Anyone use a Mac-Mini?

Will this machine handle files from a 5d Mii, using LR3 and CS5?



Refurbished Mac mini with Lion Server 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Originally released July 2011

8GB memory

Dual 500GB hard drives
Thunderbolt port with support for up to 2560-by-1600 resolution
HDMI port with support for up to 1920-by-1200 resolution
Intel HD Graphics 3000
$1,019.00
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Quickly, I mean?

My 2-yr-old 13" MBP "handles" them, but it can be painful at times.

Any hands on experience or knowledgeable input is appreciated.

The specs look fine.

jsvphoto wrote in post #13952580
Will this machine handle files from a 5d Mii, using LR3 and CS5?

It will struggle.
For light edits and if you don't mind the odd wait when loading previews it will be ok.
But large batches and heavy use of the adjustment brush in LR, or lots of filters and layers in PS will slow things right down.


It will be a lot faster than your old Mac book though.

sbattey wrote in post #13955141

My i7 2600k struggles and works at 100% with what I discribed, a mobile i7 is not nearly as powerful.

Moppie wrote in post #13955173
My i7 2600k struggles and works at 100% with what I discribed, a mobile i7 is not nearly as powerful.

Right..

it's a horrible processor that can't do anything.

sbattey wrote in post #13955212
Right..

it's a horrible processor that can't do anything.

Stop reading into things that are not there


The mobile i7 is a great mobile processor, but its still a mobile processor and has it's limits.
One of those limits is the real time editing with no slow downs or waits of 5D2 files.

Editing one at a time will be fine, batch editing will slow the system down and cause wait time.

Thanks guys. I do some batch edits in LR3, but I only edit 1file at a time in PS (multiple layers, though). Might not really matter, though, since there's no way I can afford a Mac Pro... Wish you could beef up the mini a little more.

jsvphoto wrote in post #13956249
Thanks guys. I do some batch edits in LR3, but I only edit 1file at a time in PS (multiple layers, though). Might not really matter, though, since there's no way I can afford a Mac Pro... Wish you could beef up the mini a little more.

It should have room for 2 physical hard drives.
Using the second one for the PS scratch disc, and separating your LR catalog from the images will improve the performance.
Make sure you get 7200rpm drives though.

This particular machine comes with dual 500 GB drives. Can't recall whether they're 5400 or 7200 rpm, though.

Is it at all worth it to consider a SSD? I've heard performance is boosted with them, but I wondered if it's something only a true techie can appreciate. Plus, they're obviously very pricey.

Not familiar with the terminology: what is "PS scratch disc"?

Why does separating the LR catalog from the images matter? I thought the beauty of LR (vs. Aperture, at least) was that the catalog file is small...

Aperture runs very nicely on the HD3000 mini.

jsvphoto wrote in post #13962183
This particular machine comes with dual 500 GB drives. Can't recall whether they're 5400 or 7200 rpm, though.

Hopefully they are 7200.

An SSD works well for speeding up start up and program loading times, but they have very little impact on photo editing times, unless you more than 2 drives you can run the catalog etc on one.

Photoshop uses writes information to the Hard disk as well as using RAM.
The hard disk it writes to is called the scratch disc, you can set it in the preferences.
Having it on a separate physical disk improves performance.

Thanks for the input, guys. I appreciate the thoughtful responses.