Has anyone bought one of the new Mac Minis?

JohnnyBoy · Post by **JohnnyBoy** » Wed May 20, 2009 5:34 pm

I'm thinking of selling my 2006 Mini and buying a 2009 Mini.

Anyone know how Oolite performs on one of these little beasties?

SwissMäc · Post by **SwissMäc** » Mon May 25, 2009 12:25 pm

I have a 2006 Mini and a modern Mac Pro, and there is no difference in the gameplay !
At least nothing I would spend money for.

Oolite does not need much graphic power for the sun, the planet, the station and 0-10 ships...
(Spectacular graphic != fun)

Wait for the announcements at the "Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)" on june 8. Let's see what's new...

JohnnyBoy · Post by **JohnnyBoy** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:57 pm

Thanks for the feedback, SwissMac.

We'll have to see if Snow Leopard makes its debut at the WWDC.

JohnnyBoy · Post by **JohnnyBoy** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:54 pm

I bought a new Mac Mini yesterday, and I've just given Oolite a spin today.

On my 2006 Mini, the gameplay was perfectly smooth, so long as you weren't climbing/diving near a planet while it was in view; redrawing a whole planet 20 or 30 times a second was more than the old Intel GMA950 GPU could handle.

My 2009 Mini has an NVidia GeForce 9400 GPU. Lord Lummy! I think I can safely say that planet re-draws aren't a problem anymore...

Post by **Eric Walch** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 7:34 pm

JohnnyBoy wrote:
redrawing a whole planet 20 or 30 times a second was more than the old Intel GMA950 GPU could handle.

My 2009 Mini has an NVidia GeForce 9400 GPU. Lord Lummy! I think I can safely say that planet re-draws aren't a problem anymore...

According to a recent test in "MacWelt" this new chip set gives spectacular improvements for some games compared between the old and new mac mini. They gave a performance increase of 13 times! for Doom III. Others hardly improved. But you now can test for yourself.
I recently bought the new i-mac that has the same chip set and am very satisfied.

JohnnyBoy · Post by **JohnnyBoy** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:32 pm

Eric Walch wrote:
I recently bought the new i-mac that has the same chip set and am very satisfied.

Yes, me too Eric! When playing Oolite, even the space dust that you fly thru seems clearer and better defined.

I'm wondering if Oolite will benefit from any memory upgrades now that this Mini will accept 4GB.

Post by **Eric Walch** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 6:17 pm

JohnnyBoy wrote:
When playing Oolite, even the space dust that you fly thru seems clearer and better defined.

On my previous i-mac I never had seen that space dust! I was already busy cleaning up my new screen until I realised that the dust was not on the screen. but came from space.

Commander McLane · Post by **Commander McLane** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:01 am

Eric Walch wrote:
I was already busy cleaning up my new screen until I realised that the dust was not on the screen. but came from space.

wackyman465 · Post by **wackyman465** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:58 am

Mac pro? Stats swiss?
Also: I really don't like apple's desktops. Why don't they have a reasonably priced expandable tower? No more laptops on sticks, or laptops in boxes. I DEMAND DESKTOP PROCESSORS AND PCI-E SLOTS!

ovvldc · Post by **ovvldc** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:44 am

Desktop? As in a box with a separate screen and keyboard? That is so 2005..

Frame · Post by **Frame** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:49 am

Eric Walch wrote:
JohnnyBoy wrote:
When playing Oolite, even the space dust that you fly thru seems clearer and better defined.
On my previous i-mac I never had seen that space dust! I was already busy cleaning up my new screen until I realised that the dust was not on the screen. but came from space.

Classic, like when the first CD ROM drives where mistaken for cup holders

Desktop versions, are usually more powerfull due to the fact they can get rid of alot of heat on very little time = more powerfull stuff inside your Computer..

This holds true to whatever computer you like... Apple desktops or those other ones like mine..

wackyman465 · Post by **wackyman465** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:20 pm

ovvldc wrote:
Desktop? As in a box with a separate screen and keyboard? That is so 2005..

Then 2005 was better than 2009.

JohnnyBoy · Post by **JohnnyBoy** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:09 pm

wackyman465 wrote:
I DEMAND DESKTOP PROCESSORS AND PCI-E SLOTS!

Then why don't you

[Link removed by moderator]

wackyman465 · Post by **wackyman465** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:44 pm

I've actually been thinking significantly about that... also because it can be built 1.5k cheaper than a comparable Mac Pro...

goran · Post by **goran** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:59 am

If You don't mind spending some more $$, this little thing will make things much easier.