My 2011 2.3 i5 Mac Mini is overheating corrupt graphics

[California]

Corruption of graphics when it overheats, usually during video playback...

I elevated the bottom case on bottle tops by about an inch, but still happening.

Running 16gigs of ram/SSD/ 512mb Vram

What is it with the 2011 Macs and graphics?

Anyone know what else to do besides drilling air holes through the case?

 

[grcar]

A long time ago, I posted some threads about overheating. You might look for them under my name.

I am assuming yours is the low-end 5,1 model with Intel graphics in the cpu. Likely the problem is dried-out thermal paste. You should take it in to a repair shop and ask them to re-seat the heat sink. Should cost about $100. Do not do it yourself.

If you have the mid-range 5,2 model, then the problem is the separate AMD radeon graphics chip. Many Apple products have unwritten warranties to fix the "radeon-gate" problem by replacing the logic board. Unfortunately Apple will not repair the minis.

If you have the high-end 5,3 model, then again you have Intel graphics in the cpu, so see the 5,1 case.

Hope this helps.