To build a PC or new Mac Mini

Im sure this has been asked plenty of times before. So I do apoligize if you have answered this before, but any input would be lovely.

Now, Im mainly going to use this computer for photoshop/homework. I maybe play a game here and there, but I doubt I will (fiance doesnt enjoy that TOO much...haha). I would possibly do some video editing, not too much, but I do dabble here and there.

I currently have two PCs (one with a fried CPU) and a laptop. My fiance just started her own business so Id like to give her the good PC and the laptop for her work.

I want to spend about $1000-$1200, including a nice monitor(s).

If I did purchase the Mac Mini, it would be the $799 version.

PC for me.

I have pretty strong views on mac minis and iMacs and tend to cope a bit of flak for them, but:


The Mac Mini would look really good sitting under my TV working quietly away as a media server and an easy way to watch youtube on the TV. With a wireless keyboard and mouse I could even browse the web from the couch.
It would work well in the kitchen hooked up to a small monitor, I could surf the web and mess around waiting for things to cook.

But when it comes time to do some real work it will be straight to my desk to every time.

The Mac Mini is a really just a laptop with no input or out put devices.
That means the lack power and performance of a laptop along with the limited storage and lack of upgrade path all packed into a nice portable box that needs mains power, a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
All the dis-advantages of both form factors packed into one nice little box with a brand name on it.

As a media server or basic home computer it's a great idea, it small and simple makes use of existing hardware. It's priced right and well built and very reliable.


As a work station for photo and video creation you might as well buy a laptop, then at least you can take it places and not be confined to a desk.


A desktop on the other hand takes up more space and doesn't look as pretty, and requires some knowledge to set up with a proper workflow, but opens up a world of powerful computing and up-gradable storage that won't leave you waiting for image adjustments to render on screen.

Build a machine that can be run Win 7, Mac OS X....or both. The week after I retired I tried the Win 8 beta and dumped Windows. I had used Windows since before the famous 3.11 release. I loaded OS 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) to see if I can create a stable system. It ran well. So I moved to 10.7.3 (Lion). I will move to 10.8 when Mountain Lion is released later this year. I could set up my machine to dual boot ;however, I see no need to do Win again.

Give yourself the max options, by building a machine with Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge CPU, motherboard from Gigabyte or Asus (to have best chance at running OS X) a good video board like a Radeon 6xxx (which should have support in OS ). There are many sites that can teach you what you need to know about running OS X and there are lots of YouTube videos on building a mackintosh.

Build a machine that run either Win 7 or OS X...or dual boot to both. You can do machines in lots or price ranges. You will get more processing power for your buck building your own machine.

http://tonymacx86.blog​spot.com/search/label/​CustoMac

MCAsan wrote in post #14312229
http://tonymacx86.blog​spot.com/search/label/​CustoMac

Thank you for this link. I am going to have to look into this.

+1 on the Mac mini, it would be a nice system to have and reduce the headaches of building a system. One word of caution, I don't know if others have the same problem I have, but I have a Macbook and a Macbook Pro. The Macbook is connected to an HP 24 and the color on the screen is awful. I have tried just about every possible adjustment I could to improve the color and brightness, but the Macbook screen looks much better. On the Macbook Pro I am running a Apple Cinema 24' and it is great.

I hope I don't sound like a hypocrite because I am in the process of building a PC myself, however, this is mainly due to that I don't want all the licensed Adobe software to go to waste and I can build it cheaper than buying one already built.

The current Mac Mini (Sandy Bridge/HD3000) works extremely well with Aperture. It renders my 5D Mark II files in near real-time, something I've never experienced until the post-Nvidia era of Macs with dedicated gpus. Judging from the performance of Ivy Bridge, which will be in the next iteration of the Mac Mini, and its HD4000 gpu, things will get substantially better; early benchmarks are twice the gpu performance. It also has a Thunderbolt port so you can connect a variety of devices, including external drives, albeit at a steeper price. For most, FW800 is plenty, particularly for photo work.

The downsides of the Mini include slower stock HD (5400 rpm), not so easy access for drive replacement (but it can take two 2.5" drives/SSD) and dual-core processor (which is less important for Aperture, but more important for Lightroom and Photoshop). But it's a nice compact package.

With that said, I use a quad-core i7 hackintosh with an ATI 5870/2gb graphics card.

I asked myself that very same question a couple years ago and I opted to go with the Mac Mini first. I tried that, was my first Apple, loved it for a lot of things, bought a MacBook Pro 13 and an ipad then sold the Mac Mini as it just wasnt enough computer for me. Then I spent tons more and built a new computer. MUCH happier with it. So, PC for main desktop and Apple for on the go laptop.

Thank you for everyones input. Really helping me out with some direction on my decision.

Interesting. I do just the opposite. I have a Hack desktop. But for the road, an HP Envy with 2 internal 1TB drives and an internal SSD for booth. That lets me avoid external drives unless I want a third copy for extra insurance. No way to get that configuration with a Macbook.

But once I get back home, the CR2 files go into the Hack's library where a Time Capsule 3TB provides the backup.

MCAsan, from the link you gave me, I think Im going to do the high end build featuring the sata slot on the drive.

I would replace the graphics from the AMD Radeon HD 6870 to the ATI Radeon
HD 5870.

How well do you think that system would perform? I know I need to get :

■A copy of Mac OS X Lion from the Mac App Store or on a thumb drive.
■An 8GB thumb drive (or larger).
■UniBeast, available from tonymacx86.
■MultiBeast, also available from tonymacx86. You want the version for Lion (as opposed to Snow Leopard).
■The DSDT file for your motherboard of choice.

According to lifehacker.com...

Other than normal accessories, does everything look alright?

MCAsan wrote in post #14315192
Interesting. I do just the opposite. I have a Hack desktop. But for the road, an HP Envy with 2 internal 1TB drives and an internal SSD for booth. That lets me avoid external drives unless I want a third copy for extra insurance. No way to get that configuration with a Macbook.

But once I get back home, the CR2 files go into the Hack's library where a Time Capsule 3TB provides the backup.

Yea I dont try and do nor have a need to do any work on the go with the laptop. Since I cant take my 30" monitor with me, I wait till I get back home to the beast to do any real work. Laptop is for, well, "just having a laptop to do it" things.

dmalli

If all you will change is the graphics board, that should be fine. OSX will usually support any Radeon board to do basic stuff with one graphics board.

The performance should be at least as good as an official mini.

Mac Mini, you can crack one out for cheap. (I am also a mac addict) Probably will be my next purchase for my apartment.