mobile chips.

 

[Kaida]

I knew the U suffix normally denotes power-saving, mobile ones., but was going by Intel’s own description for the usage.

As there doesn’t seem to be any difference, wonder why the Intel page says the B suffix are mobile chips.

Maybe intel meant to differentiate the normal 8700 as PGA which is CPU swapable. The B model is the BGA type that is soldered onto the board and permanent-ish. The TDP is much higher at 65w.