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How many Mac Pros could do the job of 10 stacked minis?

Tell me the price of Mac Pro and its rack system to make a rendering farm or a server compared to Mac Mini?

You see, you are completely ignoring Mac Mini users believing that 8 core CPU wont be possible. You will be wrong at the end.
 
Tell me the price of Mac Pro and its rack system to make a rendering farm or a server compared to Mac Mini?

You see, you are completely ignoring Mac Mini users believing that 8 core CPU wont be possible. You will be wrong at the end.
There are 2 trains of thought. Could the current form factor handle the heat. And would Apple want to put 8 cores into it in the first place.
 
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There are 2 trains of thought. Could the current form factor handle the heat. And would Apple want to put 8 cores into it in the first place.

The current form factor designed for mobile CPU, not desktop CPU. This is why Mac Mini 2018 isn't great cause it has an Intel desktop CPU. AMD APU can easily solve that problem. They already leaked few mobile CPU with 8 cores at 45W.

And the 8 core is very possible especially since both AMD and Intel making CPU with more cores. Both iMac and Mac Mini had 4 cores before and eventually, Apple will add CPU with more cores.
 
The current form factor designed for mobile CPU, not desktop CPU. This is why Mac Mini 2018 isn't great cause it has an Intel desktop CPU. AMD APU can easily solve that problem. They already leaked few mobile CPU with 8 cores at 45W.

And the 8 core is very possible especially since both AMD and Intel making CPU with more cores. Both iMac and Mac Mini had 4 cores before and eventually, Apple will add CPU with more cores.
I think if Apple wanted to get into the semi-pro market the way people want the mini to be. They would create a new category with new hardware. Right now there is a gap from the mini to the pro. They need something in the middle.
 
The current form factor designed for mobile CPU, not desktop CPU. This is why Mac Mini 2018 isn't great cause it has an Intel desktop CPU. AMD APU can easily solve that problem. They already leaked few mobile CPU with 8 cores at 45W.

I'm curious, did the previous gen Mac mini all have mobile CPU's?
 
I'm curious, did the previous gen Mac mini all have mobile CPU's?


Yes. All of them had mobile CPUs.
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I think if Apple wanted to get into the semi-pro market the way people want the mini to be. They would create a new category with new hardware. Right now there is a gap from the mini to the pro. They need something in the middle.

Mac Mini is a separate product. Doesnt even matters about what you are saying.
 
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The current form factor designed for mobile CPU, not desktop CPU. This is why Mac Mini 2018 isn't great cause it has an Intel desktop CPU. AMD APU can easily solve that problem. They already leaked few mobile CPU with 8 cores at 45W.

And the 8 core is very possible especially since both AMD and Intel making CPU with more cores. Both iMac and Mac Mini had 4 cores before and eventually, Apple will add CPU with more cores.
i have to disagree, mini is much better at handling the 65W power envelope of the i7 than any 15" was at handling the 45W envelope of the i9 :D
 
I'm sure they could, in fact the replacement for the current 8700 is a 9700 which is an 8-core/8-thread 65watt CPU. Then there is the 9900 which is an 8-core/16-thread 65watt CPU. They aren't publicly shown to have BGA versions, but I'm sure Intel would create them for Apple if they wanted it.

My biggest issue for Mac mini is there are replacements for all of the CPUs they currently use. Core i3 gets the biggest upgrade since 9th gen supports Turbo Boost now.
 
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To make it a render farm you need to chain multiples together. I don't think Apple was marketing the mini to a semi-professional market.

Apple may not be directly marketing the mini to render farms, but they do exist:

And these types of companies buy a crap ton of minis as well (thus Apple makes a pretty penny off this market, definitely more than the sales from the average low end/mid range computer users).
 
i have to disagree, mini is much better at handling the 65W power envelope of the i7 than any 15" was at handling the 45W envelope of the i9 :D

I disagree. The current version is NOT able to handle its CPU's temperature. And seriously, 65W and 45W TDP. Higher watt means more heat. This does not represent the power consumption. You need to find a TGP or test chart separately. Also, there's a huge difference between desktop CPU and mobile CPU.
 
I disagree. The current version is NOT able to handle its CPU's temperature. And seriously, 65W and 45W TDP. Higher watt means more heat. This does not represent the power consumption. You need to find a TGP or test chart separately. Also, there's a huge difference between desktop CPU and mobile CPU.

the heatsink is larger, and the fan is larger and the vent is larger.
my i7 doesn't fall below 3.5Ghz under stress, and apparently it can be pushed harder if you remove the bottom and apply liquid metal to the chip.
 
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the heatsink is larger, and the fan is larger and the vent is larger.
my i7 doesn't fall below 3.5Ghz under stress, and apparently it can be pushed harder if you remove the bottom and apply liquid metal to the chip.

I told you. There are differences between desktop CPU vs laptop CPU and 65W vs 45W. Clearly you dont understand what I'm saying.
 
I told you. There are differences between desktop CPU vs laptop CPU and 65W vs 45W. Clearly you dont understand what I'm saying.
Yeah i might not be following, i thought you said that you don't think the Mini handles the 65W TDP desktop chip well?
 
the heatsink is larger, and the fan is larger and the vent is larger.
my i7 doesn't fall below 3.5Ghz under stress, and apparently it can be pushed harder if you remove the bottom and apply liquid metal to the chip.

I've applied liquid metal and when rendering clips from Motion 5 the i7 sits at 4.2-4.6ghz with relative ease and the temp is 80-85c
 
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I've applied liquid metal and when rendering clips from Motion 5 the i7 sits at 4.2-4.6ghz with relative ease and the temp is 80-85c
Dang, that sounds sweet...
the only thing that i'm afraid of is corrosion? Is that fear unfounded?

I'm thinking of hotrodding it because my warranty runs out ... Today?
So, liquid metal + opened bottom.
 
Dang, that sounds sweet...
the only thing that i'm afraid of is corrosion? Is that fear unfounded?

I'm thinking of hotrodding it because my warranty runs out ... Today?
So, liquid metal + opened bottom.

The Heatsink is copper so it shouldn't be a problem. Seen YouTube vids with people going back a year after with no corrosion etc on copper. Aluminium is a different matter though! That will corrode. The package warns agains use on Aluminium.

It only takes the smallest of drops to cover the CPU and Heatsink, don't over do it. I done mine while upgrading the RAM to 32gb... when prices drop further, I'll be changing to 64 so will check out the CPU then, maybe before given I have plenty left to do a few dozen Mac mini's 😂
 
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The Heatsink is copper so it shouldn't be a problem. Seen YouTube vids with people going back a year after with no corrosion etc on copper. Aluminium is a different matter though! That will corrode. The package warns agains use on Aluminium.

It only takes the smallest of drops to cover the CPU and Heatsink, don't over do it. I done mine while upgrading the RAM to 32gb... when prices drop further, I'll be changing to 64 so will check out the CPU then, maybe before given I have plenty left to do a few dozen Mac mini's 😂

seems like a great idea. Did you see the thread about a guy stucking a large slow fan and opening the bottom?

I'm thinking this + liquid metal + replacing the antenna with something else so you can open up the hole, should boost it significantly...
or just a replacement antena with larger holes drilled in it :D
 
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Just got mine standing up on it's edge at the moment. I haven't seen much evidence of throttling due to heat but will test a bit more when I get back to work in the new year. I use it for processing images in Capture One Pro, Photoshop and footage in FCP X and Motion 5 for motion graphics. I'm using a Red Dragon Vega 56 by PowerColor in a Core X eGPU.

So far it is a significant increased in performance over my Mac Pro 2013, 6 core, 32gb Ram with twin d500 graphics cards.

I'm also running a 1TB Samsung 970 EVO external in a Sonnet Eco Express SEL. I'd imagine this (and eGPU) will help as it takes a boatload of heat away from the mini and places it elsewhere!
 
Just got mine standing up on it's edge at the moment. I haven't seen much evidence of throttling due to heat but will test a bit more when I get back to work in the new year. I use it for processing images in Capture One Pro, Photoshop and footage in FCP X and Motion 5 for motion graphics. I'm using a Red Dragon Vega 56 by PowerColor in a Core X eGPU.

So far it is a significant increased in performance over my Mac Pro 2013, 6 core, 32gb Ram with twin d500 graphics cards.

I'm also running a 1TB Samsung 970 EVO external in a Sonnet Eco Express SEL. I'd imagine this (and eGPU) will help as it takes a boatload of heat away from the mini and places it elsewhere!
I run everything sans apps and OS from an external NVMe drive... Been toying with the idea of an eGPU but i have to find a silent solution because i don't have a machine room in my studio, and converting the adjacent storage would take too much dirty work since it was just renovated
 
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I wouldn't mind a sweet custom version of the Ryzen 7 8C/16T in a MacMini. Apple has some of the best engineers in the world and they could figure out cooling easily. I have a Node 202 at work with a R7 2700X being cooled really well by just a Noctua thin cooler. It's very possible to make something work for the MacMini.
 
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