2007 Mac Mini SSD Noise

[clarkee]

I have doen a lot of googling and searching about this, so please excuse if i have missed the answer.

I have just replaced the standard 80GB HDD with a sandisk Extreme 120GB SSD.

I caddied up the ssd and used super duper to clone the internal hdd across then swap them over.

All went well, the mac mini boots up real quick now. The issue is, the drive is buzzing or whirring. I know its the drive because, when i run blackmagic disk speed test, the noise is instantly louder with the read/write of the drive.

I didnt notice any noise when it was caddied though! I have contacted the place i bought it and they have issues an RMA.

My concern is though, that if they caddy it and there is no noise, i get charged to return it to them and back to me, and then the drive is no longer a bargain!

Im just about to remove the drive and put a 250Gb WD in there to fully test it out, and re caddy the SSD.

Any suggestions or ideas from the forum?

Thanks in advance.

Clarkee.

 

[flatfoot]

There are no moving parts in SSDs. I know electronics can make buzzing noises too, but no whirring ones.

It's more probable that this sound comes from a fan that's not spinning freely. Make sure there's nothing hanging into the mini's fan(s).

 

[clarkee]

flatfoot, thanks for your quick reply.

I have taken the ssd out and replaced it with a WD 250GB HDD , the noise from before has stopped, so it must be the SSD.

clarkee.

 

[flatfoot]

Hm, interesting.

Please report back how the RMA turned out.

 

[Chippy99]

There's something wrong with a bunch of Sandisk SSD's. I have had three 256GB Sandisk Extreme drives and 2 of them (from different batches) have made the the screeching sound you describe.

 

[clarkee]

What is even more odd with this, is the noise varies depending how its is connected.

It is at its noisiest when connected to the actual sata connections in the mac mini, where the original hdd was.

The noise is much less when placed in the optical drive hdd sata caddy i have put in, and less again when in a standard USB 2 sata caddy.

The only pattern i can see is that the faster the data is being read/written, the more noise the drive gives off!

 

[Omnius]

Are you sure its a SSD? You may have purchased a knock off...

 

[clarkee]

I'm pretty sure it's a real SSD.

Mac Mini boots in to OS 10.6.8 in about 15 seconds and apps launch immediately.

It's way lighter compared to any standard 2.5" HDD I own.

It's getting collected Monday to go back, so we'll see what happens with the replacement.

 

[Dufus Del Dia]

Apple SSD have temp sensors that drive fan speed. Since the SSD has no moving parts, and therefore can't make that noise, it must be the fans, which change speed with heat. When changing SSD, if the temp sensor is not the same as Apple's, you have to run a Third Party Fan Control app that properly reads temp and adjusts fan speed.

 

[Omnius]

Apple SSD have temp sensors that drive fan speed. Since the SSD has no moving parts, and therefore can't make that noise, it must be the fans, which change speed with heat. When changing SSD, if the temp sensor is not the same as Apple's, you have to run a Third Party Fan Control app that properly reads temp and adjusts fan speed.

I have the 2007 mac mini with a 256GB Kingston SSD. Placed on a side, the heat is minimal and its entirely silent unless I am using the optical drive.

 

[clarkee]

I have the 2007 mac mini with a 256GB Kingston SSD. Placed on a side, the heat is minimal and its entirely silent unless I am using the optical drive.

Thanks for that, good to know yours runs silent!

When you say 'on a side', do you mean the mac mini turned on its side?

The SSD is getting picked up today, so hopefully, ill have a new quiet one in the next week.

clarkee.

 

[Omnius]

Yes. Older model mac minis have a LOT of heat issues. The easiest fix is putting it on a side. I find that placing it cd drive face down reduces heat best. It allows heat to radiate up, through the fans. Hot air rises naturally so it improves proper air circulation and keeps the machine cooler. The fans will generally never pass 2100rpm under a max load.