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From: Rowland McDonnell on 8 Apr 2010 01:13
David Empson <dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz> wrote:

> Richard Tobin <richard(a)cogsci.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> > David Empson <dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz> wrote:
> >
> > >- DVD player needs 1.6 GHz for improved video deinterlacing.
> >
> > That's surprising, considering that I used to play DVDs on a 300MHz
> > processor that did a lot less per clock.
>
> It is mentioned on Apple's specifications page for Mac OS X.
>
> If you have a CPU slower than 1.6 GHz, DVD Player uses a less CPU
> intensive algorithm that produces a lower quality image from interlaced
> video.
>
> As far as "minimum CPU speed for playback" is concerned:

[snip]

> 400 MHz is clearly fast enough (e.g. iMac DV from late 1999), and there
> may have been 300 MHz and 350 MHz PowerMac G3 (Blue & White) models from
> early 1999 which had DVD-ROM as an option.

I had a 400MHz G4 tower that could play DVDs. The DVD player app under
OS 9 on that Mac was *appallingly* slow to respond to user input, like
it'd take seconds to get on with it. Okay for `just playing', but if
you wanted to do anything else, bloody annoying.

Rowland.

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From: Gwynne Harper on 8 Apr 2010 07:30
zoara <me18(a)privacy.net> wrote:

> Anyone had any experience upgrading a Mac mini CPU? I'm after boosting
> my Core Solo 1.5GHz to a Core Duo with a bit more oomph.

I was just about to do this when my Mini died. The links I'd found
were:

<http://www.o0o.it/mini/>

<http://www.ambor.com/public/meromswap/meromswap.html>

<http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20540&postdays=0&posto
rder=asc&start=0>

<http://www.hardmac.com/articles/68/>

<http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Device/Mac_mini_Model_A1176>

A suitable processor:

<http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230456703514>


Gwynne
--
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From: Rob on 8 Apr 2010 14:13
On 08/04/2010 12:30, Gwynne Harper wrote:
> zoara<me18(a)privacy.net> wrote:
>
>> Anyone had any experience upgrading a Mac mini CPU? I'm after boosting
>> my Core Solo 1.5GHz to a Core Duo with a bit more oomph.
>
> I was just about to do this when my Mini died. The links I'd found
> were:
>
> <http://www.o0o.it/mini/>
>
> <http://www.ambor.com/public/meromswap/meromswap.html>
>
> <http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20540&postdays=0&posto
> rder=asc&start=0>
>
> <http://www.hardmac.com/articles/68/>
>
> <http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Device/Mac_mini_Model_A1176>
>
> A suitable processor:
>
> <http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230456703514>
>
>
> Gwynne

I think I might give this a whirl so I can play HD on my Mini CoreDuo,
but only if I can get a cheapish (<�40) processor. In fact, looking at
ebay, it might be cheaper to get a laptop, swap the processors, and sell
the laptop. Life is possibly a little short for that tho ;-)
From: zoara on 11 Apr 2010 15:26
Colin Harper <colinharper(a)x.com.invalid> wrote:

> On Wed, 7 Apr 2010 12:44:13 +0100, zoara wrote
> (in article
> <1265557157292325509.798199me18-privacy.net(a)news.individual.net>):
>
> > Anyone had any experience upgrading a Mac mini CPU? I'm after boosting
> > my Core Solo 1.5GHz to a Core Duo with a bit more oomph.
[...]
> I upgraded a Core Duo 1.66 Mini to a faster Core2 Duo variant and even that
> made a big difference. Going from the Solo to a Core2 will be much more
> noticeable.
>
> It was quite a while back now. If I think back, the trickiest bit was the
> heat sink and thermal sensor on the CPU. If you've done the RAM in one
> though, or changed out any Core2 chip, it's hardly any more difficult.

Thanks - I think it might end up coming down to the price difference
between buying a CPU and buying a new(er) mini and selling this one
onwards.

If there's not much in it I'll probably just buy a whole new box -
particularly after the points that David made about longevity of support
for such a FrankenMac.

> I used a T5600. I don't know how available those are now, or if there's
> anything better you could use. eBay suggests 20-60 quid for one these days.
> That's a worthwhile upgrade, IMO.

Sounds like it'll be quite a bit cheaper than the box swap. Model number
noted for reference, ta.

-z-


--
"And the tiny universe compiles."
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From: zoara on 11 Apr 2010 15:26
Rob <patchoulianREMOVE(a)gmail.com> wrote:

> I think I might give this a whirl so I can play HD on my Mini CoreDuo,
> but only if I can get a cheapish (<£40) processor. In fact, looking at
> ebay, it might be cheaper to get a laptop, swap the processors, and
> sell the laptop. Life is possibly a little short for that tho ;-)
>

If you get around to this before me, let me know how it goes. I'll do
the same.

-z-

--
email: nettid1 at fastmail dot fm
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