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Mac Mini 2012 vs Mac Mini 2014


Charly

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Hi guys,

 

I´m planning to buy Mac Mini to have a second setup with my 970 Zotac + Akitio Thunder 2.

 

I would like an i7 Mac Mini but prices are still high so I´m going to an i5 processor, so I´m trying to decide between to models 2012 i5 2,5 Ghz Thunderbolt 1 or 2014 i5 1,4 Ghz.

 

In one hand the 2012 model is the most upgradable Mac Mini being possible to use 16 GB RAM but it´s Thunderbolt version is 1 on the other hand the 2014 model is not RAM upgradeable but it´s Thunderbolt is version 2.

 

What do you thing? Go to 2012 or 2014? Does anybody can help me? Any benchmarks?

 

Thank you so much!

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Hi again, it looks like in terms of CPU the 2014 i5 CPU´s are a little bit faster than 2012 in single core  but slower on multicore proceses.

 

2014 models starting in 2,6 Ghz goes with Intel Iris Graphic 5100 with is twice faster than Intel 400 on 2012 models.

 

So:

 

2012

PROS : RAM upgrading, Better CPU´s (4% slower single core, 46% faster in multicore)

CON: iGPU Intel 4000 90% Slower than Iris 5100 , Thunderbolt 1

 

2014

PROS : Iris 5100, Thunderbolt 2

CONS: RAM Soldered, slower CPU´s in Multi Core

 

With these data I would choose 2012 model, but I´m not sure if Thunderbolt 2 would be a great improvement to my eGPU...

 

 

I tried to find real cases but all of them are with really different Mac Minis configs, RAM and eGPU´s so I´m still little confused.

 

Anybody?

 

UPDATE

 

I´m trying to find different benchmarks results for different Mini´s with different configurations and see the differences.

 

Mini 2012

 

i5 2,5 GHz +  16 RAM + 970 GTX

 

2012 i5  2,5 16  RAM GTX 970 OSX.jpg

 

i5 2,5 GHz + 16 RAM + 960 GTX

 

2012 i5 2,5 16 RAM GTX 960 OSX .png

 

Mini 2014

 

i5 2,8 GHz + 16 RAM + 970 GTX

2014 i5 2,8 16 RAM GTX 970 OSX.png

Edited by Charly
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 21/11/2016 at 9:35 AM, errin said:

I'd go with 2012 Model with upgradable since TB1 and TB2 are not much different in eGPU (Compare with my MBP2012+GTX960 and MBP2014)

 

Thank you for your reply!!

 

Do you have any pictures or results in benchmarks like Heaven? Would be great...

 

I have a GTX 970 and it looks like is more powerful than your 960 ;) , in your opinion, Would be a big difference or more an less like your case?

 

Thanks again errin!!

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15 hours ago, ikir said:

You can have pci SSD with 2014, faster ram and faster Thunderbolt. But not upgradable ram. Anyway i would

suggest 2014

 

ikir, thanks for your advice, i did´t know 2014 mini has an option tu upgrade the drive with a pci ssd, I asume you are talking about this, don´t you?

 

 

http://www.applecomponents.com/items/carrier-hard-drive-with-flash-storage/0000006001?pn=10&cat=Service Parts: Cables&per_page=30

 

About 2014 Mini, I know that RAM is faster than 2012 but it´s really cheap to upgrade the 2012 with 16gb and it´s really difficult and expensive to find a 2014 with 16 GB of RAM, about the thunderbolt again is faster but in terms of using my 970 GTX eGPU  I don´t know exactly the difference.

 

I wold like to compare but i´m can´t find similar eGPU configurations with similar CPU & RAM 2012 and 2014 minis to see real differences.

 

Thank you

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Hi! I had a Mac mini 2014 until 2 months ago, very nice machine but I would suggest 2,6Ghz version if possible. I often had them to sell (used but tested). Yes exactly, SSD PCIe can be used with that cable. Anyway the speed limit is about 750MB/s even if you you MBP 2015 SSD which could hit 2000MB/s. You can also create a Fusion Drive.

With my Mac mini I was using a Nvidia GTX 970, you can find my thread here.

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10 hours ago, ikir said:

Hi! I had a Mac mini 2014 until 2 months ago, very nice machine but I would suggest 2,6Ghz version if possible. I often had them to sell (used but tested). Yes exactly, SSD PCIe can be used with that cable. Anyway the speed limit is about 750MB/s even if you you MBP 2015 SSD which could hit 2000MB/s. You can also create a Fusion Drive.

With my Mac mini I was using a Nvidia GTX 970, you can find my thread here.

 

Interesting, Do you have minis to sell right now?

 

I just realized that third Heaven Benchkmark picture i posted yesterday is from your thread jejeje

 

Do you thing is possible to pass again the benchmark with 1080 resolution and no aa?

 

Thank you!

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Yea man, bugger the 5 year old 2012 mac mini, and get going with thunderbolt 2.

Definitely get an 8-16gb RAM 2014 Mac Mini instead of base model, for more modern games.

And get an SSD with Mac instead of HDD, SO much faster! You will be much more happier knowing you went with a more up to date mac.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had no time...

 

But I´m trying to find an i7 with good price... maybe 2012 but first I´ll try to find the difference of using TB1 or TB2 with my GTX 970.

 

;)

 

I´ll post any news and conclusions. 

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