$499 1.83 Mac mini refurbs are back

[deckeda]

Just ordered one but decided against a potentially free-after-rebate printer they are also offering. Now I need to get some RAM for it. And a USB hub. And another external HD.

[deckeda]

OK --- Apple says it'll hold 2GB, this page at OWC: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple-Intel-DDR2 says up to 3GB, but this page: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini/ (and resulting RAM page http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/mac_mini/intel) says 4GB is recognized.

[deckeda]

OK, I re-read some other pages and think I figured it out. Summary: 4GB might help put a little lipstick on the GMA950 sow's kisser for some increased vid game frame rates but that's about it. It sees 4GB but can only address 3GB; the Halo frame-rate increase mentioned below is because matched pairs benefit that.

This thread seems to parse it out: http://forums.macnn.com/58/imac-emac-and...mini-core/

The quote below is referencing the Halo test from the OWC site:

The C2D Mac mini in the Halo test on that page performed 16% better with 4GB matched vs. 3 GB unmatched. On non-graphics benchmarks the difference was a whole lot less and, taking into account the measurement uncertainty, can be considered negligible.

I think this is pretty much consistent with previous advice: Going for 4GB instead of 3GB which you can actually address on these systems only makes sense if you have money to spend and are worried about getting every last fps increase you can. Somebody trying to get the Mac mini's overall performance up in everyday tasks like web, email, Office will not see a benefit when upgrading from 3GB to 4GB of RAM.

Also note that CS3 performance for the C2D Mac mini increases for 1GB->3GB, but there's nothing for 3GB->4GB. Again that illustrates what CS3 really depends on: Having a fast CPU and enough RAM. OTOH raw graphics performance is pretty irrelevant in CS3.

[hal]

Shame on you larry

yes, these machines will tell you that you have installed 4GB, but they will only be able to use 3.3GB...

no disclaimer anywhere on that page... BAD!