Mac Mini question

D

DoubleZedRed

Gawd
Joined
Jan 12, 2009
Messages
849
hey guys, i recently bought the 1.83 mini, is there a special type of ram to put in it, or is it just regular desktop or laptop ram? (i know about matching the proper speed and everything, i'm just wondering if i could go get any stick of 5300 and slap it in.)
 
Mavvok said:
does it make a difference between getting a paired 2gb set and going with a mixed 1+2 or a paired 2+2, is the 2+2 worth the difference?
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For the extra 10 or so bucks I'd order 2 2gig sticks over getting a 2 gig stick and a 1 gig stick. Memory cheap, if you are going to do it max it out.
 
AP11689 said:
Macs don't use BIOS. They use EFI.
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Doesn't really matter for this though. The chipset is what limits the amount of memory. It can only address 4 gigs of memory total and that has to include the addressing space for everything else.
 
Well, I just don't feel right about taking a putty knife to my $600+ Mac unless I need to. I suppose if the hard drive died in it, and I had no warranty left, then I would obviously take it apart. I've taken apart an iBook G3 and an eMac G4, and neither of them were a particularly exciting experience. I'm not trying to discourage the OP from taking apart his Mac Mini, just stating the fact that he must be braver than I am.
 
TheLordsServant said:
Well, I just don't feel right about taking a putty knife to my $600+ Mac unless I need to. I suppose if the hard drive died in it, and I had no warranty left, then I would obviously take it apart. I've taken apart an iBook G3 and an eMac G4, and neither of them were a particularly exciting experience. I'm not trying to discourage the OP from taking apart his Mac Mini, just stating the fact that he must be braver than I am.
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I felt the same way on my first mac mini.

but then my [H] side got a hold of me... and I cracked it open, disabled the white LED, installed a superdrive, a 400gb HDD, 2gb of memory (max for the g4 i think) and installed the bluetooth/wifi modules.

It was fun.


What'll really make you nervous is having to crack open a $3 million MRI computer system ;)
I've done that too.
 
TheLordsServant said:
Well, I just don't feel right about taking a putty knife to my $600+ Mac unless I need to. I suppose if the hard drive died in it, and I had no warranty left, then I would obviously take it apart. I've taken apart an iBook G3 and an eMac G4, and neither of them were a particularly exciting experience. I'm not trying to discourage the OP from taking apart his Mac Mini, just stating the fact that he must be braver than I am.
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i've considered cracking mine open, but since i bought it for my business i'm probably just going to buy the ram and then take it to the *ahem* geniuses *ahem* :rolleyes: to have them do it so i can keep my warranty.
 
Mavvok said:
i've considered cracking mine open, but since i bought it for my business i'm probably just going to buy the ram and then take it to the *ahem* geniuses *ahem* :rolleyes: to have them do it so i can keep my warranty.
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As far as I know, installing RAM in the mini won't void the warranty.
 
KaosDG said:
As far as I know, installing RAM in the mini won't void the warranty.
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Correct. And the fact that the Mini has been out for a long time means there is absolutely NO shortage of How-To videos all over the web. Its ridiculously easy to change out components in a Mini. If you don't agree, better think about turning in your [H] credentials. :D
 
criccio said:
Correct. And the fact that the Mini has been out for a long time means there is absolutely NO shortage of How-To videos all over the web. Its ridiculously easy to change out components in a Mini. If you don't agree, better think about turning in your [H] credentials. :D
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i had read on alot of places that it would, but i just checked and found a blog referring to macworld that said as long as you don't mess anything else up while changing your ram it's covered.

hopefully this is helpful to anyone considering it, it doesn't seem too hard to do, i just need to order the ram, does anyone know how corsair is with rebates? there's a 4 gb kit with 4-4-4-12 timing on amazon for 67$ with a 40$ MIR, if they're good and quick about it then i'm going to go with that.
 
criccio said:
Do you have an older Mac Mini?
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I don't have a mac mini. I am contemplating buying one
1. to hack at, immediately voiding any warranty
2. give to my parents
3. use as a cheaper and more robust NAS controller (and use the computer as a media server).
4. try out different OS on it (I have a MBP already).

But if a deal came along, I would like to jump on it and perhaps add components if not included in the original. Something to keep in the back of my mind.
 
KaosDG said:
I felt the same way on my first mac mini.

but then my [H] side got a hold of me... and I cracked it open, disabled the white LED, installed a superdrive, a 400gb HDD, 2gb of memory (max for the g4 i think) and installed the bluetooth/wifi modules.

It was fun.


What'll really make you nervous is having to crack open a $3 million MRI computer system ;)
I've done that too.
Click to expand...

Sounds like fun to me:D
 
Liver said:
I don't have a mac mini. I am contemplating buying one
1. to hack at, immediately voiding any warranty
2. give to my parents
3. use as a cheaper and more robust NAS controller (and use the computer as a media server).
4. try out different OS on it (I have a MBP already).

But if a deal came along, I would like to jump on it and perhaps add components if not included in the original. Something to keep in the back of my mind.
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someone's got a mini for sale for 475$ shipped here, as for the whole warranty thing (if you buy new that is) we already verified that it doesn't void your warranty when you open it, only if you break something when you do.
 
Liver, you asked about finding the bluetooth and wifi modules, thats why I was aking if you had an old Mac Mini. The new ones all have BT and WiFi built in. Have for awhile. Only the old G4 mini's didn't
 
Ah, makes more sense that the new ones already have it included.

Its a project that I am seriously contemplating, but I also thinking about making it my media center as well, so I may wait for the mini refresh (whenever that may be).

Its always good to have the information though.

Been looking at some sites that use the Mini for servers (commercial hosting), good reading. I just googled it.
 
Liver said:
Ah, makes more sense that the new ones already have it included.

Its a project that I am seriously contemplating, but I also thinking about making it my media center as well, so I may wait for the mini refresh (whenever that may be).

Its always good to have the information though.

Been looking at some sites that use the Mini for servers (commercial hosting), good reading. I just googled it.
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Good idea. I have tried every HTPC front end application for windows and absolutely NOTHING comes close to my 2.0GHz Core2Duo Mac Mini running Plex.

Its the only app I have installed on it and thats all you need to play anything. It even takes over the Apple Remote so when I hit the menu key Plex opens instead of FrontRow and I can stream all the 1080p x264 encoded Blu-Rays from my Vista machine.
 
Wow that is excellent. I am actually waiting to see if BD drives will be an option for the mac mini. As it is.

1. Tivo HD for Netflix.
2. Dish Network HD PVR for satellite (cable not an option, community developer forgot to call Comcast prior to paving and such, so we ALL have satellite)
3. PS3 for Blue Ray (I am PC gamer so that is the only use).
4. Synology NAS for iTunes and media streaming.

Now if I can replace all, or most of that with a Mac Mini, wow, just wow.

To the OP, so sorry for the derailment, but I hope your question is already answered!
 
Liver said:
Wow that is excellent. I am actually waiting to see if BD drives will be an option for the mac mini. As it is.

1. Tivo HD for Netflix.
2. Dish Network HD PVR for satellite (cable not an option, community developer forgot to call Comcast prior to paving and such, so we ALL have satellite)
3. PS3 for Blue Ray (I am PC gamer so that is the only use).
4. Synology NAS for iTunes and media streaming.

Now if I can replace all, or most of that with a Mac Mini, wow, just wow.

To the OP, so sorry for the derailment, but I hope your question is already answered!
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yeah, my question has already been answered, i'm actually getting interested in where this thread may go in regards to using the mini as a server of sorts.
 
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