Mac Mini Server i7 2.0 Quad

[DJKeys]

I have been running my Quad core iMac i7 using 6 out of the 8 cores with no issues.

[John_Toolbox]

Hyperthreading does not need to be turned off. Been using my 2.8GHz i7 imac set to 7 processors in PT for almost a year without any issues.

Server OS is obviously use at your own risk if Avid doesn't support it, but it sounds like using the target disk mode trick and another mac you can downgrade to the client version of the OS without too much trouble.

[CalebB]

Originally Posted by John_Toolbox

Hyperthreading does not need to be turned off. Been using my 2.8GHz i7 imac set to 7 processors in PT for almost a year without any issues.

That's nice to hear about Hyperthreading. I am a little nervous about the server software and it is unfortunate for me that Pro Tools 9.0.5 is only beta for Lion right now, which means if I have a problem I won't be able to know for sure if it is a beta problem or an issue with server OS so best case scenario will be no problems even with beta or maybe Avid will release a fully supported version of Pro Tools 9 in the next two weeks?

[brandonstevens]

I can't wait to hear how this turns out for you. I was gonna order the same Mini server but I wanna hear some good reports of it working first..

[JaxMan]

Hey CalebB!...just wondering if you're having success with PT and the Mac Mini. I'm about to buy a new computer and that i7 mini looks like a little powerhouse. Any info you might have would be great....

[CalebB]

I thought I was going to have my computer by now but I was accidentally following the Fedex tracking for the printer that came with the Mac Mini Server thinking that was the computer tracking number...

So I will definitely keep everyone posted when it comes. It is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday the 21st, and I hope to get going right away (but I have 7 kids and homework too) but I realize that other people are waiting to hear so I will test as quickly as possible!!

[CalebB]

Regarding the question of hyperthreading on the i series processors, Avid wrote me an email to answer this and said that there are no issues with hyperthreading though of course Lion OS is still in beta so when it is fully supported this will not be an issue. (Not implying that it is an issue right now).

(Which makes sense if you can't turn hyperthreading off with Lion).

[CalebB]

Good news. I got my Mac Mini Server i7 Quad (mid 2011) today (early), installed Pro Tools 9.0.5 along with my most used plugs and VIs and...it works amazingly!

I had 6 Auto-Tune Evo's and strike and structure, probably 40 more plugs and maybe 28 tracks. I brought the hardware buffer size all the way down to 32 with all these tracks and plugs and the CPU handled it perfectly (maybe around 32% at 32 Buffer).

I recorded 8 tracks of nothing (through the 003R) at hardware buffer size of 128 and it didn't even seem to increase the CPU usage. I am so happy to be recording to an internal drive again (after being on a 13" MBP 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo going to a firewire 400 drive).

So I have had no problems with using server software, but I did disable all server features. If you buy this computer you might want to call Enterprise Apple Server Support when you setup your Mac Mini Server and tell them that you want to disable all server features. (I would actually like having a home server but I don't want to jeopardize the stability of PT9 in anyway).

So to sum up, the Mac Mini Server is working fine BUT I have only tried it for a few hours and Pro Tools does not officially support server computers so try at your own risk.

[theom]

Thanks for the update.
Are you using one or 2 monitors?

[CalebB]

Just one monitor. I used the Thunderbolt (as an apple display to HDMI) but now I am using HDMI straight into a 28" 1080 HG Hanns-G.

I've been using this setup for several hours and it is simply incredible compared to my 2.4 GHz 13" 5400 RPM MacBook Pro. The CPU is not phased at all and the disk usage has gone down to 3% (approx). I am very pleased with the performance in Pro Tools and all around. I don't even have an SSD, just two 7200 SATA drives, which I upgraded to 750 GB each.