5 ms·

They say it’s got impressive specs, but I don’t find it impressive at all. This brick-sized Gigabyte (NUC) computer has far more impressive specs than the Mac M

They say it’s got impressive specs, but I don’t find it impressive at all. This brick-sized Gigabyte (NUC) computer has far more impressive specs than the Mac Mini: https://www.gigabyte.com/Mini-PcBarebone/GB-BRi7-8550-rev-10 https://www.gigabyte.com/Mini-PcBarebone/GB-BRi7-8550-rev-10

wmf 8y ago
The Brix uses a 15W processor while the Mac mini is 65W; that's going to result in significant performance difference.
ricardobeat 8y ago
What's impressive about it? That's a mobile CPU, ~20% slower than the Mini base model. Slower RAM (2400 vs 2666). Two USB3.1 ports vs four in the mini, no Thunderbolt (10gbps vs 40gbps). Weaker GPU, can't output 4K. To top it off, it doesn't come with RAM (+€80 8gb) or an SSD (+€50 128GB). Total cost €680 vs €899 for the Mac Mini - it actually makes the mini look like an incredible deal.
- winter_blue 8y ago
  Those are fairly good points. I upvoted you. Yes graphics is better — the GPU on the Mac Mini is the Intel UHD 630 vs the UHD 620 on the Gigabyte Brix. With regard to the CPU, the Gigabyte’s i7-8550U is slightly faster[1] than the i3 in the Mac Mini, but slower than the i5 and i7 offered on the Mac Mini. The lower TDP might be something that people who plan to run a server on it might care about. I have a desktop with a i7-5820K (which has a 140W TDP), and I realized that a DigitalOcean droplet was cheaper than keeping my computer running all day (even with the monitor turned off, idle power usage was 100W+, and my electric cost is over $0.20/kWh). I consider 16 GiB of RAM a minimum, and it is significantly cheaper with the Gigabyte. Apple’s $200 charge for an upgrade from 8GB to 16GB (in the US) is a bit too much. You can buy 16 GiB (2x8GiB sticks) for that. Having the flexibility to pick your own SSD is nice too. The 960 PRO is one of the fastest PCIe SSDs out there — I wonder if the SSD in the Mac Mini comes close to it in speed. Also: if you don’t care about the SSD speed but want a lot more storage, you have the flexibility to get the slower 1TiB 860 EVO (or similar SSD) for around $150 — wheread Apppe charges $600 for an upgrade to 1TB on the Mac Mini — and exorbitantly high price. Lastly, I use Arch Linux both on my home laptop, and on my work machine (whenever possible). And the fact is most people buy Macs for macOS; but I’m quite comfortable using Linux, and don’t really need macOS. [1] https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i3-8100-vs-Intel-i7-8550U/3103vs3064 https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i3-8100-vs-Intel-...
  - ricardobeat 8y ago
    When I looked at userbenchmark.org the i3 came out ahead. Apple’s SSDs are top notch, crossing 3Gbps. RAM is upgradeable on the mini so you can save a couple hundred, plus OSX memory management is so much better than windows you’ll only feel any difference if doing heavy video/audio/3D workloads. For some reason a TB3 NVMe enclosure is dirt cheap, around €40, and gives you full speed access to whatever SSD you like! I just got a mini for myself - main driver being the OS, I can’t be productive on my windows pc. Got the i5 and 256gb for ~$1200, which gives me same power as a high end 15”MBP at a quarter of the price. Mac OS is worth the €200 markup alone.

wmf 8y ago

The Brix uses a 15W processor while the Mac mini is 65W; that's going to result in significant performance difference.

ricardobeat 8y ago

What's impressive about it? That's a mobile CPU, ~20% slower than the Mini base model. Slower RAM (2400 vs 2666). Two USB3.1 ports vs four in the mini, no Thunderbolt (10gbps vs 40gbps). Weaker GPU, can't output 4K. To top it off, it doesn't come with RAM (+€80 8gb) or an SSD (+€50 128GB). Total cost €680 vs €899 for the Mac Mini - it actually makes the mini look like an incredible deal.

winter_blue 8y ago
Those are fairly good points. I upvoted you. Yes graphics is better — the GPU on the Mac Mini is the Intel UHD 630 vs the UHD 620 on the Gigabyte Brix. With regard to the CPU, the Gigabyte’s i7-8550U is slightly faster[1] than the i3 in the Mac Mini, but slower than the i5 and i7 offered on the Mac Mini. The lower TDP might be something that people who plan to run a server on it might care about. I have a desktop with a i7-5820K (which has a 140W TDP), and I realized that a DigitalOcean droplet was cheaper than keeping my computer running all day (even with the monitor turned off, idle power usage was 100W+, and my electric cost is over $0.20/kWh). I consider 16 GiB of RAM a minimum, and it is significantly cheaper with the Gigabyte. Apple’s $200 charge for an upgrade from 8GB to 16GB (in the US) is a bit too much. You can buy 16 GiB (2x8GiB sticks) for that. Having the flexibility to pick your own SSD is nice too. The 960 PRO is one of the fastest PCIe SSDs out there — I wonder if the SSD in the Mac Mini comes close to it in speed. Also: if you don’t care about the SSD speed but want a lot more storage, you have the flexibility to get the slower 1TiB 860 EVO (or similar SSD) for around $150 — wheread Apppe charges $600 for an upgrade to 1TB on the Mac Mini — and exorbitantly high price. Lastly, I use Arch Linux both on my home laptop, and on my work machine (whenever possible). And the fact is most people buy Macs for macOS; but I’m quite comfortable using Linux, and don’t really need macOS. [1] https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i3-8100-vs-Intel-i7-8550U/3103vs3064 https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i3-8100-vs-Intel-...
- ricardobeat 8y ago
  When I looked at userbenchmark.org the i3 came out ahead. Apple’s SSDs are top notch, crossing 3Gbps. RAM is upgradeable on the mini so you can save a couple hundred, plus OSX memory management is so much better than windows you’ll only feel any difference if doing heavy video/audio/3D workloads. For some reason a TB3 NVMe enclosure is dirt cheap, around €40, and gives you full speed access to whatever SSD you like! I just got a mini for myself - main driver being the OS, I can’t be productive on my windows pc. Got the i5 and 256gb for ~$1200, which gives me same power as a high end 15”MBP at a quarter of the price. Mac OS is worth the €200 markup alone.