Has anyone attempting independent testing of Mac Mini 2012 Power Consumption?

[jpxdude]

Hi All

I was just wondering if anyone here has attempted to measure the power consumption of the latest Mac Mini (2012) in sleep, and at idle and load? I have already seen the PDF on Apple's website quoting the figures at sleep and idle, but I'd be interested to know what forum member results might be?

I am considering leaving my Mini on 24/7 and controlling it remotely when I'm away, but concerned about how electricity is being used. As a new father, my budget is tight, energy prices (in the UK, about 20p per kWh) are high, and I'm trying to do things on a shoe string budget, especially since I got the 2.6GHz i7 mid-range unit as a part-xmas gift, and keen to use it!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-J

[benwiggy]

No -- Presumably this would require some hardware meter to do this? (And don't forget the power of the monitor and other peripherals, though!)

You can of course schedule your Mac to shutdown and restart at specific times. This might be better than leaving it on all night.

[jpxdude]

Hi there

Thanks for the reply! I've seen tests done on older Mac Mini hardware from 2009 and 10 using hardware such as Watts Up: https://www.wattsupmeters.com/secure/products.php?pn=0

I was really just curious if anyone has done the same for the most recent hardware. As you have suggested, I have thought about doing the scheduled shut down and restart, but I'd personally like to have it on demand, especially when I'm away and really need access.

What is irksome is that OSX doesn't support proper WoL from power off only wake from sleep, but this would have really solved things for me.

[August West]

My 2012 Mini 2.6 i7, 16GB Ram & Samsung 840 Pro SSD draws 10W at idle/surfing etc. & 1W while sleeping.

[philipma1957]

It is late but I WILL set my kill-a-watt to it for you in the morning.

[jpxdude]

Originally Posted by philipma1957

It is late but I WILL set my kill-a-watt to it for you in the morning.

Thank you! I really appreciate your help

[slickadam]

2012 base model

Idle: ca. 12 watt
Heavy Load: ca. 24-28 watt
Sleep: ca. 3-4 watt

[53x12]

Originally Posted by August West

My 2012 Mini 2.6 i7, 16GB Ram & Samsung 840 Pro SSD draws 10W at idle/surfing etc. & 1W while sleeping.

Any idea how much under load? Like handbrake or rendering files.

[jpxdude]

Originally Posted by slickadam

2012 base model

Idle: ca. 12 watt
Heavy Load: ca. 24-28 watt
Sleep: ca. 3-4 watt

Thanks for providing these figures! Pardon my ignorance, but could you please tell me what the "ca" means by your figures? also where you've measured the wattage, over how long is this sustained?

Thanks again!

[53x12]

Originally Posted by jpxdude

Thanks for providing these figures! Pardon my ignorance, but could you please tell me what the "ca" means by your figures? also where you've measured the wattage, over how long is this sustained?

Thanks again!

ca = circa= about/approximate

[philipma1957]

My base 2012 mini pulls 12 watts on idle. one mod that of 8gb ram a pair of these 4gb sticks.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104257

the same mini pulls 13 watts with light net typing like this answer.


now if I run prime 95 which pushs the cpu a lot it pulls 26.9 watts running
if i run it with 1 thread out of 4. = 26.9 watts
if I run it with 2 threads out of 4 = 33.33 watts
if i run it with 3 threads out of 4 = 37.0 watts
if i max it to 4 threads out of 4 = 37 watts if i run the max prime 95 and toss in netflix

the machine is maxed watts are 40 and the mini will show watchable net flix in 1080p. while the cpu is maxed and the kill-a-watt read 40-41 watts.

no 2012 machine can do this just a base 2.5 mini it does run hot maxed look at the thumb nail.

so running the base mini is between 12 to 40 watts. and no one (a few I suppose) will run it at 40 watts. 24/7/365.

I do not sleep my mini just my monitor. But it will sleep under 2 watts.

[August West]

Originally Posted by 53x12

Any idea how much under load? Like handbrake or rendering files.

Sorry, I didn't check it under load and have since loaned my Kill-A-Watt to a coworker but it looks like philipma1957 has provided that info.

[jpxdude]

Originally Posted by philipma1957

My base 2012 mini pulls 12 watts on idle. one mod that of 8gb ram a pair of these 4gb sticks.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104257

the same mini pulls 13 watts with light net typing like this answer.


now if I run prime 95 which pushs the cpu a lot it pulls 26.9 watts running
if i run it with 1 thread out of 4. = 26.9 watts
if I run it with 2 threads out of 4 = 33.33 watts
if i run it with 3 threads out of 4 = 37.0 watts
if i max it to 4 threads out of 4 = 37 watts if i run the max prime 95 and toss in netflix

the machine is maxed watts are 40 and the mini will show watchable net flix in 1080p. while the cpu is maxed and the kill-a-watt read 40-41 watts.

no 2012 machine can do this just a base 2.5 mini it does run hot maxed look at the thumb nail.

so running the base mini is between 12 to 40 watts. and no one (a few I suppose) will run it at 40 watts. 24/7/365.

I do not sleep my mini just my monitor. But it will sleep under 2 watts.

Hi there!

I'm just replying to say thanks a lot for taking the time to run this test. I really appreciate it! I've decided to run the mini for about 12 - 14 hours sometimes headless with Teamviewer. I'm surprised how aggressively Apple have set the sleep behaviour for the Mini, which by default hibernates after 70 minutes!

After a little tinkering, I have managed to have it sleep and wake remotely for use without it switching into hibernate/deep sleep or dark wake/Power Nap state which is handy. Thanks again for all your help

[cocacolakid]

That's awesome, thanks to the people who tested this.

[53x12]

Originally Posted by slickadam

2012 base model

Idle: ca. 12 watt
Heavy Load: ca. 24-28 watt
Sleep: ca. 3-4 watt

Originally Posted by August West

My 2012 Mini 2.6 i7, 16GB Ram & Samsung 840 Pro SSD draws 10W at idle/surfing etc. & 1W while sleeping.

i5 and i7 seem to have similar power consumption.

-----------------i5------------i7
Idle------------12W--------10W
Heavy load----24-28W------???
Sleep----------3-4W---------1W

I can safely assume the i7 will draw more than 24-28W under heavy load, however it would complete the job quicker due to the processing power so probably use similar/less power overall while under heavy load and then go back to idle once job is done.