Can you build a better PC than a Mac Mini for less??

af_thefragile

All along I've been a mac person. I like the OSX interface and how my mac hasn't had gotten one virus or anything as such in its 4 years of life. I also feel macs run more smoothly than PCs but then I've never had a decent PC and my experience with PCs has been full of system crashes, programs hanging, virus scans and reformatting.

Anyway, I need a new computer as my macbook is not powerful enough to handle the photoshop, film editing and animation work I do. I would prefer to get an iMac but I'm a bit stripped for cash and I'm considering what I once thought I'ld never do. Which is to step back into the world of PCs.

I'm not really a computer person, one reason why I like macs, I find it very simple to use. But I also like the idea of building a PC with the exact components you'ld want in it and the ability to upgrade it, one thing I don't like about the mac!

So do you think I can build a better, more powerful PC than a Mac Mini for less price? Something that can handle heavy photoshop editing, HD film editing, multi track music editing, light animation (simple cell and stop motion animation, not 3D maya stuff) and the occasional game? I don't need a very powerful PC right now as I'm not very skilled so I won't be doing anything too heavy but I'ld like room for upgrading for when I start to get better, I won't feel it holding me back.

Solitaire

af_thefragile wrote: »

So do you think I can build a better, more powerful PC than a Mac Mini for less price?

A teapot is more powerful than a Mac Mini :pac:

Something that can handle heavy photoshop editing, HD film editing, multi track music editing, light animation (simple cell and stop motion animation, not 3D maya stuff) and the occasional game?

...Actually I don't see a Mac Mini handling any of those particularly well anyway!

Lu Tze

Have fun guys this is what you are up against

Basic Mac mini

2.4GHz : 320GB
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
320GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Mac OS X Snow Leopard
Ships: Within 24hrs
Free Shipping
€719.00

Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB memory
Dual 500GB 7200-rpm hard drives1
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard
Ships: Within 24hrs
Free Shipping
€1,019.00

Here is my amateur attempt at it - slightly more powerful than the base mac mini for around the same price - no OS though :pac:



Hopefully its not missing anything too important...

Solitaire

Look at those stock levels! Pfft... Amateur! :pac:

Seriously though, the SSD was just pure showing off!

What monitor are you using? What's its maximum resolution? Have you budgeted for a high-end and/or S-IPS monitor if you're serious about the photoshop and movies? Do you have an OS and if not, is it part of the main budget?

Heck, what is the main budget? €700?

Jonny7

Lu Tze wrote: »

Have fun guys this is what you are up against

Basic Mac mini

2.4GHz : 320GB
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
320GB hard drive1
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Mac OS X Snow Leopard
Ships: Within 24hrs
Free Shipping
€719.00

Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo4GB memory
Dual 500GB 7200-rpm hard drives1
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics
Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard
Ships: Within 24hrs
Free Shipping
€1,019.00

Here is my amateur attempt at it - slightly more powerful than the base mac mini for around the same price - no OS though :pac:



Hopefully its not missing anything too important...

I've never been into this whole Mac v PC thing but damn the above specs are a joke right? that processor came out in 2006.

PogMoThoin

Jonny7 wrote: »

I've never been into this whole Mac v PC thing but damn the above specs are a joke right? that processor came out in 2006.

Yes and the latest Macbook released (in reality the same one re-released) last week also has Core2 which is 4 years old now, where it should at least have i3 and i5. Bit of a Joke alright, but the sheep will buy................

Lu Tze

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Yes and the latest Macbook released (in reality the same one re-released) last week also has Core2 which is 4 years old now, where it should at least have i3 and i5. Bit of a Joke alright, but the sheep will buy................

No point getting into this again! It has its market, and the customers seem relatively happy to pay a premium for the software and build quality (arguable point but anyways). Most PC users going to a shop today aren't going to know the difference whether it is a core2 or i3 inside in a machine.

af_thefragile

Solitaire wrote: »

Look at those stock levels! Pfft... Amateur! :pac:

Seriously though, the SSD was just pure showing off!

What monitor are you using? What's its maximum resolution? Have you budgeted for a high-end and/or S-IPS monitor if you're serious about the photoshop and movies? Do you have an OS and if not, is it part of the main budget?

Heck, what is the main budget? €700?

I'ld prefer something less than 700eur. Excluding the monitor (and keyboard/mouse as I've got one lying around) as I'm getting that LG monitor for my PS3 shortly, I could use that for the PC. Not too concerned about accurate color reproduction right now as I'm just a beginner and learning these things. But in the future, once I start to get better (maybe a year or two later) I'll get a better monitor.

Don't have an OS so I guess you might have to factor in the cost of that as well. I'ld prefer windows 7 might just go for the home or professional edition for now.

I don't need anything too powerful now but just keeping in mind I'ld like room for upgrade so as I get better and save more money, I can get faster processors, better graphics card and such...

af_thefragile

BTW, that's a very impressive build there Lu Tze.

Is the AMD Phenom II processor better than the Intel i5/i7 one?
And is the GTX460 much better than the GTs450??
And I don't really need ITB hard disk space. I barely use 300GB. Also don't know if I'ld need a solid state drive... Won't mind one though if I can get it in the budget...

Solitaire

Argh! €10 overbudget when shipped and with OS!



I wouldn't OC this much, as in order to keep this in budget I went with a minimal PSU (system power draw when gaming will load it 50-60%, which is how it should be). Its very powerful though, especially if you use software that likes CUDA, as the GPU will devour that happily and leave all the non-CUDA workloads for the CPU to sort out

deconduo

Solitaire wrote: »

Argh! €10 overbudget when shipped and with OS!



I wouldn't OC this much, as in order to keep this in budget I went with a minimal PSU (system power draw when gaming will load it 50-60%, which is how it should be). Its very powerful though, especially if you use software that likes CUDA, as the GPU will devour that happily and leave all the non-CUDA workloads for the CPU to sort out

Not bad, but I would go with the Phenom II X6 for the sort of work he wants it for. Works out a bit cheaper too if you get an M4A77T mobo.

Jonny7

af_thefragile wrote: »

BTW, that's a very impressive build there Lu Tze.

Is the AMD Phenom II processor better than the Intel i5/i7 one?
And is the GTX460 much better than the GTs450??
And I don't really need ITB hard disk space. I barely use 300GB. Also don't know if I'ld need a solid state drive... Won't mind one though if I can get it in the budget...

I was thinking that too.. great build for the price

AMD 6core chips are curious beasts alright. They seem to trade equal blows in synthetic and real world tests with at least the intel i5's but just lose out a little in the gaming tests. As more programs, games, etc utilise multi-core they'll only benefit more over time though. Personally I'd go with the i5 760.

The GTX460 blows the GT450 out of the water. Basically its the only Nvidia card currently worth buying.

Ahh the dilema over an SSD - I think I'd put in a minimum 120 euros and get something like a fast corsair f60 rather than a more budget SSD.. that's 60 gigs for your operating system, all load times will be much faster.. for everything.. and you can have 500 gig or whatever for your main media/games drive

Anandtech.com have a really fun tool.. click on 'bench' on their site and you can compare CPUs, e.g. the amd 6core v the i5 760 .. quite indepth actually.. handy little yoke

Lu Tze

af_thefragile wrote: »

BTW, that's a very impressive build there Lu Tze.

Is the AMD Phenom II processor better than the Intel i5/i7 one? Its much of a muchness with the i5 i would imagine - pity there is no information RE: compatability with the next socket. We know for definite that all the i5s and i7s are incompatible with the next socket from intel due early next year
And is the GTX460 much better than the GTs450?? Yes, and i would stick with it if any of the software you use can use cuda cores (i think elements of adobe premiere cs5 does)
And I don't really need ITB hard disk space. I barely use 300GB. Also don't know if I'ld need a solid state drive... Won't mind one though if I can get it in the budget...

Yeah the SSD was just showing off as soltaire mentions above - though i hadnt noticed that half of what i picked were out of stock. Might be worht having one though.

If you are going picture and film editing you will need a large amount of storage (and a back up). Especially if you are shooting in raw, i think each of those photos takes up between 60 and 100MB. Not long filling the gigs up with that.