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ROBO58 · Jul 22, 2005, 01:32 PM

Hi Folks,

I'm a MAC newbie from the PC world. I recently tried a Mac Mini but it didn't have enough performance for me. So within a similar $$$ range are used 1.6Ghz iMAC's. I'm wondering if its possible to overclock the CPU? If so whats a reasonable resulting speed and are there any websites that describe how to make the mods?

Thanks Robo

Lateralus · Jul 22, 2005, 01:39 PM

The G5 and its subsystem seem to be extraordinarily unfriendly to overclockers. Two years into the G5 Macs and I still don't think anybody has overclocked one.

Anyways, the 1.6GHz G5 is not exactly famous for its performance. Unless your Mini is a 1.25GHz model, you probably wont notice a speed difference. The G5 really doesn't offer any more performance per MHz than the G4, and in some cases it is actually slower.

If you want a real speed boost, I suggest you look at the Dual 1.25GHz G4 Power Macs or a Dual 1.8GHz G5 Power Mac.

ROBO58 · Jul 22, 2005, 02:04 PM

Hi Lateralus,

Thanks for the assistance. I purchased the 1.42Ghz Mac Mini and with my particular workload it was very slow and unresponsive. I belong to many mail lists and keep 150K of individual emails as part of my ongoing research. As soon as I read up on Spotlight's capabilities I decided to try Tiger.

My mail lists were spread over 15 folders and when I used Apple Mail it would take minutes to open folders. That never happened on the PC side.

So if the 1.6Ghz iMac isn't much better than the Mac Mini then what would you suggest considering the above workload info.

Thanks Robo

OogaBooga · Jul 22, 2005, 04:36 PM

I would spring for the Dual 1.8 PowerMac, even if it is a little bit more pricey than the Mini.

It'll last you much longer, and has the expandability of a water balloon.

In your scenario, the main bottleneck on performance is the Mini's slow hard drive, and bus/memory speeds. Mail 2.0 is trying to load all those emails, so a fast hard disk and memory subsystem will help tremendously.

If you can't afford the DP 1.8 PowerMac, then I'd get the 1.6 iMac for sure.

Lateralus · Jul 22, 2005, 05:41 PM

I sincerely doubt the system bus is going to affect Mail much...

cgc · Jul 22, 2005, 07:07 PM

How much memory do you have?

Todd Madson · Aug 18, 2005, 02:37 PM

Get a refurbed dual. You will not regret the purchase if you don't drop it on your foot.

nationwide · Sep 8, 2005, 07:56 PM

mac mini's are not really mad for any high performace task, just basic tasking, also they were made for people that wanted a mac but could not afford the more upscale mac. you can overclock the mac mini to about 150mhz though, maxing out the ram would be most helpful but the hard drive is still slow at 4200 rpm. if you are looking for more processing power i would advise upgrading to a G5.

Originally Posted by ROBO58

Hi Lateralus,

Thanks for the assistance. I purchased the 1.42Ghz Mac Mini and with my particular workload it was very slow and unresponsive. I belong to many mail lists and keep 150K of individual emails as part of my ongoing research. As soon as I read up on Spotlight's capabilities I decided to try Tiger.

My mail lists were spread over 15 folders and when I used Apple Mail it would take minutes to open folders. That never happened on the PC side.

So if the 1.6Ghz iMac isn't much better than the Mac Mini then what would you suggest considering the above workload info.

Thanks Robo

partybymarty · Sep 9, 2005, 04:25 AM

Originally Posted by nationwide

you can overclock the mac mini to about 150mhz though, maxing out the ram would be most helpful but the hard drive is still slow at 4200 rpm.

Wow, 150MHz? You'd be better off leaving it as is.

Dex13 · Sep 9, 2005, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by OogaBooga

I would spring for the Dual 1.8 PowerMac, even if it is a little bit more pricey than the Mini.

It'll last you much longer, and has the expandability of a water balloon.

In your scenario, the main bottleneck on performance is the Mini's slow hard drive, and bus/memory speeds. Mail 2.0 is trying to load all those emails, so a fast hard disk and memory subsystem will help tremendously.

If you can't afford the DP 1.8 PowerMac, then I'd get the 1.6 iMac for sure.

You know what go look for an original G5. The G5 1.8 or the Dual 1.8.
You get a faster bus speed. PCI-X. 8gb Ram. and they are at least $900 to $1000 less than the current line of PowerMac's.

The Rev. B motherboards on the lower systems just sucked period.

undermind · Sep 21, 2005, 12:45 PM

Another Mac newb here. I've got a couple of questions about comments people have made in this thread..

I would spring for the Dual 1.8 PowerMac, even if it is a little bit more pricey than the Mini.

It'll last you much longer, and has the expandability of a water balloon.

In what way is it so expandable? I realize you can upgrade to 8 gigs of RAM, but what about processor speed? Will there ever be a CPU upgrade? The sub-2Ghz systems are getting pretty quickly passed up.

Get a refurbed dual. You will not regret the purchase if you don't drop it on your foot.

Where can you get a refurb?

The Rev. B motherboards on the lower systems just sucked period.

Which systems had the Rev. B motherboards?

Thanks!

brokenjago · 03:13 PM

#1 It's expandable as in you can actually put PCI cards in it, and lots of RAM, and new HDs, and uhhh... I think that's about it. No CPU upgrades that I know of.

#2You can get refurbs at Apple's sale section of their online store:

Apple's Sales Page

The PowerMacs are about half way down the page.

#3 I don't really know.