Is Mac mini 2.0Ghz +4Gb RAM sufficient for CS4?

I am on a budget and am thinking of buying a 2.0Ghz Mac mini with 4Gb RAM to run Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom 2 for the next few years. I will be using external HDDs for scratch and photo storage. Up to now I have used a 3.0GHz P4 PC with 2Gb RAM. I work with large numbers of mainly Canon 5D files, occasional weddings/events but mostly fine art. In CS2 I typically use 3-4 fill layers and a similar number of adjustment layers before flattening.
Does the Mac mini with 4Gb RAM have sufficient grunt to permit me to process approx 1800 event images in Lightroom, and to work on fine art images in CS4 where file sizes are typically 75-300Mb before flattening?
Appreciate any advice...

Yes, I am happy, it does the job satisfactorily, although with some 
reservations:
- I upgraded from CS2 to CS4, and the Mini with 4Gb RAM is not as 
fast as I would like when applying filters on large files. However I 
can't compare it to CS2 on my old PC as it was older software on a 
different OS with less RAM
- the Mini suffered a RAM failure shortly after purchase and had to 
be returned under warranty for service. No problems since. Possibly 
the RAM sticks were not seated properly but that's just a guess
- I run 2 screens, one a Sony Trinitron CRT and the other an HP 
analogue LCD. Occasionally I get a brief flicker on both screens, but 
it's infrequent, almost imperceptible and lasts less than a second. I 
had to buy adapter connectors for both screens
- sometimes there is a small delay when trying to read/write to the 
external daisychained firewire 800 drives, as if they have gone into 
standby, but transfer times are good once they get going.
That's all with the problems. It would be very nice if the Mini was a 
little faster, but considering the price point, I am quite happy with 
the performance. It does the job. I can leave it with a batch 
processing run of 1500+ images in CS4 and it works its way through 
them reliably while I do other things.
Configuration
- I have 3 external firewire drives daisychained, a Wacom tablet, 
keyboard, USB2 card reader, printer and also sometimes a scanner, no 
problems with any of these.
- just upgraded to Snow Leopard, but too early to detect any 
difference in performance
Pluses
- the Mini is very quiet, and I like being able to use a display of 
my choice (gloss screens are too reflective for accurate colour work 
with photos).
- it just works
Cheers,
Lynn

Similar Messages

  • HT1338 how much is the mac mini A1347,i7,4GB RAM,1TB hard drive ?? and wat maximum upgrading for the ram ? thannks :D

    how much is the mac mini A1347,i7,4GB RAM,1TB hard drive ?? and wat maximum upgrading for the ram ? thannks

    go to Apples website and look.  That's what anyone else here would do.

  • Mac Mini 320GB HD 4GB Ram

    Hi
    Just bought new Mac Mini, Snow Leopard.
    Partitioned HD with Boot Camp.
    Gave Windows 250Gb.
    Formatted Partition by Windows CD to NTFS.
    Installed Windows.
    After the install is complete Windows reboots, and I get this error:
    <windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
    is missing or corrupt.
    I've tried fixing the boot.ini, tried expand ntoskrnl.exe, but nothing so far.
    Can Windows be installed on 250 GB partition?
    Any help will be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you,
    Nitman

    "You can use Windows Recovery Console to fix a missing or damaged ntoskrnl.exe file. First boot from your Windows boot CD/DVD. We recommend you use a version that matches the OS service pack installed on your system (i.e. if you have Vista SP2, use a Vista SP2 DVD).
    For Windows 7/Vista/2008, go to the Recovery Console. Using the option "Startup Repair" should take care of it.
    For XP/2003, go to the page XP Recovery Console . You'll need to go through the command prompt and expand and copy the ntoskrnl.ex_ file from the CD to WindowsSystem32 toskrnl.exe."
    I found this in a user guide i have lying around. I remember getting this problem sometime ago with Win XP and i found out that my XP disc had become corrupted for some reason. Haven't had this with Win 7 since.
    **Which version of Windows are you trying to install?**
    *+Just in case you don't find what you're looking for in the Boot Camp section of Apple Discussions, here is something to try. I tried to find steps that cover much of it+*:
    If you have your Windows XP disk
    * Insert your Windows XP disk into your computer and reboot
    * Make sure the PC is set to run from the CD as the primary boot device.
    NOTE: You do this by setting your PC to boot to the CD-ROM in BIOS (enter bios by pressing f1, f2 or del key during memory count up, then search for boot order, and set the CD as the first boot device)
    * When the PC boots, it will boot from the CD...after the first several screens load, you will be given a choice to choose R for Recovery Console. You will be asked to log in.
    NOTE: For Windows XP Home, there is not password, just hit ENTER. For Windows XP pro, ask whomever set up the machine what password they used.
    When you see the Recovery console C:\WINDOWS prompt continue to section 3 (Running "ChkDsk")
    Running "ChkDsk"
    * At the Recovery console C:\WINDOWS prompt, type
    chkdsk /r
    * Press ENTER
    * Let this scan run UNINTERUPTED untill completed (30 min or so depending on the drive)
    * Report any errors in your next reply
    * Once the scan is complete, Type exit, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console.
    * Your computer will now restart, boot from the CD again and continue with the next steps.
    Using "BootCfg /Rebuild" to fix the "Boot.ini" file
    * At the Recovery console C:\WINDOWS prompt, type
    bootcfg /rebuild
    * Press ENTER
    Note:The bootcfg /rebuild command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP installations, and then displays the results. You can add the detected Windows installations.
    * When you receive a message that is similar to the following message, press Y:
    Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
    [1] C:\Windows
    Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
    NOTE: You may see more than one entry here if you have a dual boot windows system. If this is the case follow this procedure for ALL installations to make sure that all OS's are added correctly
    * You receive a message that is similar to the following message:
    Enter Load Identifier
    NOTE:This is the name of the operating system. This is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
    * Type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER
    * You receive a message that is similar to the following:
    Enter OS Load options
    * Type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.
    * Type exit, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console.
    * Your computer will restart, and the updated boot list may apear when you receive the "Please select the operating system to start" message.
    * If you see a Boot list with multiple entries choose the XP Home option to boot to windows.
    **Steps culled from www.geekstogo.com**

  • Downgrading to Tiger from Leopard on a mac mini 2.0ghz

    I just purchased a mac mini 2.0ghz that came with Leopard.
    Since I am relatively new to the MAC world, I assumed that I could immediately replace Leopard with Tiger on the HD using a set of mac mini install discs I had previously purchased on eBay (I'm doing this because this mini was going to be used exclusively to run ProTools - which isn't Leopard compatible)
    From the little bit I've read, it looks like I may have made a $800 mistake. Most places are saying that it it absolutely impossible to downgrade from Leopard to Tiger on this late model.
    Is that really true? I just find it so hard to believe that the hardware and software are so tied together that you can't ever go 'backward' even if you want to.
    Could someone please state clearly once and for all if there is any possible way to downgrade or do I need to throw my new mac mini in the proverbial trash can and chalk this one up for the experience?
    Thanks.

    Welcome to Apple Discussions!
    This issue was raised by another poster very recently (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1497891&tstart=0). Typically Macs cannot be booted from MacOS versions which predated the release of the hardware, or subsequent firmware update perhaps, but since Leopard was not released until after the current Core 2 Duo minis, it goes without saying that at least some of these systems did in fact have Tiger installed.
    If Apple have made no hardware or firmware changes to the mini (and it's a big if, because typically that information is not made available), then Tiger should install and run fine on your system, proving only that the Tiger installer you have is actually from a 'late 2007' Intel mini.
    The only way you'll know is to insert the Tiger installer you have, and boot the system holding the C key down (you will need a wired USB keyboard which is NOT one of the new aluminium type). If the system boots, then you should be able to do an install. Bear in mind that you will almost certainly get an error stating you cannot install that version of MacOS on the system because it will detect that you have a later version of MacOS already installed than on the install disk. That's normal. You can get around that by clicking the 'options' button on the installer and selecting 'erase and install', which wipes the hard drive and installs MacOS.
    If the system will not boot from the Tiger install disk, then in effect that would confirm that you will not be able to regress the macOS version - at least not by any conventional means. There are always some who investigate and find ways to work around some of these limitations, so there may be an unofficial and unsupported workaround out there, but there would be no way to know how stable it would be, and whether you would be able to successfully update it.

  • Adobe Creative Cloud - has anybody had any luck running Adobe CC on a new mac mini? Does it run slow for Photoshop?

    Adobe Creative Cloud - has anybody had any luck running Adobe CC on a new mac mini? Does it run slow for Photoshop?

    Adobe CC applications are very large and the base Mac mini isn't a good choice because it has only 4GB of RAM and has a slow standard hard drive. To get the most out of ACC you should upgrade the mini to at least 8GB. I'd also choose an SSD or Fusion drive for better performance.

  • I am going to buy a mac mini i7 with 3 thunderbolt displays for forex trading. the question is if i use bootcamp and run windows on the mac mini will the displays still run the same way as if i was running it on Lion?

    I am going to buy a mac mini i7 with 3 thunderbolt displays for forex trading. the question is if i use bootcamp and run windows on the mac mini will the displays still run the same way as if i was running it on Lion?

    No idea if Windows will do it, but you can run Windows without Bootcamp & have OSX available at the same time, which should give you all the Monitors that OSX uses.
    Parallels...
    http://www.parallels.com/
    VmWare Fusion...
    http://www.vmware.com/mac

  • 15" Macbook Pro i7 4GB Ram good for gaming?

    Hi, I'd like to know if the 15" MBP i7 4GB Ram good for gaming? I'm not gonna be an intense gamer I would just like to play games during my down time. All I will be playing is like 1 MMORPG and maybe 1 or 2 FPS games. I will not be doing this all at once. I will be using bootcamp. I have some friends tell me that they wouldn't play games on the MBP because it could ruin it? Is this true? They tell me that it's not wise to play games on this laptop.

    It would depend on the games and how demanding they are, but generally laptops make for horrible gaming platforms in general. Apple laptops in particular tend to be among the thinnest of the bunch. A MBP can be thinner than plenty of netbooks out there while packing considerably more punch. That doesn't leave a lot of room for any excess heat that may be generated while gaming.
    If we're talking older games, that probably aren't all that demanding, then maybe. If we're talking newer games that are pushing the limits of the laptop's specs, I'd recommend against it.

  • Why does mac mini with snow leopard download skype for windows instead of mac

    why does mac mini with snow leopard download skype for windows instead of mac ?

    Are you using this link?
    http://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-mac/

  • 512 ram sufficient for dvd burning?

    My friend is about to buy an eMac and was wondering about the 512 ram. The only ram intensive application that she'll be using is the dvd burning software- the rest is just Appleworks and web browsing. Is 512 ram sufficient for her needs? She's on a tight budget but if the upgrade to 1 gb would make a significant difference she'll consider it.
    Thank you,
    Tracy

    DVD burning (most specifically the compression stage which is the time-consuming part) is really more CPU-dependent than it is RAM, so 512MB, while not perhaps ideal for top performance, should be sufficient. I doubt that she'd see a lot of difference in burning time with 1GB, though not having performed real-world tests I can't say for certain. She should just make sure that no other application is running other than what she's using for the DVD burning (which would be good practice even with 1GB of RAM).
    Regards.

  • Mac Mini upgrade to 8gb RAM?

    Can Mac Mini (2009 model) 2.0GHz/1GB 1066MHz DDR3 upgrade ram to 8gb (2x4GB)?

    Not sure how you can say something is not possible purely based on the fact that OWC doesn't sell a kit. You have to admit that is pretty ridiculous. If you had some technical knowledge backing your statements they would hold more merit. I think the guy doesn't believe you because you don't have any real information and you are not offering any expertise.
    Does anyone with real knowledge of such things know if the Mini can be expanded beyond 4GB?
    Someone above commented that OWC has tried unsuccessfully to upgrade the Mini. Is there a link to this info?

  • Mac Mini (mid 2010) 4GB + Windows 7 boot issue

    Afternoon,
    In februari I've asked the same question, and I still haven't figured out what the issue is.
    Figured it wouldn't be bad to fire up de discussion again; perhaps there are some new suggestions.
    Hi folks,
    I have the following issue with my 2010 Mac Mini;
    Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit) refuses to load past the flickering underscore, when i have 4GB of ram installed. When i f.e. put back the original 2GB of ram, Windows 7 loads fine. The following details are important:
    - I've tried Windows XP Professional SP3: boots and runs fine on 4GB
    - I've tried several brands of 2 x 2GB 1067Mhz DDR3 ram; the issue doesn't seem brand or hardware-incompatibility related.
    - Mac OS also runs flawlessly on the all of the 4GB ram
    - And again; Windows 7 does load fine on 2GB ram
    - (whether it's the original 2x 1GB, or 1x 2GB)
    - Current memory: Kingston; SKU: KTA-MB1066K2/4G, EAN: 0740617145755
    Any idea what the issue could be?
    Thanks in advance!

    Yes, I know, but with these instructions http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=5266108&postcount=144 the fan speed can be controlled; the warranty is gone, I suppose, and so could the CPU be, soon, but like I said, there seems to be no temp sensor present, and with full speed fan the mini is unusable anyway.

  • Mac Mini Core Duo 2 RAM Addressing

    I would like to upgrade my Mini Core Duo 2 667 MHz RAM to the maximum level of 4 gigs. It was purchased new from Apple in the spring of 2009. I have read on YouTube that this particular model cannot address the full 4 Gigs of installed RAM, instead it can only address either 2 or 3 gigs of RAM even though 4 gigs are installed. I have also heard that if 4 gigs are installed the "About This Mac" window will say that only 3 gigs are installed, but that the computer will actually use the full 4. Can someone please clear up this confusion?

    Welcome to  Discussions!
    If your mini is showing a 667 MHz bus for the RAM, it's a pre-'early 2009' model. Your limit will be 3gb of RAM, even if you install 4gb (2x2gb sticks). About This Mac will show the 4gb installed, but you will only be able to use 3gb. You are best off running a 2+1gb configuration and saving some money. The 'early 2009' mini has a 1066 MHz bus and can actually support 8gb unofficially with an upgrade to the EFI Firmware.

  • Upgrade mac mini 2010 w 6GB RAM

    presently mid 2010 mac mini upgraded to maverick. seems running low on memory.
    planning to upgrade from the default 4GB (2x2GB) that comes with mini server version
    do i have to upgrade both slots equally say 2x4GB (8GB), or can i upgrade 1x2GB and 1x4GB (6GB)
    thnks

    You can use different RAM sizes if you want, but I recommend you to use two modules of the same amount of RAM to take advantage of Dual Channel. You can buy more RAM at OWC or Crucial.
    Note that OS X Mavericks manages RAM in a different way than older OS X versions, so in some cases it is "normal" that RAM usage is high

  • Mac mini using to much ram

    my mac mini is using up a lot of ram and i have nothing open
    free 1.60 gb
    wired 1.11 gb
    active 750 mb
    inactive 561.5 mb

    Fairly normal, I suggest adding more RAM.
    We need more info about your Mac to see if it will even be capable,
    So we know more about it...
    At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac, then click on More Info, then click on Hardware> and report this upto but not including the Serial#...
    Hardware Overview:
    Model Name: iMac
    Model Identifier: iMac7,1
    Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
    Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
    Number Of Processors: 1
    Total Number Of Cores: 2
    L2 Cache: 4 MB
    Memory: 6 GB
    Bus Speed: 800 MHz
    Boot ROM Version: IM71.007A.B03
    SMC Version (system): 1.21f4

  • Windows side of Mac Mini shuts down saying RAM is causing problem

    My windows side of my Mac Mini periodically shuts down saying there is a problem with the RAM saying I need a BIOS upgrade. What is that and can I do it or do I have to take it in or do I have to reinstall everything and give the windows side more hard drive? Currently my windows side is using 17GB of hard drive and I have 9 left after installing my windows and my bookkeeping program. If I have to give it more Har Drive how do I do that withouth reinstalling everything?

    Welcome!
    Could you possibly give us the exact error message?
    Are you running Windows via BootCamp, or are you using Parallels Desktop to run Windows.
    Which version of Windows: XP, Vista, or what?
    How much RAM do you have in your Mini? Was more RAM installed after it left the factory?

Maybe you are looking for

  • External hard drive will not pop out of my desktop

    I just bought a Simpletech Signature Mini 250 GB external hard drive but the external HD does not launch on my desktop or utility. I contacted the Simpletech Tech Support but no one answered... Please help! The external HD is connected via a USB plug

  • How to go into Landscape mode?

    Hi, I recently purchased an Alcatel OneTouch Fire C and was trying to watch videos on itbut i couldn't figure out how to watch videos in landscape mode in it. Can anyone help me with this?

  • One app, two different Apple Dev accounts ... Will it work?

    Building a standalone/single-issue viewer app for a client. We've asked to be invited to join their Apple Dev team, but the client proposes this workflow instead: Scenario 1 • We use OUR iOS Provisioning Portal/Apple Dev account to generate all the c

  • IPhone 3GS gets error when syncing after installing ios6

    I just updated my iPhone 3GS to ios6, and it appears to have added a ton of Gigs to the phone. I've been trying to take apps and other things off the phone, but I'm still over my limit. And, after several syncs, I got the following error message: The

  • Weblogic.developer.interest.general is moving!

    This newsgroup has been relocated. Going forward, please use the weblogic.developer.interest.general newsgroup, which will be located in the [url http://forums.bea.com/category.jspa?categoryID=2004]WebLogic Server/Java EE Newsgroups folder, located a