I have been monitoring the temperatures on my Mac mini (mid 2011 base model) for two weeks now. It tends to float around 48-52 C when the room is about ~18 C.
I have just now removed the cheap thermal compound used by the manufacturer and re-applied Arctic Silver 5. I have not yet allowed for enough thermal cycles to ensure the new compound is at maximum efficacy, but will continue collecting data regardless. The temperatures from this point have nowhere to go but down. I will update the thread when I have data to present.
Has anyone else re-applied the paste? And if so, have you collected any reliable data?
I have tried several hardware monitors and have settled on atMonitor 2.7b. I found iStat Menus 3.18 to be far too unreliable (and far too inconsistent in reporting temperatures, where massive swings from 61 C to 41 C have occurred in one second under no CPU/GPU load).
Day One - Fresh compound, 2 hours uptime, no thermal cycles
I've been using the system for just over two hours playing around in Photoshop. Room temperature is ~15 C. CPU has hit 48 C and rests now at a stable 45 C. This is already substantially lower than before (by about 7 C). I'll try to induce a temperature cycle tonight and continue to monitor the temps. Before the re-application, the temperature for the same Photoshop work (relatively same room temperature) was roughly 51 C to 56 C. Idle temps now with Safari open are 45 C. Past temperatures were 52 C.
NOTE: My hopes are to create a thread with valid and reliable data for others to reference. Please avoid the need to discuss warranty, inquire about the purchase of a mini, ask for guidance in the re-application of new thermal compound, or post other off topic remarks. I'd love it if we could keep this thread clean and on point. Thank you.
I have just now removed the cheap thermal compound used by the manufacturer and re-applied Arctic Silver 5. I have not yet allowed for enough thermal cycles to ensure the new compound is at maximum efficacy, but will continue collecting data regardless. The temperatures from this point have nowhere to go but down. I will update the thread when I have data to present.
Has anyone else re-applied the paste? And if so, have you collected any reliable data?
I have tried several hardware monitors and have settled on atMonitor 2.7b. I found iStat Menus 3.18 to be far too unreliable (and far too inconsistent in reporting temperatures, where massive swings from 61 C to 41 C have occurred in one second under no CPU/GPU load).
Day One - Fresh compound, 2 hours uptime, no thermal cycles
I've been using the system for just over two hours playing around in Photoshop. Room temperature is ~15 C. CPU has hit 48 C and rests now at a stable 45 C. This is already substantially lower than before (by about 7 C). I'll try to induce a temperature cycle tonight and continue to monitor the temps. Before the re-application, the temperature for the same Photoshop work (relatively same room temperature) was roughly 51 C to 56 C. Idle temps now with Safari open are 45 C. Past temperatures were 52 C.
NOTE: My hopes are to create a thread with valid and reliable data for others to reference. Please avoid the need to discuss warranty, inquire about the purchase of a mini, ask for guidance in the re-application of new thermal compound, or post other off topic remarks. I'd love it if we could keep this thread clean and on point. Thank you.
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