Mac mini 2.5GHz i5 Heat/Fan Issues

[AJ-X]

Hi, I got the new Mac mini last Thursday and I have found that it runs very hot. I have installed the iStat Pro widget and it reports temperatures of 60-65C for the CPU (idle) and I have seen it increase up to 90C! (that was when watching a 1080p YouTube video fullscreen, but no other applications were running). It seems to heat up so quickly while the CPU is only being used as little as 5%.

I think one of the issues is that the fans don't increase the RPMs soon enough. The fans slowest speed is 1800RPM and it stays at that speed constantly and the CPU just keeps creeping up and up, instead of the fans increasing to bring the temperature down. The only time the fan has increased its speed was when the CPU reached 90C. Surely the fans are supposed to increase before the temperature reach these levels? I had a 2010 Mac mini and I could watch HD YouTube videos for hours without the thing even getting warm.

If any of you guys have one of the new Mac minis could you please let me know how yours is working? What temperatures are you getting? Are the fans increasing the speed?

I would greatly appreciate some help.

Thanks

 

[GGJstudios]

Your Mac is not overheating. 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 there is a rare defect in your Mac, your temps are well within the normal operating range, considering the workload you're putting 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.

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). They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. Temps must be sustained at a high enough level before the fans will spin faster. Your Mac knows how to keep temps within the normal operating range.

 

[AJ-X]

Thanks for your input.

The thing is though watching a HD movie with no other applications open, it should not (in my opinion) make the CPU heat up to 90C - only 10C from overheating. The top of case gets so hot that it feels like it will burn your finger, and as I said before this did not happen with my 2010 Mac mini and that was of much lower specification (2.4GHz C2D / 320M). The fan RPM never increases until the temperature reaches what I would consider quite extreme levels.

Anybody with the same issues?

 

[toss002]

I have the basic.

I also notice that when I stream like Hulu full screen, or watch YouTube full screen, it heats up more than any other task or operation. Once, finished watching, it chills down.

 

[deuce sluice]

The behavior you're describing is exactly what I'm seeing on my 2.5 i5 mini. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[AJ-X]

I have tried SMC Fan Control and it does bring the temperature down pretty quickly, however, I should not have to manually set the fan RPM to cool down a new computer.

deuce sluice - do your fans speed up at all? My fans just let the mini get very hot before they do anything.

 

[lilsoccakid74]

Thanks for your input.

The thing is though watching a HD movie with no other applications open, it should not (in my opinion) make the CPU heat up to 90C - only 10C from overheating. The top of case gets so hot that it feels like it will burn your finger, and as I said before this did not happen with my 2010 Mac mini and that was of much lower specification (2.4GHz C2D / 320M). The fan RPM never increases until the temperature reaches what I would consider quite extreme levels.

Anybody with the same issues?

I have done a lot of research on this topic. It seems (to me) that mac minis are designed to run hotter than average. I do not think that this will damage your hardware. On the other hand, just with any other electronic component, keeping it cooler in the long run can increase the products longevity. I personally run smc fan control on my 2009 mac mini (soon to be 2.5 i5 tmw!) I run the base fan at 1800 (1500 preset), and have made a light, medium, and heavy work long setting. I feel much better having my temps in the 60-70's while on a heavy work load, and it runs smoother as well. My "heavy" setting sets the min fan speed at 2600 rpm

The choice is yours, I dont think smc fan control is a necessity, but I sure do enjoy it.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Hi, I got the new Mac mini last Thursday and I have found that it runs very hot. I have installed the iStat Pro widget and it reports temperatures of 60-65C for the CPU (idle) and I have seen it increase up to 90C! (that was when watching a 1080p YouTube video fullscreen, but no other applications were running).

Try the HTML5 version of the YT-player:
http://www.youtube.com/html5
(within Safari)

 

[AJ-X]

Try the HTML5 version of the YT-player:
http://www.youtube.com/html5
(within Safari)

Thanks - but I already use ClickToFlash which includes a YouTube HTML5 feature.

 

[Vermifuge]

Hi, I got the new Mac mini last Thursday and I have found that it runs very hot. I have installed the iStat Pro widget and it reports temperatures of 60-65C for the CPU (idle) and I have seen it increase up to 90C! (that was when watching a 1080p YouTube video fullscreen, but no other applications were running). It seems to heat up so quickly while the CPU is only being used as little as 5%.
I would greatly appreciate some help.

So you installed flash?

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

I have tried SMC Fan Control and it does bring the temperature down pretty quickly, however, I should not have to manually set the fan RPM to cool down a new computer.

Mac mini Mid-2011 firmware update, i can hear you coming.

 

[JamSandwich]

I have done a lot of research on this topic. It seems (to me) that mac minis are designed to run hotter than average. I do not think that this will damage your hardware. On the other hand, just with any other electronic component, keeping it cooler in the long run can increase the products longevity. I personally run smc fan control on my 2009 mac mini (soon to be 2.5 i5 tmw!) I run the base fan at 1800 (1500 preset), and have made a light, medium, and heavy work long setting. I feel much better having my temps in the 60-70's while on a heavy work load, and it runs smoother as well. My "heavy" setting sets the min fan speed at 2600 rpm

The choice is yours, I dont think smc fan control is a necessity, but I sure do enjoy it.

I totally agree with this. For me it offers peace of mind. Obviously many Macs run at temperatures that Apple is satisfied with... and many don't have hardware issues... but cooler is better.

The fact of the matter is some of these processors operate under temperatures that would make PC users start pondering intricate and excessive processor cooling...

 

[AJ-X]

So you installed flash?

Before I started using ClickToFlash I was using Google Chrome which has Flash built in.

 

[indg]

i have both the 2010 mini and 2011 mini server running Fan Control. it monitors the cpu temp in the background via a daemon process and adjusts the fan accordingly. when it comes to cooling, i find it's best not to rely on apple's default settings (they'd rather your mac be quiet than cooler).

 

[nhoz]

my 2010 mac mini idle at 47c and goes up to 65c at full load (100% both cores), those temps are too high.

 

[Baby Mac]

I don't watch 1080p videos on my 2010 mini. The only time it gets noticeably warm is when my Nuance PDF Pro 7 program is trying to index my .pdfs for future Windows searches. Once it starts doing that in the background, it never stops and the mini warms up.

No heat is one of the very best features of my mini, so I'm not happy that the faster processor on the 2011 mini could generate excessive heat. I was already satisfied that I got a mini at the right time (2010) when I saw the optical slot-drive vanish from the front of the new model.

I can picture the new mini with an ice bag on its head. Ha ha.

 

[Pecorino]

I don't watch 1080p videos on my 2010 mini.

Wise. Purchase computer for almost over 600$, and do not play HD video on it... .
For about 600$ you may assemble yourself "horsepower machine"... .

The problem mentioned here are caused by faulty ( probably) video driver not allowing video acceleration on flash videos. Or, because in some new mac mini the video acceleration is from embedded graphic solution ( Intel HD 3000), the proccessor became really hot.

May be the thermal margin of one CPU is probably 100C, but this will shorten very quickly the life of all components inside- the HDD first. The poor heat dispatching design of almost all "unibody aluminium" MAC computers, is THE main cause for so many HDD failures here. Good temp for all mechanical HDD is to be always around 29-33-35. For CPU- idle- about 35C, under load do not cross 65-70C, or the max temp rise under max load do not be above 25-30C from the baseline.

But this is the Apple tax- they think you will purchase new machine after 2 years, and until this 2 year to come, your "new shiny mac mini" will survive with 90C temp on your CPU constantly.

All these "unibody" constructions are very, very bad, thermally speaking. These small CPU fans inside, are unable quickly to dispatch temp, and spread her on the main aluminium body, thus compromise thermally all the remaining components inside- the hdd first. The aluminum body dispatch temp to the outside, but to the inside too. Which rise the inside temps and stress all components inside, every time when you make intensive work on your Mac. I do not disagree that, the Apple engineers make research on the thermal design, and found than 80C CPU temp "is ok". But, because these are common Intel processors, and not specially designed parts for the Space Shuttle "Discovery" , 30-40C margin on idle, and do not cross 70C on load is the most desirable sweet spot. 90C CPU temp at full load, sustained for long, or - go up-down-up every minute- this is a disaster.

 

[hashholly]

Wise. Purchase computer for almost over 600$, and do not play HD video on it... .
For about 600$ you may assemble yourself "horsepower machine"... .

The problem mentioned here are caused by faulty ( probably) video driver not allowing video acceleration on flash videos. Or, because in some new mac mini the video acceleration is from embedded graphic solution ( Intel HD 3000), the proccessor became really hot.

May be the thermal margin of one CPU is probably 100C, but this will shorten very quickly the life of all components inside- the HDD first. The poor heat dispatching design of almost all "unibody aluminium" MAC computers, is THE main cause for so many HDD failures here. Good temp for all mechanical HDD is to be always around 29-33-35. For CPU- idle- about 35C, under load do not cross 65-70C, or the max temp rise under max load do not be above 25-30C from the baseline.

But this is the Apple tax- they think you will purchase new machine after 2 years, and until this 2 year to come, your "new shiny mac mini" will survive with 90C temp on your CPU constantly.

All these "unibody" constructions are very, very bad, thermally speaking. These small CPU fans inside, are unable quickly to dispatch temp, and spread her on the main aluminium body, thus compromise thermally all the remaining components inside- the hdd first. The aluminum body dispatch temp to the outside, but to the inside too. Which rise the inside temps and stress all components inside, every time when you make intensive work on your Mac. I do not disagree that, the Apple engineers make research on the thermal design, and found than 80C CPU temp "is ok". But, because these are common Intel processors, and not special designed parts for the Space Shuttle "Discovery" , 30-40C margin on idle, and do not cross 70C on load is the most desirable sweet spot. 90C CPU temp at full load, sustained for long, or - go up-down-up every minute- this is a disaster.

Of note, there is no hardware acceleration for Flash if you are running Lion (which I assume all 2011 Mini's are running).

 

[JonoX]

My 2.5 i5 idles around 49°C. Just tested a 1080p trailer and it gets up to around 60°C.

 

[Pecorino]

My 2.5 i5 idles around 49°C. Just tested a 1080p trailer and it gets up to around 60°C.

Disaster- my old quad core 9550 at idle is 29-33C. On load ->> 90% on all 4 cores- no more than 64C-67C, no mean how long the load will be sustained.
My hdd are at the temp margin between 29-34C. Never above this.
And all this with passive cooled graphic card, which is constantly around 54C-56C, which temps go above 69C-70C on 1080 HDD load.

The conclusions are yours, how good, from thermal point of view, are these Apple machines.

 

[Pecorino]

Of note, there is no hardware acceleration for Flash if you are running Lion (which I assume all 2011 Mini's are running).

Do not hardware accelerate the flash video is a shame.
Because you-tube is so widely popular.
And because the hardware acceleration is a "comfort" for the whole system.
But, Mr. Jobs "does not like flash video". He does not like Adobe too and Blu ray. And spicy curry- too. Fine.
But the people likes flash video and Adobe and the Blu ray. For the curry- not so sure.
And needed them, because better does not exist at the moment.

 

[Acorn]

someone posted they used smc fan control on heavy settings to spin the fans at 2600 rpm. how loud is this. i prefer a quiet mini to hair dryer. although 2600 shouldnt be that bad the size of the fan really effects its noise level.

 

[AJ-X]

someone posted they used smc fan control on heavy settings to spin the fans at 2600 rpm. how loud is this. i prefer a quiet mini to hair dryer. although 2600 shouldnt be that bad the size of the fan really effects its noise level.

I have just started using smcFanControl to set the default fan speed to 2500rpm and the sound increase is minimal. It is only possible to hear it if you are right next to it. I have found that 2500rpm is quite a good balance between noise and cooling performance.

Hope this helps.

 

[Baby Mac]

I don't watch 1080p videos on my 2010 mini.

Wise. Purchase computer for almost over 600$, and do not play HD video on it... .
For about 600$ you may assemble yourself "horsepower machine"... .

Not sure where you're going with that. Some of us already have very nice home theaters for 1080p.

 

[Mak47]

It's really not a major concern. Flash video has always made CPU's run hotter. Your mini can take it.

You will notice the heat because the machine is so small, and the case itself absorbs heat. You would not notice it in a giant black box PC because you are not physically close to the components.

Correction to those who have stated Lion does not include hardware acceleration for Flash. That is not correct. It will include hardware acceleration once Adobe gets around to updating their software to do it. Adobe has said as much.

I'm not too familiar with Click to Flash, but I would imagine that an app like that would be converting the flash video to HTML5. Re-encoding HD video files of any kind is processor intensive. If you can use the HTML5 viewer the other poster mentioned, you will likely not have the problem.