Mac Mini

I bought a Mac Mini¹ at the beginning of October 2020. I got the higher end model and bumped the processor to the 3.2GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i7, but everything else base – 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD.

I have often used Norse Mythology as a naming scheme for computers, although I’m also currently using a Pokemon theme for portable devices. This current Mac Mini is named Utgard.²

The rest of my home desktop setup:

• 32GB of RAM ordered from OWC; the saga of the screwdrivers means that I didn’t complete installation until Feb 2021
• eGPUeGPU
  External GPU for computers that can’t have full size video cards installed internally, like a [[Mac Mini]] or a laptop. Usually connected over Thunderbolt 3.
  
  eGPU.io Community and Review site https://egpu.io/
  eGPU.io Buyers Guide: https://egpu.io/best-egpu-buyers-guide/ (updated all the time, loads super slow)
  Apple support doc1 on eGPU support: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208544
  Razer https://www.razer.com/ca-en/gaming-egpus/Razer-Core-X/RC21-01310100-R3U1
  Blackmagic eGPU [[Blackmagic... enclosure from Razer, with an AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics card with 8GB RAM
• Asus VG289Q MonitorAsus VG289Q Monitor
  ASUS 28” 4K Monitor. Bought it at Best Buy:
  
  Asus Canada https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Monitors/TUF-GAMING-VG289Q/
  Manual https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/LCD%20Monitors/VG289Q/ASUS_VG289Q_English.pdf
  
  28” 4K monitor
• Logitech M535 Bluetooth mouse
• HyperX membrane keyboard: quieter, full size, and permanently wired, so my Royal Kludge becomes my wireless / portable keyboard. Don’t worry, it still has rainbow backlighting!
• 2TB NVMe drive in an external enclosure, researched originally Nov 14th, 2020, purchased and installed Nov 24th, 2020
• OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dock with 2x 2TB SSD drives (installed February 9th, 2021); the fan is very loud, so unplugged for now?
• Webcam, detailed Nov 7th, 2020, along with eGPU purchase
• Yeti Blue USB Microphone, which I also plug my Sennheiser Headset into

To research:

• Wired headphones and digital amp
• Wrist rest? I have to get the position / height of my hands, the desk, and keyboard set correctly
• Kneeling chair? The office chair is pretty good, but I’m spending a LOT of time in this room