MCE Mini advice

sine~language · **11th April 2006, 04:14 PM**

Hi All.. To pop my xpmediacentre cherry, I'd like to ask for some advice regarding Intel Mac Mini upgrades. With the release of Bootcamp, I've decided I would like to buy a Mini to be used as a media centre. I've read about people upgrading the Mini's CPU and RAM to achieve great results, which leaves me with my dilemma:

Should I buy the Core Solo Mini with plans to upgrade the CPU, or be content with the standard Core Duo (keep in mind I have no need for the SuperDrive, or the extra 20gb of HD)

As far as memory is concerned, would 1GB be sufficient for a media centre box or would 2GB be beneficial? And... is there much to be gained by buying RAM from a 3rd party supplier (value/performance), if so what brand memory would people suggest to go for, as I have only found Crucial, Kingmax and OWC that is recommended for the Mini.

This will only be used as a media centre, nothing else.

Am I getting over-enthusiastic... I don't know... Please someone calm me down

benneh · **12th April 2006, 02:05 PM**

i would be very interested to hear how this goes, i sponsored the onmac.net project because I am really interested in the potential.

1gb will be enough for MCE2005, but i would suggest going with 2GB if you plan on running vista on it in the near future.

sine~language · **13th April 2006, 12:28 AM**

I guess 2 gig would be better with OS X 10.5 around the corner too..

Kryten · **13th April 2006, 12:51 AM**

I'm thinking an mce mac mini as a side project myself.

I'm gonna lowball it. Based on single core 1gb mce ibm pc's i reckon the mini should be fine. mce isnt a hog like the salesmen like u to think.

The pimp my ride club are ripping; burning; re-encoding; WOWing/HL2ing faster. But for mce, a 'normal spec' pc will record tv while you are watching a recorded show just fine.

I havent secured the funds yet, but I reckon the entry level mini will work just fine downstairs in my house as a sexy mini mce machine (that happends to dual boot to mac!).

Only wrench is Vista. If you wanna run that, then yes you will want extra cpu and some ram (the ram could be added later). But for Vista you have the aero glass equation - as such I would hold off if you want the true vista experience.

I have an old lcd monitor lying around. Wish the mini was 500 bucks, then i could justify it. Maybe I'll get a xmas bonus - Oh no, the bluray ps3 or HD360 will be out then. Man I need to win lotto

P.S. I dont have a mini, so this is my speculative assumptions based on mce on pc architecture. Since bootcamp's so new I'm gonna watch online, but I reckon the lowball could be a nice niche winner for what I need.
P.P.S. Oh no, sine-language - now i gotta read up on X10.5

sine~language · **13th April 2006, 01:44 PM**

I'm with you Kryten, I think I'm gonna stick with the core solo/1gb ram.. By the time Vista gets off its sorry ass and releases, I'll have the option of upgrading if necessary.

If you didn't already know, you might be interested to learn that the intel CPUs are also upgradable in the Minis. Check HERE for a good read on a successful upgrade from the core solo 1.5Ghz to core duo 2.16Ghz

Akuma · **13th April 2006, 05:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sine~language

I think I'm gonna stick with the core solo/1gb ram..

That's what I'd do, it's not worth the $300 for a duo and the extra RAM wouldn't be much use to MCE. You'd be better off buying a solo and going 64bit when Merom is released.

I hope you haven't told Igor about this plan.

sine~language · **14th April 2006, 01:47 AM**

Igor?? o__0