Late 2014 Mini Fan Spinning Loud

[ipos]

my base model 2014 mini fan has been spinning quite loud, as in u can hear the fan spinning. in the past i dun hear it.
apps opened are chrome with 8 tabs vlc, vpn and safari .

is it a sign to replace the mini?

 

[Fishrrman]

After 9 years, yes, it's time to replace the Mini.

Either with an m2 or an m2pro.

One warning:
DO NOT buy ANY new m-series Mac UNLESS you get one with 16gb of RAM.
8gb is no longer "enough".
If you buy one with only 8gb, you'll soon be wishing that you had bought more.

 

[ipos]

After 9 years, yes, it's time to replace the Mini.

Either with an m2 or an m2pro.

One warning:
DO NOT buy ANY new m-series Mac UNLESS you get one with 16gb of RAM.
8gb is no longer "enough".
If you buy one with only 8gb, you'll soon be wishing that you had bought more.

am using it for just surfing net with chrome broswer (8 tabs opened), vlc and little bit work with MS office. is 8gb suffice or do i need 16gb RAM?

 

[JavaMania5]

I'm in the same boat. 2014 27" with increasing fan noise and limited out on OS upgrades. Realize now maybe the time to get ready to move on. Mostly web surfing, email and occasional Excel use. Is 16gb really necessary? Would a current M1 8 core 7 GPU be a disappointment? Would a M1 8 core 8GPU be much better? Would need to upgrade 256 HD either way. Drives pricing up significantly. Or wait for the next model? It's hard to grasp why a current model would be a mistake for a home machine. But I don't want to have regrets or buyers remorse.

 

[Basic75]

When is the last time you opened up the mini and cleaned the fan? When is the last time you wiped the system partition and installed from scratch?

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"am using it for just surfing net with chrome broswer (8 tabs opened), vlc and little bit work with MS office. is 8gb suffice or do i need 16gb RAM?"

I suppose 8gb would do for that.
But there have been posts from others in the forum, who first bought 8gb, and not long after were complaining that "it wasn't enough".

If your needs aren't going to grow in the future, you'll probably be fine.

 

[fricotin]

2012 mini 16GB 25 tabs opened on Brave browser, fan 1800 rpm, 66°C

 

[George Dawes]

Could be the hd or the fan , either way get a new mini , you won’t regret it

 

[Boyd01]

Could be the hd or the fan

I was thinking the same. I have a 2014 i5/2.8ghz/8gb Mini with a Fusion drive. I split the SSD from the hard disk and have been using the internal 128gb SSD as a boot drive. Worked very well for 3 years as a media server running 24/7 on my home network but suddenly it started making a very loud mechanical noise. First thought was the fan, but looking closer, I think it's the bearings on the hard drive failing - sounds like something I've heard before with failing disks.

Anyway, I just put it in the closet, maybe I'll fix someday but removing the internal hard drive is not trivial. Would have to buy the correct tool and a SSD to replace it. Just not worth the effort for an old machine like this. Swapped it with another old Mini for the media server.