this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Ok, let's put together a mini PC with a ryzen 9700X for under $600. What case, power supply, motherboard, RAM, and SSD are we gonna get? How's it compare on power, sound, form factor?

It's an apples to oranges comparison, and at a certain point you're comparing different things.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
  • Case/mothedboard: minisforum ms-a1
  • Power supply: external
  • Ram: ddr5l (sold separately)
  • ssd: pcie gen 5
  • power: slightly worse single core performance (can be overclocked) slightly better multi core performance (with a better AM5 CPU)

My point isnt that Apple sucks and nobody should ever buy it, my point is that you're paying an Apple premium for a fully assembled computer. That premium is greater over time since you cannot upgrade it, meanwhile every part of the minisforum ms-a1 can be. Its convenience and a premium product vs freedom and upgradability. I cannot say that every person does or should value freedom but I do and thats my opinion.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

So with the case/mobo/power supply at $259, the CPU/GPU at $329, you've got $11 left to work with to buy RAM and SSD, in order to be competitive with the base model Mac Mini.

That's what I mean. If you're gonna come close to competing with the entry level price of the Mac Mini (to say nothing of frequent sales/offers/coupons that Best Buy, Amazon, B&H, and Costco run), you'll have to sacrifice and use a significantly lower-tier CPU. Maybe you'd rather have more RAM/storage and are OK with that lower performing CPU, and twice the power consumption (around 65W rather than 30W), but at that point you're basically comparing a different machine.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

You're comparing entry level when the preformace (and price) is more comparable to the M4 Pro. I agree the entry level model cant be beaten on price but the higher model isnt a good value.