Mac Mini 2009 MCP a little on the hot side?

[FrancoisC]

Hello all

I just got myself a new Mini, and I bought it maxed out from apple, 2.26, 4GB Ram and 320GB HDD, and when I check the temps in OS X, they are pretty normal, but I don't see the MCP temps with iStat & al.

But in Windows, when I run Everest, I get a pretty hot GPU & MCP temps, in the middle 80's.

I'll contact Apple tomorrow, but in the meantime, anybody with a Mini comparable to mine can check temps in windows and report back?

 

[Eidorian]

What were you doing when you took this screenshot? I'm going to bet the MCP temperature is that of the chipset with the onboard IGP.

 

[FrancoisC]

Yeah, the MCP (MCP79, can't find thermal specification) is nVidia's all in one northbridge/southbridge/IGP/ect...

Those temps are idle, doing nothing at all...

On the + side, temps don't go up much when I'm playing game (Except CPU, but MCP and IGP don't go much higher)

 

[Eidorian]

I don't see anything beyond the heatsink and some exhausting from the primary fan that would really cool the chipset.

 

[FrancoisC]

You are right, the way it's done inside the air come from under and flow on the MCP heatsink and into the fan, and after that over the cpu heatsink and out back.

Just did a test:

ran furmark for a couple of minutes & you won't believe it:

temps went down!

But that's because the fan went from 1500 to 3500!

Bah, there's a warranty on this thing anyway, and I'll buy myself an applecare I thinks it's called.

Still, if other people with the same configuration could take a look, just to be sure!

 

[Eidorian]

I'm completely stumped by this rash of users asking if their Macs that are within operational tolerances are hot or broken somehow.

It's fine. Run SMCFanControl if you're that worried about it. Apple designed it that way and is coming to cover it.

 

[amagichnich]

Reviving an old thread may not be the most elegant thing to do, but....
I can't really find anything on the internet about the MCP (Sensor) in this Mac Mini.

Usually the Mini is very quiet compared to e.g. my 1.5 G4 but I wanted it to also run a bit cooler as it sometimes seems to struggle with load when being a bit on the hot side.
So I set up a set fan rules: If any sensor is...

• above 71.11°C (160°F) the fan speed is to increase to 25% (~2520rpm)
• > 76.66°C (170°F) --> 50% (~3500rpm)
• > 82.22°C (180°F) --> 100% (~5500rpm)

and immidiately noticed the fan ramping up quite often to 25% due to the "MCP Die" sensor constantly sitting between 153° and 162°.

I know northbridges work reliable up to ridiculous high temps (e.g. 228°F on a board with a highly overcloked Core2Quad), but does anybody know what limit is in these Mac Minis?
'Limit' as in 'safe temps for the Mac Mini to last loooooooooong'