storing 600 unsigned int values in an array and find minimum and maximum values
The Atmega 2560 has 8K of static ram, more than enough for your 1200-byte array.
Reading-, and especially, writing EEPROM are very slow, and EEPROM has a rather limited lifetime-number-of-write-cycles, so it is not a good candidate for active use but rather for storing data that change infrequently and need to survive a power-down. These would typically per-system preferences, or data that needs to be stored to let the system resume at the next power-up, where it had left off when the power went down. This latter function requires that the system store enough power (capacitor or tiny battery) to keep it running long enough to sense the main power failing and still have run-time enough to write to EEPROM.