The simple fact that the fan has been modified indicates that the 2011 models are running too hot. This is also confirmed by the higher number of logic board failures in the 2011 model (especially the mid model).
I just wonder if the 2012 fan has the same mounting layout and can be retrofitted to the 2010 and 2011 models and in that way improve the cooling performance of those models.
The Intel NUC was rumored to be released in October but have not seen it yet - I wonder if they have heat issues and what temperatures they'll be measuring. Habey has announced a fanless Ivy bridge computer.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/...Like_Fanless_Quad_Core_Personal_Computer.html
How do you know that the Mac Mini has a different fan than the previous versons? Source?
This thread is confusing me.
A lot of people talk about "throttling"--can you explain what you mean here? Do you mean the turbo boost decreases due to temperature? This seems like it would be almost imperceptible since when all four cores are loaded the amount the CPU can turbo boost is usually very small.
Throttling just means that the CPU speed wil lower with a big amount.
For example. A intel Pentium G860 (Sandy Bridge) Would downclock from 3ghz to 1.6ghz to save itself from overheating. So you have less performance.
I suppose it's possible for the OS to change its process scheduling algorithm to eliminate the load on one or more cores depending on CPU temperature but I think it's extremely unlikely.
From your previous posts I infer that your "test" is running Handbrake, which is not designed to load the CPU to 100%, it's designed to encode video. At times it may use most (or all) of the CPU but at other times it doesn't. Certainly Handbrake doesn't use 100% of the CPU all the time on my own computer, which is definitely not thermally constrained.
If you really want to stress test your CPU I would suggest using software that's well understood to max out CPU usage, e.g., Prime95:
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/
The more I think about this, the less likely I think it is that the Mini (or any Apple product) relies on the OS X process scheduler to keep it from overheating. You can run other operating systems on these computers (Windows, anyway) and certainly Windows is not designed to keep an Apple Mac Mini from overheating.
You might have seen Prime95 use less CPU after the temps went up but there must be another explanation. Are you looking at total CPU usage (i.e., green and red boxes) or just the Prime95 percentage? Because maybe the CPU was being shared with the OS or some other software.
OK, ran it for 15 minutes. 8 threads. No problems at all.
Temp stable at around 98-100ºC (208-212ºF). No CPU throttle, all time at 100%. Fans at 5500rpm all the time. Incredibly loud, sooo noisy.
Ran Torture Test just for CPU. The way I used to when overclocking windows based machines.
How could i be so stupid for not seeing that!
It was never throttling. 80% just means it is using 80% of the cpu time/power. If you was using prime/cputest the cpu would be 100% because that is what is was designed to do. If for example your CPU would indeed throttle, the speed would lower for example to 1.4ghz, but prime/cputest would still use 100% of the cpu time/power.
If the cpu is at 2,3ghz, 2,6ghz or for example the throttlingspeed of 1.4ghz, cputest/prime would still use 100% cpu time/power. 100% just means to use all the processor processing speed. That can be at every speed. Doesn't matter if it is at 2.3 ghz or for example the throttling speed of 1.4ghz.
It was never throttling just handbrake acting "weird"
Is there no program to real-time monitor the mhz/ghz on your cpu on osx? that way you could be sure if it is throttling or not. Edit i found it. MSR tools. Link> http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110416003600AAN7vW7
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