Mac Mini 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 Vs Mac Mini 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7

I have a friend that wants me to edit part of a documentary that he is editing and he have all the media (more than 1 Tera) in Thunderbolt drive and my Mac Pro don't have Thunderbolt, so he want to purchase a Mac Mini so I can connect the Thunderbolt and do the editing. 80% of the material is SD and 20% is 1080p.
There are 2 Mac Mini option the 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 ($599) and Mac Mini 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 ($799).
Do you think that Mac Mini 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 ($599) will work fine to make this documentary or should he go with Mac Mini 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 ($799).

Any recommendation will be very appreciated.

Ricky Dominguez

Don't quote me on this but i believe maxxing out the RAM rather than getting the processor would make the mac mini run better on FCPX. I believe a quad core will improve some stuff, like rendering and exporting....but i think during the editing process it wouldn't be worth the money to upgrade the processor and your money would be better spent on maxxing out the RAM.

My MacMini only has 1 thunderbolt port which unfortunately also doubles as the display port, so unless your thunderbolt system has a 'through' port somewhere, you get to choose your drive OR your monitor, but not both.

Do the latest Mac Minis have more TBolt ports?

I guess you could edit using the HDMI port….. but that doesn't drive my hi-res monitors.

OTOH, if you have a good network connection, I've edited footage on my MacPro that's stored on a drive connected to the MacMini (i.e. over the network), so you have that option too….. i.e. use the MacMini as network drive, which would allow for the cheaper model

If I had to edit on the Mac Mini (which I occasionally do) I'd go for the i7 every time.

GPUs will matter more than CPU or RAMm but you have to balance them all out for a good system.