Mac mini vs PC mini

[LazerMMX]

In a recent video Linus mentioned they were going to compare Mac mini to a PC mini. The PC had an 8 core cpu and GTX 1080 or something for a slightly cheaper price than the mac. Does anyone know which mini PC they were referring to?

 

[KING OF THE DIRTY DANS]

Asrock DeskMini

[kirashi]

10 minutes ago, LazerMMX said:

In a recent video Linus mentioned they were going to compare Mac mini to a PC mini. The PC had an 8 core cpu and GTX 1080 or something for a slightly cheaper price than the mac. Does anyone know which mini PC they were referring to?

 

The video will be out soon; then you'll be able to see exactly which ASRock Mini PC they're using.

[Streetguru]

25 minutes ago, LazerMMX said:

In a recent video Linus mentioned they were going to compare Mac mini to a PC mini. The PC had an 8 core cpu and GTX 1080 or something for a slightly cheaper price than the mac. Does anyone know which mini PC they were referring to?

 

Something like this I think

 

[SansVarnic]

-= Moved to General Discussion=-

[RoseLuck462]

The updated Mac Mini is pretty sleek though 

[Streetguru]

2 minutes ago, RoseLuck462 said:

The updated Mac Mini is pretty sleek though 

The Mac Mini would be a viable machine if it used a Ryzen APU

[Guest]

Here is my view:

 

Asrock Desk Mini

- Slow (no wheels?)

- Is made by ASRock (ouch)

- dedicates graphics card to slurp up your power

- Runs Windows (huge downer)

- Bought by people who can’t afford a Mac and think they’re cool by being ‘better for the money’

 

Mac Mini

- 10GBe

- Very fast, slides off desk well.

- Made by Apple (quality and warranty)

- Integrated graphic (Sucks money not power)

- Runs MacOS (Like Linux but no shitty community and has app support)

- Bought by rich, wealthy people who don’t know what to buy, but is probably good.

 

[DrMacintosh]

The Mac mini is a great machine, but it's biggest weakness is a lack of a dGPU. However for its intended audience, Video editors and developers mostly, not having a dGPU is fine. For most people on this forum though, the Mac mini doesn't make a lot of sense. 

[Ashleyyyy]

20 minutes ago, floofer said:

shitty community

fair enough

 

21 minutes ago, floofer said:

app support

app support on Linux is pretty good now. the only things i can think of it doesn't run are MS office, adobe stuff and most games. i don't need those so... 

[Drak3]

24 minutes ago, floofer said:

10GBe

Expensive upgrade.

 

25 minutes ago, floofer said:

Made by Apple (quality and warranty)

Average quality. Warranty varies.

 

25 minutes ago, floofer said:

Runs MacOS (Like Linux but no shitty community and has app support)

Less shitty community. Still some rather shitty idiots.

 

26 minutes ago, floofer said:

Runs Windows (huge downer)

Not really.

5 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

However for its intended audience, Video editors and developers mostly, not having a dGPU is fine.

If the video editor isn't running FCPX (Not uncommon), the lack of dGPU is a huge con to the Mac Mini.

 

4 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

app support on Linux is pretty good now.

It has alternatives to most programs.

 

Many either lacking or on other platforms anyways.

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, Drak3 said:

If the video editor isn't running FCPX (Not uncommon), the lack of dGPU is a huge con to the Mac Mini.

If you're video editing with anything but FinalCut on a Mac you're doing it wrong. 

[Drak3]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

If you're video editing with anything but FinalCut on a Mac you're doing it wrong. 

That's an extremely narrow minded view.

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, Drak3 said:

That's an extremely narrow minded view.

It's really not. If you're going to use Premiere or anything else, you should be using a Windows based PC. 

[Drak3]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

It's really not. If you're going to use Premiere or anything else, you should be using a Windows based PC. 

Again, that's an extremely narrow minded view.

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, Drak3 said:

Again, that's an extremely narrow minded view.

And again I'm telling you that it's not. Premiere editors are much better off with a Windows based PC. 

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

Premiere editors are much better off with a Windows based PC. 

Premiere isn't the only alternative. And even then, that's ignorant and arrogant.

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, Drak3 said:

Premiere isn't the only alternative. And even then, that's ignorant and arrogant.

Ok, I can see this is going nowhere. You're still wrong though. 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Expensive upgrade.

 

Average quality. Warranty varies.

Usually 1yr, unless the law says otherwise. It’s 3 years in NZ due to this. We only have service providers, not Apple Stores, so it’s still shitty. 

9 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Less shitty community. Still some rather shitty idiots.

It’s a toss-up between being ignorant or being a duck. 

9 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Not really.

If the video editor isn't running FCPX (Not uncommon), the lack of dGPU is a huge con to the Mac Mini.

Yeah but the form factor though. Apple is not great with thermals. Fair enough, but you don’t get these PCs for performance.

9 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

It has alternatives to most programs.

 

Many either lacking or on other platforms anyways.

Was a little joke, but I’d still take the Mac over ASRock anyway. I’ve heard about their customer service. 

[Drak3]

2 minutes ago, floofer said:

Yeah but the form factor though. Apple is not great with thermals. Fair enough, but you don’t get these PCs for performance.

They could still opt for a low power dGPU like a Radeon Pro 555.

[Blademaster91]

59 minutes ago, floofer said:

Asrock Desk Mini

- Slow (no wheels?)

- Is made by ASRock (ouch) 

- dedicates graphics card to slurp up your power

- Runs Windows (huge downer)

- Bought by people who can’t afford a Mac and think they’re cool by being ‘better for the money’

The deskmini being made by ASRock isn't a bad thing, their motherboards and GPU's are as good as more well known brands like Asus or MSI.

A dedicated graphics card to get your work done faster if you require one for editing or rendering.

Windows isn't a downside if its your preference.

Bought by people that know how to spend their money when it comes to getting better hardware for the price.

59 minutes ago, floofer said:

Mac Mini

- 10GBe

- Very fast, slides off desk well.

- Made by Apple (quality and warranty)

- Integrated graphic (Sucks money not power)

- Runs MacOS (Like Linux but no shitty community and has app support)

- Bought by rich, wealthy people who don’t know what to buy, but is probably good.

Having 10GBe is expensive and isn't really necessary for most users,and most people buying a mac mini are probably using wifi instead.

The quality isn't any better, and warranty as mentioned varies, plenty of people have been screwed by the warranty.

Only having integrated graphics is terrible value for the cost of the mac mini.

The Linux community is fine,Linux has better game support, and most apps that the average person would use.

Bought by rich people who think spending more on a brand means a better product.

[DrMacintosh]

7 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

Having 10GBe is expensive,and isn't necessary for most users,and most people buying a mac mini are probably using wifi instead.

That's why the 10GBe is an option. 

7 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

Only having integrated graphics is terrible value for the cost of the mac mini.

This is true when companying the Mac mini to other similarly priced PCs. The Mac mini is a Mac though and with it comes a premium for access to macOS and all the pro software it can bring to the table. 

 

But you are right, the Mac mini would make a lot more sense if it did have a dGPU. Even if it was just something weak like the Radeon Pro 555X or 560X like inside the 15" MacBook Pro would have been a wonderful addition. However at the starting price of $800 those would all have to be upgrades seeing as a Mac with those types of specs that cost anything less than an equivalent iMac would not reach the margins that Apple wants. 

[Drak3]

4 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

This is true when companying the Mac mini to other similarly priced PCs. 

No, it's a terrible value compared to other Macs as well. The main reason to buy it now, is size.

[DrMacintosh]

27 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

No, it's a terrible value compared to other Macs as well. The main reason to buy it now, is size.

Well let's break it down

 

21.5" iMac with Retina 4K Display: $1,249 (education pricing)

• 3.6GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor
• 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
• Radeon Pro 555X with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
• 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
• Magic Mouse 2
• Magic Keyboard - US English

Mac mini: $779 (education pricing)

• 3.6GHz quad‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i3
• 8GB 2666MHz DDR4
• Intel UHD Graphics 630
• 128GB SSD storage
• Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet using RJ-45 connector)

For $470 more you gain a built in 4K panel, the Radeon Pro 555X 2GB, and a keyboard/mouse. Now the value of the 4K panel alone does make the iMac seem like a better value, however it is not necessarily a better computer for most people. 

 

#1 is the iMac comes with an unusually slow HDD and upgrading that to an SSD of any description will cost $180 (education pricing). The Mac mini comes with an SSD stock. 

#2 the Radeon Pro 555X with just 2GB of VRAM is the bare minimum to power that 4K display. And you can forget about doing anything remotely 3D with it, even at just 1/4th of the displays native resolution. 

#3 the Mac mini has easily upgradable RAM where as the 21.5" iMac requires potentially going through this:

 

So while the iMac might seem like a much better value on paper, once you configure the machine to make sense.....the Mac mini's role in the Mac lineup becomes clearer, especially at its price point. 

 

The Mac mini is for people who want a cheap Mac and don't mind the fact that the Mac mini is a BYODKM. This could be because they plan to expand upon its foundation anyway or they already have a peripheral setup that they like using and want to bring that over to the Mac. 

 

That brings me to the biggest benefit of the Mac mini, which is that it is much more expandable than the 21.5" iMac seeing as it has 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports compared to the iMacs 2. This makes the Mac mini ideal for the music creators (Thunderbolt audio interfaces), 3D professionals (up to 4 eGPUs) and video editors (up to 4 mass Thunderbolt storage arrays).  And all of that is before daisy chaining anything together. 

[RoseLuck462]

All the I/O that was taken from the new MBPs was indeed given to the new Mac Mini, another reason why I'd want one.