late 2011 mac mini cooling

[chas337]

i was wondering would it hurt to remove the bottom cover on my mac mini and maybe stick a fan over it it gets to 80c when im gaming thanks

chas

[Darby67]

Other than the potential increase in dust, probably not. Quite a few posts on this site and many others for those that feel the computer needs modifications (drilling holes in base, removing base and replacing with filter, mini on side, etc).

[chas337]

i was thinking about protecting it with a mesh will this affect the airflow around it eg stoping air from getting to vital parts ?

[helios16v]

No, the bottom of the Mac mini has no ventalation to it, the fan in the Mac mini is simply a blower to blow air out of the Mac mini across the pipe heatsink to help it cool down.

Your best bet for cooling would be to set up some kind of push pull fan system (one fan blowing in, one fan blowing out) on the bottom of the Mac mini, I was always thinking of doing this with a stand of some kind but I got rid of my Mac mini recently and never ended up modding it. Kinda wish I did, I really liked that super compact design.

Your best cooling options on the cheap is to stand the Mac mini up on it's side and remove the bottom black cover and just run it like that. You'll get the best cooling like that for no money at all. It may increase the dust intake but I never had a problem with mine. Ran it like that for almost a year and it still looks new inside.

[Sleepy01]

Hmmm, I am running Seti at Home on mine 100% CPU and GPU usage 24/7. The fan is at full but it is staying below 93C. The late 2011 mini's do seem to run a little hotter than the previous generations.

[ssls6]

Originally Posted by Sleepy01

Hmmm, I am running Seti at Home on mine 100% CPU and GPU usage 24/7. The fan is at full but it is staying below 93C. The late 2011 mini's do seem to run a little hotter than the previous generations.

You kill it at 93C, I hope you mean F.

[philipma1957]

Originally Posted by ssls6

You kill it at 93C, I hope you mean F.

It can run at 93c. it is specced for 100c.

[ssls6]

Originally Posted by philipma1957

It can run at 93c. it is specced for 100c.

What is spec'd at 100C? A silicon chip's lifetime drops by half for ever 10 degrees C. Most are spec'd at 65C, some 70C, at the high end 75C. Accelerated lifetesting is done at 85C for 2000 hours. I'm really curious, what is spec'd at 100C?

The box is spec'd like this
Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
Storage temperature: -40° to 116° F (-40° to 47° C)

[Darby67]

Originally Posted by ssls6

What is spec'd at 100C? A silicon chip's lifetime drops by half for ever 10 degrees C. Most are spec'd at 65C, some 70C, at the high end 75C. Accelerated lifetesting is done at 85C for 2000 hours. I'm really curious, what is spec'd at 100C?

The box is spec'd like this
Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
Storage temperature: -40° to 116° F (-40° to 47° C)

Phil is correct. The temps you are quoting are ambient. 93°C although probably not ideal for long days on end, is well within correct operating spec.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by chas337

i was wondering would it hurt to remove the bottom cover on my mac mini and maybe stick a fan over it it gets to 80c when im gaming thanks

If you're not already doing so, use iStat Pro (free) or iStat Menus ($16) to get accurate readings of your temps, fan speeds, etc., rather than relying on your sense of touch or sound. A forum member has posted a copy of iStat Pro that has been "tweaked" to enhance compatibility with Mountain Lion. You can download it here.

The Intel processors used in Macs are designed to automatically shut down to prevent damage if they truly overheat. CPU Tjmax = 105C (221F), GPU Tjmax = 100C (212F) on i3, i5, i7 processors. (Source: Intel)

Unless there is a rare defect in a Mac, most temps are well within the normal operating range, considering the workload being put on it. Websites with Flash content, games and other multimedia apps will put higher demand on the CPU/GPU, generating more heat. This is normal. If you're constantly putting high demands on your system, such as gaming or other multimedia tasks, expect temps to rise and fans to spin up accordingly. It's just your Mac doing its job to maintain temps within the normal range.

It is also quite normal for your Mac to become extremely hot to the touch during intensive operations. The aluminum body transfers heat more effectively than other materials used in computer casings, so you will feel the heat more. This doesn't indicate that it's overheating and will not harm the computer to be hot to the touch.

Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning at a minimum of 2000 rpm (for MBPs) or 1800 rpm (for MBAs, MBs and minis). iMacs have 3 fans with minimum speeds in the 800-1200 range. They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level.

If your fans are spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC.
(PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with these issues, so resetting it will not help.)

The intake and exhaust vents are in the back of the computer near the hinge on all Mac notebooks (except the new MBP with retina display, which has intake vents along the sides at the bottom). The iMac vent is a slot on the back near the top of the computer. Make sure the vents remain unblocked to allow your computer to perform at its best.

Learn about the fans in your Mac
Apple Portables: Operating temperature

For Flash-related issues:

• Find your Flash version and make sure it's the latest version available.
• Install ClickToFlash (Safari), Flashblock (Firefox) or FlashBlock (Chrome) to control which Flash content plays on websites.
• Use the YouTube HTML5 Video Player to watch YouTube videos, when available. (May impact fullscreen viewing. See link for details.)

[ssls6]

Originally Posted by Darby67

Phil is correct. The temps you are quoting are ambient. 93°C although probably not ideal for long days on end, is well within correct operating spec.

That is why I called it "box" specs and not "chip" specs. I had no idea they would design box that ran a processor at 100C.

This is the specs on one of their i3770 i7's. The "chip" spec is 70C.
http://ark.intel.com/products/65525/...up-to-3_70-GHz

[Dadioh]

Originally Posted by ssls6

That is why I called it "box" specs and not "chip" specs. I had no idea they would design box that ran a processor at 100C.

This is the specs on one of their i3770 i7's. The "chip" spec is 70C.
http://ark.intel.com/products/65525/...up-to-3_70-GHz

That is the Case temperature (Tc) which is the top of the heat spreader. The temperatures being discussed are the Junction Temperature (Tj) and the Max Tj before the processor starts to throttle itself is usually around 100C to 105C. Junction temperature is hotter than Case temperature since there are thermal boundaries to go through before you get from junction to case. Usually calculated by thermal resistance theta jc (degC/Watt) X power (Watt).

Although you "could" run a CPU at Tj of 93C for an extended period I personally would not. That's why I intentionally bump of the fan speeds on my iMac to about 1600rpm to keep my i7 nice and cool. Little more noise but better long term reliability.

[somecallmesum]

my mini is case open and upside down for the last year

works nicely...

there are some apps that will adjust your fan speed and threshold, beware having multiple of these apps may cause preferences to argue.

[Sleepy01]

Originally Posted by ssls6

You kill it at 93C, I hope you mean F.

Nope I mean C. It's fine. It should be able to run at this temp for a decade 24/7.

[blanka]

Originally Posted by ssls6

I'm really curious, what is spec'd at 100C?

The box is spec'd like this
Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
Storage temperature: -40° to 116° F (-40° to 47° C)

That is the ambient room conditions!
The chip itself can run at up to 100°C without much problems. 80°C is peanuts for a processor, and nothing to worry about.