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CPU temperature new minis
- Thread starter C64
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The Intel processors used in Macs are designed to automatically shut down to prevent damage if they truly overheat (around 100C/212F - 105C/221F, depending on your processor). Unless that's happening, you don't need to worry about temperatures.
an idle of 70° is pretty hot... I'm not familiar with how Minis usually are, though. laptops usually doesn't go past 60° idle. is it in a well-ventilated area? and not sitting on carpet or something...
just because the chip isn't shutting off doesn't mean everything is perfect. heat is stress. stress affects component life, and there's more in a computer than just a CPU chip.
just because the chip isn't shutting off doesn't mean everything is perfect. heat is stress. stress affects component life, and there's more in a computer than just a CPU chip.
You're assuming "idle" means "idle." In most cases, when someone says their computer is at idle, there are many widgets and processes still running, even if they don't have any apps open. Without looking at Activity Monitor, it's impossible to tell if it's truly at idle.
The CPU/GPU are always the hottest components, so they will shut down before other components reach such extreme temps.
that's possible, though I doubt that's the true in "most cases."
the CPU and GPU don't exist in a vacuum, nor are they immune to the effects of thermal stress. if they can run at the edge of their thermal envelopes all day (these are consumer chips, not server chips), which is quite a bit higher than what they actually do, why should anyone bother with thermal design?
No one is talking about running "at the edge of their thermal envelopes all day." The temps in question are far from the limits of the design. While the "idle" temp seems a bit high, there's no way to know if it's truly at idle or what the ambient temperature is. The temps reported under load are quite normal for Macs.
Would be very interested to hear other users' temps. Planning on picking the new mini up, but I already have concerns about my iMac's temps (twice repaired due to hard drive deaths -- heat related? Maybe).
what makes you say that? heat (50c+) does not do well for a spinning disk life.
Most drives fail for reasons other than heat. While a drive may get hot during periods of extreme activity, they're usually much cooler than most other components.
Actually, if you do a search around this forum, you'll see a lot of people with aluminum iMacs experiencing HDD temperatures above 50C, many at idle.
That's awfully close to manufacturer-stated safe operating temps of 60C. Maybe I've been lucky, but in about 25 years of having home computers with hard drives (the first one -- a 4MB monster -- had to be "parked"), I've had four hard drive failures -- two of those in my iMac (and one in my first-gen MacBook). I guess that could be a shift in my fortunes, or an issue with the environment inside the iMac.
That's awfully close to manufacturer-stated safe operating temps of 60C. Maybe I've been lucky, but in about 25 years of having home computers with hard drives (the first one -- a 4MB monster -- had to be "parked"), I've had four hard drive failures -- two of those in my iMac (and one in my first-gen MacBook). I guess that could be a shift in my fortunes, or an issue with the environment inside the iMac.
Idles in low 70s
I just got my mini a couple of days ago and immediately replaced the hard drive with one that runs Linux and can monitor the temperature and all of the processes.
With the machine as idle as it can be (CPU utilization under 2%) it idles at 70C-72C .
When I start playing HD video, it goes up as high as 85C-86C but then it is stable so I'm not too worried about it.
The fan runs at around 1800 RPM when idle (the sensor reports that this is the minimum speed) and it doesn't seem to go much higher under load.
I just got my mini a couple of days ago and immediately replaced the hard drive with one that runs Linux and can monitor the temperature and all of the processes.
With the machine as idle as it can be (CPU utilization under 2%) it idles at 70C-72C .
When I start playing HD video, it goes up as high as 85C-86C but then it is stable so I'm not too worried about it.
The fan runs at around 1800 RPM when idle (the sensor reports that this is the minimum speed) and it doesn't seem to go much higher under load.
2011 Mac Mini temperatures
I also just received my mac mini (2.5 Ghz i5) and have noticed some higher than normal temps. When it's completely idle, no running applications other than OS/services, I see about 60-65. Actively using the pc, I usually see it idle around 74. Watching a HD video on the machine bumps it to 80-85.
Now, where I've been rather nervous about the machine is when it's under heavy load . While playing TF2 or StarCraft, at high to medium graphic settings, I've seen core temps bump up to 92-95 with the back fan running at about 4650 rpm. Has anyone else seen temperatures near these numbers while putting the system under heavy load?
I also just received my mac mini (2.5 Ghz i5) and have noticed some higher than normal temps. When it's completely idle, no running applications other than OS/services, I see about 60-65. Actively using the pc, I usually see it idle around 74. Watching a HD video on the machine bumps it to 80-85.
Now, where I've been rather nervous about the machine is when it's under heavy load . While playing TF2 or StarCraft, at high to medium graphic settings, I've seen core temps bump up to 92-95 with the back fan running at about 4650 rpm. Has anyone else seen temperatures near these numbers while putting the system under heavy load?
mini server idle (base fan speed 2300rpm):
![lRlai.jpg]()
mini server high cpu utilization:
![hnx3V.jpg]()
i suggest using fan control to cool faster than apple's default fan settings. less internal heat will lower the risk of logic board and gpu failures after your warranty period ends.
mini server high cpu utilization:
i suggest using fan control to cool faster than apple's default fan settings. less internal heat will lower the risk of logic board and gpu failures after your warranty period ends.
I dont find the these temps acceptable personally. I've installed fan control and have the lower threshold set to 2500rpm and have it scale from there. I'm much more inclined to replace a HSF than a mini logic board. Call me paranoid but I'd much rather err on the side of caution. 
here's another shot of temps on the server during typical use for me. about a dozen apps open (firefox, postbox, reeder, vlc, skype, bbedit, etc.), but nothing cpu heavy:
![0Wutr.jpg]()
and here's a poweruser tip:
put your mini upside down, so cool air flows in freely from the top.
and here's a poweruser tip:
put your mini upside down, so cool air flows in freely from the top.