Mid-2010 Mini is getting HOT

[Giuly]

Hi,
there is something wrong with my Mini.

This afternoon, the screen went black, starting from the top to the bottom, then 2 minutes of nothing, and then a spinning beachball. I guess the northbridge or RAM overheated.
I ran full AHT, but it came up with nothing. This never happened before, even when Folding with 2x100% CPU usage.

RMA it? I recently saw how chinamen apply thermal paste, but I guess this is rather related to the fan, as it's running at 1800RPM.

 

[flopticalcube]

64C is just above idle temp. Nothing to worry about until it reaches the high 80s. Your problem lies elsewhere.

 

[spinnerlys]

That's an okay temperature, the fan speed seems normal too, MacBooks have the same idle fan speed, even if the temp is that high.

As you have iStat Menus 3, you can set varying fan speeds via the preferences or you use SMC Fan Control to manually set the fan speed, or use Fan Control to adjust the fan speed according to preset temperature numbers.

 

[waloshin]

Temperature is fine.

 

[Giuly]

64C is just above idle temp. Nothing to worry about until it reaches the high 80s. Your problem lies elsewhere.

My Mini used to have idle temps around 34°C, that's why I'm worried.

As you have iStat Menus 3, you can set varying fan speeds via the preferences or you use SMC Fan Control to manually set the fan speed, or use Fan Control to adjust the fan speed according to preset temperature numbers.

Even if I crank it up to 5500RPM, it doesn't change the fan speed. Either it doesn't work on the Mini, or there is indeed something wrong with the fan.

 

[spinnerlys]

My Mini used to have idle temps around 34°C, that's why I'm worried.

That's strange, as I have touched every running 2010 Mac mini I came upon and they were quite hot (like at Saturn, Media Markt or MediMax).
​

Even if I crank it up to 5500RPM, it doesn't change the fan speed. Either it doesn't work on the Mini, or there is indeed something wrong with the fan.

With what software do you crank them up? Have you tried different titles or chosen different settings (Aktive Einstellung)? Have you tried an SMC reset yet?​

 

[Giuly]

That's strange, as I have touched every running 2010 Mac mini I came upon and they were quite hot (like at Saturn, Media Markt or MediMax).
​

I usually have 18°C room temperature, I guess those stores are heated up to 24°C, I don't really like going in there with a light jacket in winter.
But even at 35°C room temperature, the Mini was like 45°C idle, not 65°C.

With what software do you crank them up? Have you tried different titles or chosen different settings (Aktive Einstellung)? Have you tried an SMC reset yet?​

I did the SMC reset, now the fan runs like it's supposed to. Thanks

Everything back to normal:

 

[indg]

i've discussed this in another thread a couple months ago, but i'll reiterate here. the lower threshold for the fan speed on the 2010-mini is set fairly high, which means it won't kick into higher gear until the cpu temp get to around 167F/75C. while that is well under the cpu max temp of 220F/104C, keeping the fan speed at 1800rpm until it gets that hot certainly won't help maintain the longevity of internal components.

at idle my 2010-mini's cpu temp is anywhere from 106F/41C to 115F/46C depending on the ambient temp. i set up fan control to automatically adjust the fan speed based on the cpu temp. rather than waiting for the insides to cook before the fan speeds up, FC will speed up the fan much sooner than apple does and ensure proper dissipation of heat:

if you do any sort of cpu or gpu intensive work on the mini (or any mac for that matter), i highly recommend using a third-party fan control app to keep the insides cool, because apple's default fan settings won't. think of it as their way of implementing planned obsolescence.

unfortunately, if you've been folding with the mini and running 100% cpu usage 24/7 without increasing the default fan speeds, you may have already damaged some internal components or shortened their lifespan.

 

[Giuly]

unfortunately, if you've been folding with the mini and running 100% cpu usage 24/7 without increasing the default fan speeds, you may have already damaged some internal components or shortened their lifespan.

I folded a total of 2 packages, with fan speed around 2300RPM with 100% CPU usage, and temps around 70°C. I don't think that did any harm to any component.
Nice tip with the Fan Control, though.

 

[Bacong]

I have my fans running constantly at 3500 RPM. My CPU usually idles around 33-38 C. I'd rather replace the fan than the CPU or logic board. Before when gaming or doing other intensive work the CPU would get above 70 C. Certainly not critically hot, but hey, why have it that hot if you can prevent it. Now the hottest it gets is around 47 C if I'm doing something intensive.

 

[waloshin]

Not a problem at all the Unibody Macbook runs at 77 Celsius with at 100% cpu.

 

[mrfoof82]

I have my fans running constantly at 3500 RPM. My CPU usually idles around 33-38 C. I'd rather replace the fan than the CPU or logic board. Before when gaming or doing other intensive work the CPU would get above 70 C. Certainly not critically hot, but hey, why have it that hot if you can prevent it. Now the hottest it gets is around 47 C if I'm doing something intensive.

For most workloads, the recommended lower fan speed threshold for the Mid-2010 is 2300-2400rpm, which results in a 45C idle and 50C under workloads that aren't pegging the CPU/GPU -- i.e. watching flash video, many apps open, CPU shouldn't crack 50C. To give you an idea, back in the day when desktop processors didn't have fans (this ended after the 80386 I believe), 50C is LOWER than the temperatures those CPUs would experience on a regular basis.

 

[Giuly]

I redid the work of the syringe-holding machine/chinaman:

Now I'm happy, and the thermal paste didn't even burn-in yet.

 

[mangrove]

Hope you're OK. No more problems with heat?

 

[Giuly]

Hope you're OK. No more problems with heat?

I'm about 36-38°C idle, 40-42°C while using Safari and 56-58°C on full load, so no.

 

[mangrove]

I'm about 36-38°C idle, 40-42°C while using Safari and 56-58°C on full load, so no.

Glad to hear that.