Mac minis for a cluster

Hi,
I am deliberating on purchasing new equipment for rendering large movies (about 80GB). I'd like to use compressor/qmaster to do this. I am curious to find out what would be a better (faster rendering) setup for this purpose. Let's say one of the multiple core Mac Pros and a iMac (core duo 3.06) or let's say 3 or brand new Mac mini's with an iMac (core duo 3.06)
Thank you for any help you can provide

As far as speed is concerned, look at the number of cores each option has...
Purchasing an 8 core Mac Pro(which has hyperthreading, giving you 2 virtual cores per physical core... So you actually realize 16 cores...) with I would say at least 6-8 gigs of RAM will run you around $4500 and in my opinion the stability of the Mac Pro is much higher than that of a Mac Mini...
So to match that performance so to speak with mac minis, you would have to buy 8 mac minis, at $700 each... , have at least a 16 port Gig-E switch, and be purchasing a ton of extra hard drive space/setting up a central networked storage server of some kind to hold the files while each of the mini's work on it, ... I have a long list of things I could continue with, but lets just go with the price alone...
1 Mac pro : 16 Cores : $4500
8 Mac Minis : 16 Cores : $5600 (Plus cost of switches, cables, time to network and trouble shoot.. you will have to trouble shoot.. I promise setup... I think you get the point...
I think it's an obvious winner there -
Cheers
Kyle

Similar Messages

Using a Mac Mini for DSP

Hello!
I am wondering how many users are there out there using a Mac Mini for DSP to allow for more processing power.
wondering what types of experiences people have had out there/how well the machines work together. and if you would or would not recommend doing so
i would assume that it would help out with all of the processing and makes things sound better in the end?

I don't do it on a regular basis, but I tested out using an intel mini as a node on a G5, and it worked fine. Probably added about an additional 25% of what the quad could do (so if the quad did 100 of a plugin, the mini added 25 more).

Can you use logic express on a mac mini for recording

Can i use logic exprees on a mac mini for recording? Ive seen alot of 8,12, and 16 track recorders with a cd burner and it seems like a logical and more productive gues for me to buy a macmini for the same thing of recording and then I can uses logic express, a far better program for recording. can the mac mini handle the load of processing tracks and how much ram should I uses? thanks tim

sorry, I'd like to butt in here:
I would like to do the same thing, so I am curious about this forum and rather than starting a new one, can I get some advice on this possibility:
Mac Mini
1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
80GB Serial ATA drive
Glyph External HD 250 Gig
Mackie Onyx 1620 w/Firewire
Logic Pro 7.2
thoughts?
The most number of tracks I could see at once would be 16.
Here is something I am most curious about...
Firewire Hard drive
Firewire Interface/mixer
Firewire camera for FCP
to much firewire?
Please let me know if you have other thoughts aswell...
Shuke
thanks guys, this forum is fantastic!

Mac mini for video / music production

hello!
i'm really into music and video, i currently do all my video work in premiere pro on the pc, and music is done in a combination of packages like reason, soundforge, etc.
i'm really tempted by the offer of a mac mini for a few hundred pounds complete with garageband, imovie, etc. plus i can always get final cut on there too.
I am serious about what i do and would want high quality results. what i'm asking is basically, consdiering the specs of the mac mini, (i'd have to go for the top of the range to get the dvd writer) will it be capable of performing well with video work and more importantly, will garageband let me do professional sounding sequencing and mixing?
or am i kidding myself that the mini is capable? because if the option is buying a G5, i'll use the cash to upgrade my windows pc instead. it's all about tools for the job for me, i've got no brand loyalty.
thanks for any advice / opinions!!
-the swan

There's no doubt that the mini CAN do what you want - it outperforms many Mac systems that have been sucessfully doing pro-level video and audio work for years. On the video side the system is very capable, and whether in iMovie or Final Cut, professional results are achievable. Indeed, being digital, there's no practical way to tell from the rsult whether it came off a mini or an old G3 iMac or a brand new G5 tower. The mini's only drawback is that rendering takes time. Less time than older systems, and more time than a G5 would. Some rendering (such as transitions or effects in iMovie) run in the background and don't prevent continuing work.
On the audio side, I'll leave that to people who have a better knowledge of the application than I do as a rather 8th-rate amateur!
As for the model you should buy, I would suggest NOT the $699 version with superdrive. I'd suggest you buy the $599 model, replace the 512Mb RAM with a 1Gb stick, and add an external burner. That way you would be getting enough memory to give the mini a solid performance in video work, and giving yourself the choice of DVD burner which not only would include possible dual layer devices (the superdrive is single) but also better burn speeds.

I am considering purchasing the Mac mini for home studio audio production using Adobe Audition and a USB microphone. Will the base mini model run these programs?

I am considering purchasing the Mac mini for home studio audio production using Adobe Audition and a USB microphone. Will the base mini model run these programs?

The base mini has 4GB and a 5400 RPM hard drive. It is slow to start up and slow to launch large application such as Word (and I'd assume Adobe Audition) due to the slow drive. I've not used a new 4GB model, just the 8GB model, and the 8GB model (except for the slow drive) handles everything I've thrown at it, including running Photoshop, Word, Safari, and Mail at the same time but there is sometimes a delay switching between programs as the swapfile is updated. Overall I was not happy with the 5400 RPM drive (perhaps because I have MBA and iMac with Fusion drive) so I eventually upgraded it with an SSD. Now the mini is truly a warrior.

Which Mac mini for home server, Aperture & HTPC

Hi,
I'm buying a Mac mini for:
- home / small business server
- Occasional HTPC usage (will be hooked to my TV via HDMI)
- Occasional Aperture / iPhoto usage (minimal iMovie)
Which one is most suitable for this?
I was planing to go for Server version (with bumped up RAM to 8GB), but now I read about video card and I'm not 100% anymore.
I will NOT use it for 3D - gaming or similar tasks!
Thak you all for help!
Vasja

I went for the non-server dual core i7 with AMD GPU and am very happy with it. Do quite a bit of Aperture work and it never misses a beat (so far). I'm not a fan of integrated Intel graphics and wouldn't trust it for HTPC duties.
I'm not sure how many/much of the 'server' functionality you're going to be using as it sounds more like file transfer and other tasks that could be accomplished through normal Lion.
Unless I'm missing something I assume the two hard drives in the Mini Server are just as much of a pain to replace as the one in the non-server Mini so I didn't see the point of having a two hard disc Mini.
For your requirements I would definitely look at how much of the server functionality you really need to utilise, and if the answer is 'not much' I'd recommend the i5 or i7 non-server Mini with AMD GPU and some sort of NAS, plus a sensible offsite backup plan for your data.

Using Mac mini for storage

Hello Folks,
Quick question: can I use the mac mini for storage only? I have loads of movies, music and tv shows that I want to store.
How would this work if at all possible?
Alternative advice on EHD that I should rather use?
Thanks!
JDT

Yes, and target disk mode, or firewire over IP or setting it up as a file server are all possibilities. But given there are faster more capacious hard drives for less, I would get that instead unless there is some feature of the Mac Mini that a simple hard drive can't do that you need. I.e. Front Row, Media Central or other software can be used to see your data on a TV. An external hard drive attached to your desktop Mac together with an AppleTV can do the same thing but the media formats are more limited.

Should I get 2.0 quad or 2.7 dual mac mini for photography?

I am eyeing the new mac mini for my digital photography. I am a hobbiest, but shoot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II in raw, so dealing with pretty big raw files. I am currently using both lightroom (on a windows box) and aperture to handle photos. I am thinking I will use aperture on the new mini. I understand that aperture can be gpu intensive, but raw processing is cpu intensive. My question, get the 2.0 quad with integrated graphics, or 2.7 with discreet graphics. Other pluses with the quad are the dual 7200 hdd's, vs single 5400 on the 2.7. Any thoughts, let me know. Thanks.

I think Aperture takes advantage of hardware acceleration, so it will benefit from the discrete graphics on the 799 mini. LR does not. The quad core will benefit LR for sure. I found this an interesting read:
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/blog/will-an-ssd-improve-adobe-lightroom-perfor mance/
If only you could get the quad and the discrete graphics in the mini...

Is 2 gig of ram enough for a 2011 2,3 ghz mac mini for doing some games? Like GTA IV

Is the standard 2GB of ram enough for a 2011 2,3GHz Mac Mini for doing games? Like GTA IV.
Or do I even have to go for the faster 2,5GHz model?

I have a MacMini Late 2011 with 2.3 GHz I5 and 4GB RAM and I use it as media center... It's enough to play FullHD movies but it uses 256 on 512 MB of (shared)RAM... I don't think that you can use a mini for hard gaming...
But AngryBirds Space on a 60" FullHD TV looks great
edit:
welcome to discussions... i'm a newbie too

Mac Mini for audio recording using LOGIC X

Has anyone had experience using the latest Mac mini for audio recording? I'm thinking of purchasing the 2.6GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x8GB 1TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm model. I'll be using Logic X along with Reasons, Wave, UA plugins with a Apollo I/O I'd appreciate any feedback and or suggestions.

I'd work off of another hard drive as much as possible. Install the applications to your boot drive, but keep your data on a separate external hard drive. If you try to run OS, apps and big audio data off of that 5400, I foresee performance issues even with 16GB of RAM. Also, don't forget a second external hard drive for your backups.

Using Mac-Mini for movie / TV entertainment center

Hi all,
Can someone steer me into right direction? I'd like to use my MacMini as my main entertainment center to view my movies, music,TV, etc. and would like to know what will I need to make viewing pleasurable? I'd like to get a 42" display. I'd also like to add 5.1 digital surround sound. I'll also be using my Mac mini for web surfing and emails. Thanks for your help
Web dude

I just finished my setup, and I'm quite satisfied. I bought a Mac Mini to use as the media center and bought the Elgato EyeTV 250+ to get digital television over the antenna, which also allows you to use your mac as a DVR. I send the video to a Sony projector via DVI to HDMI cable, and the audio goes to my old surround sound receiver via the headphone jack to RCA. If you don't have a receiver yet, I'd get one that has optical audio input since the headphone jack on the mini also has optical out. I also use a firewire external hard drive to store video.
I continue to use my DVD player to play DVD's instead of the mini, simply because if there are any scratches (especially on rentals) the mini doesn't work through them as well as my DVD player. I plan on ripping my collection to the external drive so that I don't have to deal with disks at all though.
For the keyboard and mouse, I got the logitech dinovo mini keyboard because it has a trackpad integrated in the keyboard. While some of the buttons lack functionality, I will probably use ControllerMate to program them as well as difficult keyboard shortcuts. The other nice thing is if you have a "learning" programable remote because you can program it with the apple remote signal as well as the EyeTV remote and reduce the amount of clutter on the couch.

Can i use my mac mini for some users at the same time?

can i use my mac mini for some users at the same time? i mean with their own screen, mouse, and keyboard

If you're asking whether more than one user can use the computer at the same time with multiple displays, the answer is no. Other users can log in over a network with Screen Sharing, but each one will need his own computer (not necessarily a Mac.)

If you traded in your mac mini for a windows pc, what would you get?

I have a late 2009 Mac Mini and am just chafing to upgrade. It's slow as molasses. But at the same time, I'm not willing to pay full price for 2012 model, and Apple is way behind in releasing an update. In fact I'm hearing speculation that Apple may be just discontinuing the Mac Mini.
I don't know... But I'm getting tired of waiting. And getting a different model of Mac doens't work for me, because I want to use my own screens. (I'm running two large screens in "portrait" mode.)
Also, I have a Windows 7 PC at work, and I've come to realize that I don't mind Windows 7 and don't see it as intrinsically better than the Apple OS. In fact Windows & has generally been mariginally more stable, and a lot faster then the OS on my Mac. In fact I got both systems around the same time and the Windows 7 system did better with less RAM and is "aging" better.
HOWEVER, what I really love about the Mac Mini is how QUIET it is. I have it in my bedroom, next to my bed, and it's noise is barely noticeable. So I guess I should look into seeing if there area any desktop PC's that are as quiet.
Have you considered switching back to a PC, and if you did what would you get?

I moved away from Apple in 2007 and have never looked back !
I use the ASRock Vision X 420D http://www.asrock.com/nettop/Intel/VisionX%20Series%20(Haswell)/
Its the same size as the current Mini but a bit taller - BUT it is FULLY user upgradeable and about the same price once you make a mini upto the same spec.
I run Windows 8.1 on it and love it - yes there are lots of people bleating on about the 'metro' style of Win 8 but if you configure it (which has been a feature from launch, not a 3rd party hack) you never have to see the metro interface and you have a standard desktop.
As to woodmeister50 comment of : Also, with Win8, many third party add on companies have dropped support etc. is that not the same for Mavericks ?!
Custom mini
ASRock Vision X 420D, 16Gb Ram, 3x 512Gb SSD, AMD Radeon R270X, WiFi (n, ac)

Buying a Mac mini for music

I'm buying a Mac mini in September - so I will have Snow Leopard - to use with the latest version of Logic and the latest version of Pro Tools and use for my college work and recording my band. I plan on using an M-Audio MobilePre USB, external hard drive and multitrack firewire interface for recording. Will I be able to use all of these devices simultaneously by using some kind of firewire hub without any noticable latency or driver/hardware problems? If it will not be as plug and play can somebody offer some kind of assistance? I am getting the 120GB model with a 2GB memory upgrade so I can get the maximum graphics memory as well. Thanks in advance.

I cannot answer your other questions, but I believe that you can confirm this with Apple, you can go ahead and make your purchase now and get a free copy of Snow Leopard when it is available. Apple has always had a free upgrade program for those who made recent purchases just before the upgrade release date.
Dah•veed

Can i use my mac mini for a cd drive for my macbook

I am going to purchase a macbook to replace my old mac mini. Can I use my old macmini as a cd drive for it?

Yes. You need to visit this support site:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5287?viewlocale=en_US

Mac minis for a cluster

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for