Replacing my old x86 with Mac mini

Question

Hi, I'm going to buy a Mac mini but I want to know some specific things:
- what about playing games? (Doom3, Call of duty, Halo II...)
- what about its performances?
- does anybody know if soon there'll be an update (a serious one)
Thanks for your support! Bye

Answer 1

Games are not something the mini seems particularly good at. From the most common reports here, most of the major titles seem to either play slowly or at low resolution.
In general performance terms, it's easy to mistake the mini's size as an indicator of it's performance, but in fact it is not. While the mini is certainly not the latest technology, it has very similar specification to the pro-level powermac systems of a couple of years or so ago. As a consequence, there are few applications the mini can't run, and those are typically pro-level software titles that as a result would generally not be expected to run on an entry-level system. You don't identify the model of iBook that you note in your profile, but the chances are that the mini will be roughtly equal to it or in the case of older iBooks, a little to notably faster.
As to whether there will be an update, whether 'serious' or not, the answer is that no-one that knows will be free to say so, and as a result anything said on the subject will be pure speculation - certainly insufficiently useful to base a purchasing decision upon. What is certain -and confirmed by Apple- is that there are minis in current ciculation that are above the specification stated on the store and the packaging, but that doesn't mean you could be certain of getting one if you purchase - at least not until Apple publicly announce the new specification as standard. If these slighty faster models are not sufficient, I suspect the mini might not be for you, since it seems unlikely Apple will significantly enhance it, if for no other reason that they would not want to canibalize the sales of iMacs and G5s.