Graphics cards in the Mac mini?

I'm thinking of upgrading my computer soon. Since I'm currently using a 2005 model Mini, pretty much anything will be an improvement. Even the 2005 Mini does just fine for everything except SL, though, so I'm not spending any more money than what's already in my SL self-indulgence fund. And that will get a new Mini, but nothing fancier.

Even the new Mini will be a big improvement on the old one, and it does meet the Recommended system requirements in every area except one -- the graphics card. I can't tell whether it meets the graphics requirements or not.

The specs say it comes with an "Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory", with a footnote that "Memory available to Mac OS X may vary depending on graphics needs. Minimum graphics memory usage is 80MB, resulting in 944MB of system memory available."

I've never been really up with the hardware side anyway, but at least I can tell that GobbledyGook 500 is better than GobbledyGook 200, and that I should expect to see an ATI or NVIDIA or Radeon somewhere in the gobbledygook. I've never even heard of GMA before, and the SL system requirements don't mention anything like it for Macs. They do say, in a footnore, that "Intel chipsets less than a 945 including Intel Extreme" are NOT compatible. I'm guessing that means a GMA 950 is compatible (barely), but I don't want to spend money on a guess.

So what is this GMA 950? Is it compatible or not? Or is it compatible for now but probably won't be once Windlight is incorporated in the main client? If it works, will it do so only with so much struggle that it will negate the other improvements? What on earth should I make of this "sharing graphics memory with main memory" thing?

Thanks for any help.

Don't buy a new mini just for SL. It will run SL, and probably better than your old mini, but it still ain't up to the task. Unfortunately Apple doesn't have any mid-range desktop computers other than the iMac, and if you already have a perfectly good monitor an iMac seems pretty expensive.

Join the chorus of people who wish Apple would release an affordable machine into which you can put a real video card.

It's marginally compatible with SL, but forget about high frame rates or fancy features like Windlight. Not enough VRAM, and generally it's an unsupported card. I wouldn't expect more than 10 to 15 FPS with that setup, at best. A Mac Mini also can NOT be upgraded to better viideo, short of buying a new computer.

That said, I lived in SL for 2 years with the original Mac Mini, which was even worse, having only 32 MB of VRAM. I had crappy frame rates (usually far less than 10 FPS) and couldn't hope to see Windlight effects. Yet I enjoy many friendships here and built several profitable businesses.

You'll be far happier with SL if you spend a little more and get an iMac.

I agree with what's been said. You're better persevering with what you have and saving up a bit more for an iMac or MacBook Pro, whichever you'll find more useful in addition to using SL.
If you haven't tried the firstlook (Windlight) viewer yet then I recommend you do, it might make the experience on your current mini a little more bearable, just turn off all the Windlight features (or set graphics to "Low" on the slider if you don't want to fiddle with settings) and your viewer will look basically the same as before, but will run a bit faster.

Actually, I'm pretty sure the one I have now is the same one you used to have. It really hasn't done too badly given that I never intended to be using it this long, but yeah, it leaves a lot of what's supposed to make SL great out of reach. And unfortunately, the discretionary fund is what it is and isn't getting any bigger until this time next year.

I'm hearing contradictory things about Windlight in different places, some people saying it improves things for low-end machines, some saying they can't handle it, some saying it crashes any Mac these days. That's my main concern about the new Mini; if it's only marginally compatible (it can't possibly be worse than the old one, right?), will it become incompatible when they incorporate Windlight into the main viewer?

The newer Mini, or even the old one, won't be 'incompatable' with Windlight. You'll still be able to get in-world. It just won't see much of the pretty stuff that is supposed to make Windlight worthwhile.

My Intel PC has a very similar integrared graphics card to the newer Mini. It has an Intel Integrated 845G video controller, with 64 MB VRAM. (I added a used 128 MB Nvidia GeForce ti 4400 card later, and got faster frame rates but still no Windlight pretty stuff).

That card can run SL, and was getting about 10 FPS is a decently lag-free area.

I didn't see much improvement in performance using Windlight, but I didn't play much with turning the graphics settings way down on it. I just verified that I couldn't see the pretty skies and water, and went back to the normal client.
A friend of mine got the 20" iMac, and loves it. In my opinion, the newer Minu doesn't gain you enough over your existing Mini to be worth bothering with. Save up for the iMac.

Or... grit your teeth and get a PC clone and Win XP, because for playing SL, you can get a fairly decent PC system for about the same price as that new Mini, and with far better video card options and upgradability later.

Try it and see!
http://secondlife.com/community/firstlook.php

I doubt it'll be incompatible, and the people who are suffering the worse are MacBook Pro users running Leopard and (I think) a particular graphics card, which unfortunately is the most common MacBook Pro configuration, but that's being resolved as it's too major for them to release without fixing it.

But yeah, just download the Windlight/Firstlook viewer and have a go, it doesn't remove the regular viewer, or over-write its settings, just open it up, flick through the settings to reduce graphics detail and set anything else back to how you usually have it and then give it a go! On my machine I see around twice the frame-rate I had before with all Windlight features switched off, and an average +5 frames-per-second with all Windlight features on (but with detail still relatively low), that is, I get around 5 fps more than I did before even with Windlight stuff ON! But I'm running a PowerMac G5 with a 256mb card, so you'll likely get different results.
My main though on the Mini is that due to the low amount and slower speed of shared memory for video, you will want to turn off "Avatar Impostors" as they take up more memory so will reduce performance in your case.

An iMac is a good choice if you like the monitor and hardware all in one place. I love mine.

If you need the Mac Mini kind of format (separate small box and monitor) then Apple does not offer much help at the low cost end.

My personal minimal standard is ATI 1600 or better, or nvidia 7600 or better. However, as this is 2008, it is probably time to bump those numbers up. My iMac is an ATI 2600, and nvidia cards are in the 8xxx range and higher. Even 3xxx is 9xxx are around now, I think.

Also, remember that your network connection can also be an issue. Investigate whether a higher monthly fee to your ISP might spped you up.

lee