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majkom

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2011
1,853
1,150

24Frames

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 23, 2012
181
0
It's better than the Mac mini if you are living in a small space and noise is an issue.

You can hide it away, you don't need to see it.

Apple need to work harder at bringing down the noise levels, it is good to see others doing so.
 

majkom

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2011
1,853
1,150
It's better than the Mac mini if you are living in a small space and noise is an issue.

You can hide it away, you don't need to see it.

Apple need to work harder at bringing down the noise levels, it is good to see others doing so.

better for what exactly?:D
 

frabber

macrumors regular
Nov 28, 2008
119
8
I built my own from a minibox enclosure (i7 2600, 16GB, external esata SSD drive 128G) for far less.

but yeah mac mini is one sexy device.

now some company needs to come up with a watercooled case design this small.
watercooling allows for more efficient heat transfer plus keeps the noise down, i'd call that a win/win.
 

benwiggy

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2012
2,371
179
I've put my mini and external drives on a sheet of neoprene rubber. (Actually, a Draper Vibration mat, used for washing machines!)
It pretty much removes most of the noise, which would otherwise resound across my wooden desk.
 

24Frames

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 23, 2012
181
0
I've put my mini and external drives on a sheet of neoprene rubber. (Actually, a Draper Vibration mat, used for washing machines!)
It pretty much removes most of the noise, which would otherwise resound across my wooden desk.

Thanks, I I'll try that.
Don't get me wrong, I purchased a Mac mini 2.6GHz to use as a render node with 3D applications, such as Vue 11 Infinite and CINEMA 4D and I'm very pleased with it. It's a great little computer and does the job it was intended for perfectly. But it is noisy, and if I'd purchased it for music production say I'd be very disappointed.
 

fa8362

macrumors 68000
Jul 7, 2008
1,571
496
Thanks, I I'll try that.
Don't get me wrong, I purchased a Mac mini 2.6GHz to use as a render node with 3D applications, such as Vue 11 Infinite and CINEMA 4D and I'm very pleased with it. It's a great little computer and does the job it was intended for perfectly. But it is noisy, and if I'd purchased it for music production say I'd be very disappointed.

I do lots of heavy duty audio processing on my 2012 2.3 quad, and other than the hard drive, it doesn't make any noticeable sound.
 

24Frames

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 23, 2012
181
0
I do lots of heavy duty audio processing on my 2012 2.3 quad, and other than the hard drive, it doesn't make any noticeable sound.

You must have the volume level on your audio interface set at 11!

Seriously though you may not be pushing it hard enough for the fans to go up to full speed.

When rendering activity monitor shows 796% or so CPU usage continuously, and after a few minutes the fans go to full speed and it sounds like it is raining.
 

poloponies

Suspended
May 3, 2010
2,661
1,366
Do you know how many times a day I think about how noisy my Mac Minis are?


Zero.

Both are installed behind large flat screen TVs and I genuinely can't hear anything that I would consider to be disruptive fan noise.
 

xlii

macrumors 68000
Sep 19, 2006
1,867
121
Millis, Massachusetts
From the ars article you pointed to

"One of the drawbacks of completely passively cooled systems is that the CPUs reach their maximum temperature much faster than actively cooled systems. The CPU throttles down its performance as soon as the limits are reached. We proceeded to test out the thermal performance by loading up both the CPU and GPU with Prime 95 and Furmark. After hitting the thermal limits, the CPU speeds were throttled to 900 MHz."

The price you pay for passive cooling will have a cpu which should run at 3000 MHz being throttled down to 900 MHz.

You could achieve the same quiet results by disconnecting the mac mini's fan... but at a cost of cpu clock speed.
 

bjm2660

macrumors 6502
Jun 7, 2011
332
0
Virginia
Does anyone remember if Apple put the asymmetrical fans in the 2012 minis?

If not, how hard would this be to "DIY"?

----------

I think it's a nearly silent machine. I can't even hear it over the voices in my head.
 

blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
I don't know what you hear about your Mini. My G4 mini can be heard. The others..... A fluorescent tube light makes more noise. You can also glue it under the table.
 

southerndude39

macrumors member
Mar 17, 2012
63
54
My mini is about 3 feet away from me and I can't hear it even when the fan is ramped up while encoding a video. I don't get where the noise complaints come from. My ceiling fan makes more noise.
 

iMarvin

macrumors 6502
Sep 29, 2011
284
13
On the internet!
You must have the volume level on your audio interface set at 11!

Seriously though you may not be pushing it hard enough for the fans to go up to full speed.

When rendering activity monitor shows 796% or so CPU usage continuously, and after a few minutes the fans go to full speed and it sounds like it is raining.

Quick tip, remove the bottom panel and put the mini on it's side. It will lower the heat of the CPU and lower the fan speeds, but other components don't get the same cooling effect as with the cover on! Beware. :)
 

24Frames

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 23, 2012
181
0
My mini is about 3 feet away from me and I can't hear it even when the fan is ramped up while encoding a video. I don't get where the noise complaints come from. My ceiling fan makes more noise.

Some people are much more sensitive to noise than others.
I find the transformer hum from my audio interface and speakers slightly annoying.

There is also the matter of the room acoustics, some rooms are much more absorbent than others.
 

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,612
6,907
Anyone who thinks their Mini is silent hasn't tried transcoding videos in Handbrake. That app is fully threaded and will peg all cores at max for as long as it takes to do the job.
 

fa8362

macrumors 68000
Jul 7, 2008
1,571
496
Anyone who thinks their Mini is silent hasn't tried transcoding videos in Handbrake. That app is fully threaded and will peg all cores at max for as long as it takes to do the job.

I have no need for handbrake, so my Mini will remain silent.
 

misfit356tsw

macrumors regular
Oct 27, 2007
143
0
Some people are much more sensitive to noise than others.
I find the transformer hum from my audio interface and speakers slightly annoying.

There is also the matter of the room acoustics, some rooms are much more absorbent than others.

I have three children. The hum of my Mac Mini fan is like music to my ears. :D
 

blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
Anyone who thinks their Mini is silent hasn't tried transcoding videos in Handbrake. That app is fully threaded and will peg all cores at max for as long as it takes to do the job.

I did Cinema4D, also max threaded, and no problems with the sound. Virtually silent.
 
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