If you must have a totally silent Mini is the I3 the only option?

[Spectrum]

If your MacBook Pro i7 is dead quiet, then the work you are doing is not pushing the CPU hard (which is fine), and thus such a workload will also not push the CPU hard on the mini (maybe even less). Thus the fan will stay low and the system will be quiet whichever model you choose. It is as simple as that.

 

[Dave_O]

I have an i5 and it's dead silent unless using handbrake or sometimes Parallels. I'm driving a 4K TV as a monitor at 60 hz. Quieter than any PC I ever owned, and I've built PC's with a goal of minimum noise.

 

[user_xyz]

I will eventually buckle and get the 2018 Mini despite their extortionary prices for SSD
and Ram bumps. I read that the I7 makes a lot of fan noise so that is out.

Has anyone played with both the 2018 i3 and i5 models for an extended amount of time
to comment on the fan noise? My 2017 Macbook Pro I7 is always dead quiet. I hear the
fans come on maybe once a month when I need to reboot it. (I never turn my Macbook
off) Once I reboot it the fans stay off and I have dead silence for about another month.

I will never re-encode movies but I tend to run a simultaneous mix of windows 7 VMs,
Microsoft Word and Excel on the Mac side, Chrome with 20 tabs, and some terminal
windows to ssh into work to perform Linux admin. I will occasionally play a movie with
VLC as well. All simultaneously with my 2017 Macbook Pro I7 staying dead silent (no fans).

If I want the Mini that is as well behaved fan-wise as my 2017 Macbook Pro I7, is the
i3 Mini the clear winner as I suspect? I'd prefer to get the i5 model but I don't want to
risk the fans coming on periodically when I'm so spoiled by Macbook silence.

Thanks for helping..

I have the 2018 Mini with i7/16gb/512:

I don't hear any Fan Noise. Should I get my Stethoscope?

 

[Ploki]

Bought the i3 for this reason (silance). It is a bit of a picky requirement, but being a recording musician, it makes a significant difference.

If you can't afford a machine room, just record with a computer in an isolation chamber with cable for peripherals running out.

 

[Spectrum]

If your MacBook Pro i7 is dead quiet, then the work you are doing is not pushing the CPU hard (which is fine), and thus such a workload will also not push the CPU hard on the mini (maybe even less). Thus the fan will stay low and the system will be quiet whichever model you choose. It is as simple as that.

Actually...I want to revise my statement above.

I've now had a chance to use the 2018 i7 mac mini: When pushing all cores (opening a very complex PDF), the CPU temp hits 100C within seconds, CPU speed drops from 4+ GHz down to around 3.6, and the fans then start to kick in. The performance is good, however, and most tasks finish pretty fast.

But, coming from 2011 quad i7 mac mini, this is a big surprise. On the 2011 mini, even when all cores are being stressed (opening the exact same file) the CPU temperature rises much more slowly, taking 1 minute or more before finally reaching 100C at which point the fans start to blow. Of course, the task itself takes >3x as long to complete on the 2011 mini.

So...it may well be that an i3 (or maybe an i5) is indeed beneficial if you want to ensure a perfectly silent mac mini experience (at the expense of some performance).

 

[Ploki]

Actually...I want to revise my statement above.

I've now had a chance to use the 2018 i7 mac mini: When pushing all cores (opening a very complex PDF), the CPU temp hits 100C within seconds, CPU speed drops from 4+ GHz down to around 3.6, and the fans then start to kick in. The performance is good, however, and most tasks finish pretty fast

Coming from 2011 i7 mac mini, this is a big surprise. On the 2011 mini, even when all cores are being stressed, the CPU temperature rises much more slowly, taking 1 minute or more before finally reaching 100C at which point the fans start to blow. Of course, the task itself takes >3x as long to complete on the 2011 mini.

So...it may well be that an i3 (or maybe an i5) is indeed beneficial if you want to ensure a perfectly silent mac mini experience.

Well. it's the same enclosure size, except 2011 had a 85W PSU and a 35-45W TDP mobile chip (and much more space to dissipate the heat) and the 2018 has 150W PSU and a 65W TDP desktop chip.
i3 is also a 65W TDP desktop chip.
however it should fare better since it has 2 less cores.
(it appears it also has a smaller package size

+ old architecture had less aggressive turbo boosting as far as i observed.

edit:
did anyone notice i3-8100 officially only supports DDR4-2400?
https://ark.intel.com/products/126688/Intel-Core-i3-8100-Processor-6M-Cache-3-60-GHz-

 

[Spectrum]

Well. it's the same enclosure size, except 2011 had a 85W PSU and a 35-45W TDP mobile chip (and much more space to dissipate the heat) and the 2018 has 150W PSU and a 65W TDP desktop chip.
i3 is also a 65W TDP desktop chip.
however it should fare better since it has 2 less cores.

+ old architecture had less aggressive turbo boosting as far as i observed.

Yes, I know...but I did not anticipate there being such a difference.
According to Intel Power Gadget, the 2011 mac mini never goes above ~40 Watts, generally stabilising at about 35 Watts, and, yes, at much lower turbos - about 2.1 GHz for all cores is what is being reported. Overall generating a lot less heat. And it takes a long time to warm up and hit the 100C point.

By contrast, the initial all-core peak of the i7-8700B hits over 100Watts (at >4Ghz). Then Wattage rapidly declines due to the CPU temp almost immediately hitting 100C causing the CPU speed to drop almost immediately. Fans then slowly ramp up and the CPU speed starts to stabilise.

It's just not quite what I expected...

 

[ElectricPotato]

Bought the i3 for this reason (silance). It is a bit of a picky requirement, but being a recording musician, it makes a significant difference.

I'm also very picky about fan noise and got the 2018 i3/8/128. It is as silent (to my ears) as the 2010 mini it replaced. It has plenty of power for my needs, I really enjoy the silence and I'm satisfied with the value of the base model. Some people easily tune out background noise but it grates on me. Thank you apple for making something compatible with my tender ears ;-).

 

[Dave_O]

Yes, I know...but I did not anticipate there being such a difference.
According to Intel Power Gadget, the 2011 mac mini never goes above ~40 Watts, generally stabilising at about 35 Watts, and, yes, at much lower turbos - about 2.1 GHz for all cores is what is being reported. Overall generating a lot less heat. And it takes a long time to warm up and hit the 100C point.

By contrast, the initial all-core peak of the i7-8700B hits over 100Watts (at >4Ghz). Then Wattage rapidly declines due to the CPU temp almost immediately hitting 100C causing the CPU speed to drop almost immediately. Fans then slowly ramp up and the CPU speed starts to stabilise.

It's just not quite what I expected...

This behavior is consistant with the current Intel CPU behavior in general. There is a huge delta in power / heat (and therefore fan noise) as one tries to get the max performance from the current chip family. On the PC side, a 9900K runs cool at stock under normal usage, but the heat goes insane when even overclocked a bit with all cores stressed.

 

[user_xyz]

You could always disable Turbo-boost.

 

[Dave_O]

You could always disable Turbo-boost.

On my 8700K, I ended up disabling Hyperthreading to achieve a very stable Ratio OC of 51,51,50,50,46,46. This was very quiet as well, as long as I was not running Handbrake.

 

[emboahora]

If you can't afford a machine room, just record with a computer in an isolation chamber with cable for peripherals running out.

Yes, but I prefer to have the computer on the desk, easily accessible, and with a small form factor.

 

[Ploki]

, but I prefer to have the computer on the desk, easily accessible, and with a small form factor.

I have a CalDigit dock on the desk with all the ports I need, else just get extenders.

You said what your needs are, i told you how 95% of people who record solve it.
If you don't need so much CPU power think about recording directly to an ipad or 12" macbook that's passively cooled.

 

[emboahora]

I have a CalDigit dock on the desk with all the ports I need, else just get extenders.

You said what your needs are, i told you how 95% of people who record solve it.
If you don't need so much CPU power think about recording directly to an ipad or 12" macbook that's passively cooled.

Indeed, and thanks for the suggestion. To me, the i3 feels as quiet as a passively cooled system.

I’m pretty happy with the setup solution the i3 MM allowed me to put together. I use Ableton Live as my main DAW so iOS wasn’t a full option. I’m using an iPad Pro as well though, on top of a digital piano, but as a second display via Duet Display plugged in to USB, surprisingly with very nice screen resolution and refresh rate.

On a side note, as suggested by another member of this forum, I’ll upgrade the RAM soon (currently 8GB) to improve scaled resolutions performance with my main 4k monitor. eg. Image attached shows how the GPU struggles when running on scaled non native monitor resolution (left side while on 3008x... res vs right side after changing to native 3840x2160).

 

[Ploki]

Indeed, and thanks for the suggestion. To me, the i3 feels as quiet as a passively cooled system.

I’m pretty happy with the setup solution the i3 MM allowed me to put together. I use Ableton Live as my main DAW so iOS wasn’t a full option. I’m using an iPad Pro as well though, on top of a digital piano, but as a second display via Duet Display plugged in to USB, surprisingly with very nice screen resolution and refresh rate.

On a side note, as suggested by another member of this forum, I’ll upgrade the RAM soon (currently 8GB) to improve scaled resolutions performance with my main 4k monitor. eg. Image attached shows how the GPU struggles when running on scaled non native monitor resolution (left side while on 3008x... res vs right side after changing to native 3840x2160).

Yeah scaled is meh. How come you run scaled, what size is your monitor?

 

[emboahora]

Yeah scaled is meh. How come you run scaled, what size is your monitor?

My monitor is a 28”. When using the Mac for “errands” (documents, financial, research...) I end up using scaled 1080p if process intensive, which runs great (1440p would be better though), but for music/video production ideally I’d use 3008x1692 but end up with 3840x2160 for lower buffer size options (downside, texts look tiny).

 

[Cape Dave]

I'm also very picky about fan noise and got the 2018 i3/8/128. It is as silent (to my ears) as the 2010 mini it replaced. It has plenty of power for my needs, I really enjoy the silence and I'm satisfied with the value of the base model. Some people easily tune out background noise but it grates on me. Thank you apple for making something compatible with my tender ears ;-).

The computer in my sig is the quietest computer I have ever not heard. It never changes. I built it for silence first and speed second. It is fast and quiet. Noctua rules! I have to open it up to see if the fan is spinning.

 

[themfinger]

Actually...I want to revise my statement above.

I've now had a chance to use the 2018 i7 mac mini: When pushing all cores (opening a very complex PDF), the CPU temp hits 100C within seconds, CPU speed drops from 4+ GHz down to around 3.6, and the fans then start to kick in. The performance is good, however, and most tasks finish pretty fast.

But, coming from 2011 quad i7 mac mini, this is a big surprise. On the 2011 mini, even when all cores are being stressed (opening the exact same file) the CPU temperature rises much more slowly, taking 1 minute or more before finally reaching 100C at which point the fans start to blow. Of course, the task itself takes >3x as long to complete on the 2011 mini.

So...it may well be that an i3 (or maybe an i5) is indeed beneficial if you want to ensure a perfectly silent mac mini experience (at the expense of nse of some performance).

Have you tried replacing the thermal paste?

And when you say that after a while the CPU “stabilises”, the fan also gets tolerable, or is it always tolerable?

I am really divided between the i5 and the i7 due to that issue, which magnitude I don’t really estimate.
I read some users swearing that it’s almost inaudible, other stressing out it’s bothering in the i7.

I won’t use the i7 capabilities for work/video, but I want to future proof for 6-9 years. My 2012 MacBook Air (also maxed out in RAM and SSD) is still going strong for daily usage.
I will use an eGPU VEGA64 for bootcamp gaming, and in some games the i7 clearly is superior.

 

[twalk]

There's a difference between a silent PC and a quiet PC. Silent PCs are fanless, use power supplies made for silent computing, and remove anything else that can make any noise at all. Except for the latest (now discontinued) Macbook, Apple makes quiet PCs (and does an excellent job at it). They don't normally make silent PCs

If you really, truly need a totally silent PC, then you'll have to use Windows and work with something like: https://streacom.com/products/db4-fanless-chassis/

That said, if quiet is good enough, the i3 should be a bit more quiet than an i5/i7, but not by much

TDP: Most people (and even websites) get this wrong. The definition of TDP isn't for processor max power and isn't a "set in stone" value, but is about the thermal cooling solution category needed to handle the processor under what is considered a typical load. Historically, Intel has put this closer to their "typical" profile while AMD has been closer to the max power level. Max power draw for an Intel processor is typically around 50% higher than the TDP, although there are many of their lower end processors (such as some i3's) that their max power draw won't even hit the TDP value

 

[Spectrum]

Have you tried replacing the thermal paste?

And when you say that after a while the CPU “stabilises”, the fan also gets tolerable, or is it always tolerable?

I am really divided between the i5 and the i7 due to that issue, which magnitude I don’t really estimate.
I read some users swearing that it’s almost inaudible, other stressing out it’s bothering in the i7.

I won’t use the i7 capabilities for work/video, but I want to future proof for 6-9 years. My 2012 MacBook Air (also maxed out in RAM and SSD) is still going strong for daily usage.
I will use an eGPU VEGA64 for bootcamp gaming, and in some games the i7 clearly is superior.

The fan isn't noisy. It is quieter than my 2011. And if you are only pushing one core it isn't audible, in my experience.
The fan only gets audible if all cores are going full pelt, which generates way more than the 65w spec of the processor, hence needing a lot of cooling and some throtlling below the maximum turbo potential. However, I've never witnessed the i7 throttle below the 3.2Ghz base speed. Most tasks it is at 4.3Ghz, or down to maybe 3.6-3.9 for a 6-12 core task.

What surprised me, coming from the i7 2011 Mac mini, is just how fast these 8th Gen processors get hot. But, then, they do also get the work done very quickly.

if you can afford the i7, I would get it for the faster single core, and potential for multi threading.
i Really don't think the i5 will be any quieter, but the i3 might be Due to lack of turbo most likely keeping it within the 65w design spec Quite easily.

 

[Diamond Dog]

Have had my i5 Mini for a week or so now and have done various tasks from photo to light video editing, and haven't heard it a bit. My NAS puts out more noise from across the room lol

 

[ajaan]

i3 32GB RAM Mac mini here. Had it for five months.

Totally silent. As if it doesn't have a fan. I work at home, not near a busy road, and I've never heard the fan or any noise ever. The background noise in my house -- heating, water, leaves rustling in my garden -- is far greater.

As for heat. Pretty much cool to touch all the time. A slight warming when doing an OS update and the same again if lots of google docs open (but not other tabs or applications). Certainly not hot.

A great little machine, and I've never regretted getting the i3 over the i5 or i7, although 8 GB RAM was not enough.