On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 9:59 AM, Cara Vaughan <c.vaug...@mail.cryst.bbk.ac.uk> wrote: > I've seen from the archive that some people do use the Mac Mini for > crystallography and I've got two questions: > 1. Do I need the Quad core or is a Dual core processor enough?
You can survive with the dual, but I would definitely spring for the quad if you can afford it - but I suppose it depends on how you work. I like to run multiple of jobs at once if possible, and still have a core left for the web browser, etc. Some programs will also take advantage of multiple processors, for that matter. I would definitely recommend maxing out the memory, but don't buy it from Apple - we were able to get 16GB from CDW for less than $100. > 2. Is the intergrated Intel HD graphics card OK for crystallography > requirements? It depends on your requirements, but I've been using Coot and PyMOL frequently on a MacBook Air for the last year, and usually the graphics chip (also Intel HD) isn't the bottleneck. -Nat
