Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid70
I am looking to get one, specs are:
2.5GHz Mac mini
2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
4GB memory
500GB hard drive1
Intel HD Graphics 4000
OS X Mountain Lion
Will add up memory up to 8GBs.
How different Core i5 is from Core i7 ?
The machine is considered to work with Photoshop mostly,
related question is how good is that Intel HD Graphics 4000 video card?
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You would be better off with an iMac for a few reasons.
If you are working with large files, the new iMacs have combined HD and SSHD, so files load alot faster. Plus the monitors on iMacs are second to none when it comes to resolution clarity and color detail.
Yes its more expensive, but completely worth the price.
The mac mini is more of a general purpose machine. It's slower overall, a little underpowered for my taste, but then again its only $500.
The Core i7 is faster than the i5, but you won't notice the speed difference in photoshop unless you are using complex filters like Liquify on very large images which can take a while to render. You would be better off to get the i5, and use the savings towards more Ram or a bigger hard disk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by acctman
it's perfectly fine for photoshop the i5.
I have the newest base model i5 2.5ghz I upgraded to 16gb (bought the ram myself from amazon). I have zero problem with photoshop handling big files. I also bought a Seagate 1TB external usb 3.0 drive for under $129 the speed is insane no lag at all
I know some people suggest just getting a PC but honestly its good to have both PC and Mac. The mac mini is a great low cost yet powerful Mac. Especially if you ever want to dabble in the iOS app market you'll need a Mac.
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I purchased a 2TB External hard drive. It's fast on USB, but try using the firewire cable instead. Much faster. I store all of my giant images on it and it read/writes just as fast as if it were a built-in drive.