Thinking about buying a Mac Mini and then possibly installing Windows XP/2003 on it. How's the performance on a mac mini? Upgradability? I'm a noob when it comes to Macs. Basically, if I do install windows...will I get better performance than my desktop server? (P4 3ghz C series, 1.5 gig PC4200 dual channel, 80 gig WD 8mb cache, Geforce 5200)
Depends. Gaming, no. HD performance, no. CPU-intensive, if you get the Core Duo, yes, if not I think it'd be maybe slightly better. Plus you'd want to match the memory at least (even more if possible, direct from Apple 2GB costs $450, but if you find a working set you can do it for $170 or so). It'd have its plus sides, notably the form factor, but upgradability is pretty much nil beyond the memory and hard drive.
I fail to see how you can just say "yes". What processors are you comparing? Compare it to a Venice 3000+ at stock speeds, then yeah.. but i doubt it will be a match for the original poster's CPU.
A dual core intel chip will beat a p4 3gb In most tasks yes they are 2 penitum m's together and they were almost as good as a p4 on their own If the item you are processing is multithreading it will wipe the floor with the p4. If you are running the 5200 as your gfx card the onboard graphics won't be as much of an issue for you as some. It will be similiar or slightly better than your current gfx card.
Yeah, a P4C isn't exactly a speedy chip, and a 3Ghz model sure isn't the fastest out there. Even the Core solo model would probably give it a run for it's money. That was my logic. It's like comparing an X2 3800+ to a standard 3000+ - same single-core performance give or take, so the dual-core model will win.
Not trollling, but that looks like they used a very unfair (I mean unrepresentative) benchmark: the Banias 1.7GHz should be level with the 2.8/3GHz P4, and there's no way a dual 3GHz Xeon is the same speed as an Opteron 150. It looks like their benchmark index is made by guessing based on other people's benchmarks. And Pookeyhead, yes even a 1.6GHz Core Duo will be a tad faster than an 3GHz P4C. ch424
Aye its not the most accurate of tests, I was trying to find a full review I saw the other day but couldnt find it.
Don't forget that you can put in a faster Pentium M into the Mac Mini to give it some more powah. Here's a link to a project log at xtremesystems about it (LINK ). Plop a 2.16Ghz Core Duo in there and it will certainly trounce your P4 3Ghz.
I have a core duo mac mini and it's pretty damn good, but it's not meant to be a power house - slow 2.5" HDD (5400rpm now at least), laptop RAM and while the integrated graphics aren't bad they won't play 3d games well and they do nick lots of your RAM. I really like both of my mini's but I wouldn't buy one for your purpose, HTPC, mid-range desktop system and also perfect for a computer novice, but it's no high-end rig.
