Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Computers & Peripherals => Topic started by: gerafotografija on January 13, 2013, 03:03:13 pm

Title: Mac Mini 2012 minimum config for CS5 and Aperture 3 use?
Post by: gerafotografija on January 13, 2013, 03:03:13 pm
After some research, i am leaning towards buying a base model Mini and holding off upgrading to CS6 for a while. I figure if I stick to this plan, I can spend half as much on the computer now and upgrade again in 2 years instead of holding onto it twice as ling.

My primary source for PS specific info was this article: http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/optimize-performance-photoshop-cs4-cs5.html (http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/optimize-performance-photoshop-cs4-cs5.html)

My main reason to buy a new cpu is because I started doing stitching and need more power to process the resulting larger files. For single 16mp files, my old Mac Air is slow, but works with my current workflow.

So, does anyone see any reason not to get the base Mac Mini with:

2-core cpu since there are actually 4 virtual cores running on it and that is the most CS5 uses unless I upgrade to the newest PS version.

Load up 16gb RAM -- max on the Mini. This should minimize scratch space requirements, so I should be able to wait for an SSD until the larger ones get cheaper. I dont mind a slow start up time if the cpu and RAM are sufficient to keep PS and Aperature from choking on <2gig PSD files after stitching.

Assuming I dont do video editing or 3-D work, don't run multiple apps at once, and process images serially, this seems like a $599 bottom of line 2012 Mini + $150 for mail order RAM with shipping.

Anyone have any benchmark data between ivy bridge 2-core vs. 4-core Mini running usual PS tasks? All the ones I have found start with the $799 model (which I think has 8 virtual core that I would only utilize if I upgrade to CS6).

Any mistakes in my numbers or other suggestions? I am happy with my Viewsonic monitor and GRAiD 6TB external for now.
Title: Re: Mac Mini 2012 minimum config for CS5 and Aperture 3 use?
Post by: K.C. on January 14, 2013, 12:51:49 am
So, does anyone see any reason not to get the base Mac Mini...

Go for it. They're about as easy to resell on ebay as anything when you're done with it.

You could also try asking in a Mac Mini forum http://www.123macmini.com/

For simple stats: http://www.macworld.com/article/2013385/review-new-mac-mini-offers-an-attractive-bang-for-the-buck.html
Title: Re: Mac Mini 2012 minimum config for CS5 and Aperture 3 use?
Post by: gerafotografija on January 14, 2013, 11:08:27 am
Thanks for the links. Although there seems to be a noticeable increase in speed between the new i5 and i7, it seems like a relatively small incremental bonus compared to the processing speed increase both enjoy over the previous chips.

The cost savings as percent of total price for the upgrade ($200/$600) with the i5 is a huge percentage, and overall low price would mean I could reasonably consider buying another in 1-2 years in parallel with software upgrades that should by then take full advantage of whatever number of cores the new models will have by then – 16, 32, more?

In the meantime the cash could go towards a fast SSD when prices drop a bit, or towards another lens. Not what my wife would want to hear though!
 :)
Title: Re: Mac Mini 2012 minimum config for CS5 and Aperture 3 use?
Post by: Joe Blackwood on January 16, 2013, 02:28:40 am
Some Additional Mac Mini information related to its use for photography...

http://macperformanceguide.com/macmini2012.html (http://macperformanceguide.com/macmini2012.html)

http://macperformanceguide.com/index_topics.html#MacMini2012 (http://macperformanceguide.com/index_topics.html#MacMini2012)

Let us know how it works out....
Title: Re: Mac Mini 2012 minimum config for CS5 and Aperture 3 use?
Post by: elolaugesen on January 16, 2013, 09:16:16 am
Hi.  My old trusty MacBook Pro early 2008(yes the problem child)  started yesterday having major problems with screen flashing all sorts of break up etc.  machine rebooted several times automatically,  then ran for an hour then same occurred again, and again.  my ethernet did not work, and with more work coming in today I jumped the gun. 
I bought a mac mini quad core I7 4 mg late 2012 model.

12 hours later I am now up and running tested printing (3800 printer), photoshop etc.   all working.
experience.    My trusty backup did not work.  Had for years been using super duper always worked great.  But no way would the mini boot off the same disc that my other machines (two of them would.)  Finally I portioned the mini disc copied the file over and then did the migration tool thing.  all worked except it did not copy my two sets of print drivers etc.....
installed them, ran tests all is ok.
Then ran super duper backup on to the same partioned drive my other backups were on.  worked fine and booted off the new backup no issues. (had to delete photoshop prefs. for the backup  could not find scratch space) then ran fine in backup.   The other backups from before old macbook still no go.

In the end I found that there is a special version of 10.8.2 for the mac mini.   This is all I can attribute it to for now.   

Yes I will be buying more memory...,  yes I will get the OWC SSD with caddy for installing the hdd for all my data.   (no fusion just my own setup)

and...  my apple cinema monitor work just fine...

Lesson    backup backup backup    multiple ways.  understand how the system is structured so you can recover...



cheers elo
Title: Re: Mac Mini 2012 minimum config for CS5 and Aperture 3 use?
Post by: Tim-S on January 30, 2013, 11:39:30 am
I have used a mac mini to stitch together a large landscape of 10 images.  It chugged away for about 5 minutes, and resulted in a successful stitch.  An image of 5 or less seems to go fairly quickly (I didn't actually time it).  I have CS6 and have not had any issues so far.  I use both Aperture 3, and LR 4.  I am leaning toward LR4 of late. 

The machine is a 2011 i5- 2.3 G - I upgraded the RAM to 16 gb.  I think this is the sweet spot.  It came with 4 gb, I upgraded to 8, wasn't quite satisfied, then 16 proved to be fine.  I have a 1 TB firewire drive that I use for image storage and I can work live with it as it is fairly fast.     
Title: Re: Mac Mini 2012 minimum config for CS5 and Aperture 3 use?
Post by: gerafotografija on January 30, 2013, 12:24:51 pm
Thanks for the responses. In the end I decided to get the  quad core 4gig version of the 2012 mini and upgrade the memory myself to 16gig. I saved a little money by using a discount from my workplace.

This system is a huge step up from the Mac Air I used previously. Although I only have the CS5 version of PS and Aperture 3, I am pretty sure it will handle the next versions just fine when it's time to upgrade. Adding a SSD drive at that point should give me another 2-fold or so increase in speed for photo manipulation work, so that should extend the lifespan a little more.

I have had no failures with large stitched images since getting this system, and the overall speed is more than fast enough for my workflow. Of course, I am not a pro with a thousand images to process a week, but anything short of that seems very efficient  now.