First time poster here, looking forward to joining in on the community.
I’m looking to buy a new computer for rhino and at the moment i’m leaning towards a mac mini as it will suite my current tech set up.
so far it looks like it will run smoothly but i was a little worried with the intel iris graphics card.
i’m not a tech head and i can’t see anything in the forums or elsewhere online but if anyone could tell me i’m safe to go ahead or warn me off i’d be grateful to know.
Hard to say with certainty. Much will depend on the complexity of your models - both quantity of objects and complexity of individual objects.
For example, even with high end graphics hardware, I’ve seen multiple elements of complex geometry, with hundreds of rounded perforations per object, bog down a high end Mac enough to notice, though still totally usable. This is uncommon.
So again, depending on what you wind up doing, you may be just fine, and perhaps worse case you’ll notice a little slow down in display rotation performance under “your” stress test.
At what complexity a new Mini becomes unusable is harder to predict.
Thank you for your reply! This has been helpful I doubt I will be doing very complex models as I am a beginner. On the mac mini it uses an intel iris graphics card which is my concern as on the system requirements this is not one of the ones stated but it does only say the graphics cards are recommended, and unfortunately no one in the apple store could help me with this matter as no one there had ever used rhino. I don’t suppose you have any knowledge about this graphics card in relation to the software?
Gina the Mini will be fine for years to come. I am running Rhino on a 2009 iMac and it should see me at least a few more years service with the next OSX upgrade. I’m not a beginner, but I don’t do very complex models and take a break for rendering.
p.s
both machines running 8GB ram here, and usable on 4GB if your keeping costs down.
I’m with Bill on this, Gina. Don’t sweat it if a Mini is right for you. Bet you’ll be fine with the Iris. Just can’t guarantee it. Perhaps some else with this combo will chime in for you.
One thing to add…I assume you are seeking to save a buck by cobbling together a Mini with existing hardware? If not (or even if so), if you are still concerned about graphics, consider a 21" iMac w/nvidia. I’ve seen othrs try and build a Mini, add display, keyboard, mouse, webcam, etc…and the cost differential may not be worth the savings, IMO. Personal choice though, no right/wrong here. Suggest a minimum 16gb RAM in either Mac.