Noise level when playing 3D games on mini M2 Pro

[Cham2000]

I'm wondering about the noise level of the mini M2 Pro, while playing some "big" games, like Shadow of Tomb Raider, Resident Evil Village, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, WoW, latest Myst or the likes. So to all mini M2 Pro owners that played some 3D games: How noisy gets your mini? Is the fan running out loud during gameplay, or does it stays silent? How hot gets the mini? Any temperature readings? Please, state the game title, graphics settings and frame rate if possible.

 

[Juicy Box]

I have the 12c/19c GPU M2 Pro Mac Mini, and I play WoW.

Sadly, I have only had a short period of time that I was free to play, and I have only tested it in the Dragon Flight area, but the performance of the M2 Pro has been impressive.

For fan noise, I don't think I have ever heard the fan on the M2 Pro MM, nor the M1 MM for the two years that I have owned it.

But, I did test the M2 Pro playing WoW, with every possible graphic setting turned to the max, and Target FPS turned off. After about 10 minutes of playing, the temps increased, but the fan speed was still at idle.

I will try to do some more testing at some point.

 

[Cham2000]

For fan noise, I don't think I have ever heard the fan on the M2 Pro MM, nor the M1 MM for the two years that I have owned it.
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After about 10 minutes of playing, the temps increased, but the fan speed was still at idle.

For how much time did you had the mini M2 Pro?

When you say the temps increased, what do you mean more precisely? Which temperature did you got?

 

[Juicy Box]

For how much time did you had the mini M2 Pro?

Are you asking how long I have owned the M2 Pro Mac Mini?

A few weeks now, but have been too busy to try it out as much as I would like.

I am hoping to change that soon.

When you say the temps increased, what do you mean more precisely? Which temperature did you got?

I couldn't remember exactly what the temps were, so I decided to quickly do it again, and take screenshots of the temps.

I logged in, turn every possible graphic setting to the max, and flew around for about 10 minutes. I took a screenshot of the temps and fan speed when I first logged on, and took it again right before I logged off again.

At log on:

GPU at 45c, and idle fan speed. This is before I turned up the graphic settings too, as you can see, the wattage doubles in the next screenshot.


Ten minutes of playtime:

GPU at 95c, and slightly above idle fan speed. Power peaked at 60.76 watts.

If you look at the next two screenshots, you can see how the GPU temps impacted the fan speed, and vice versa:


GPU temps:


Fan speed:


When the GPU hit 96c, the fan speed increased a little, then dropping a little, then another tiny jump up, peaking at 1988rpm. The temps would drop a degree or two, leading to the fan speed to drop a little, which would cause the temps to rise back up to 96c.

I interpret that as meaning the M2 Pro likes to run hot, with the fans staying at idle. When it starts to get too hot for the GPU, it only takes a little bit of extra fan speed to control it.


But to answer your original question about fan noise, I did not hear the M2 Pro Mac Mini at all. It has a lot of ambient noise around it though, there is a pellet wood stove about 20 feet away. So, maybe wait for someone else to give their experience on the noise before making any decisions.

 

[Juicy Box]

Please, state the game title, graphics settings and frame rate if possible.

Oh, I forgot to include everything you asked for:

The temp and fan speed readings I posted before was on World of Warcraft, the Dragon Flight area.

Graphic slide bar set to 10, with every other possible graphical settings that is not tied to the side bar set to the highest level.

The Target FPS setting was turned off. V-Sync was turned off.

The frame rate varied a lot depending on what I was pointed at when flying around, but ranged from 45fps to 140fps. I don't ever remember it dropping below the mid-40s, so it stayed in an optimal playing frame rate.

You didn't ask, but I think if asking about graphical settings and frame rates, the resolution and refresh rate should be included. I use an 1080p ultra-wide monitor, the resolution was set at 2560x1080 and this is at 144Hz.

I can set the refresh rate higher (165Hz or 200Hz) or lower (120Hz or 60Hz) and retest if you are trying to match your equipment, although with V-sync off, I am unsure if the refresh rate would impact performance.

 

[Cham2000]

The temp and fan speed readings I posted before was on World of Warcraft, the Dragon Flight area.
...
The frame rate varied a lot depending on what I was pointed at when flying around, but ranged from 45fps to 140fps. I don't ever remember it dropping below the mid-40s, so it stayed in an optimal playing frame rate.

You didn't ask, but I think if asking about graphical settings and frame rates, the resolution and refresh rate should be included. I use an 1080p ultra-wide monitor, the resolution was set at 2560x1080 and this is at 144Hz.

Wow! (pun intended!). Thanks a lot for all the info! This is all pretty impressive. The temperature rising is what I was expecting (obviously), but I must admit I don't like it much that it goes above 90C. Despite what a few said elsewhere on the forum, I'm concerned that these temperatures may affect the long term lifetime of the computer, if we play intensive games like that for about an hour each day. I'm very surprised that the fan doesn't run at higher speeds under these temperatures. I have the strong impression that the fan should run faster to get a cooler computer, even if it's a bit more noisy during the gameplay. I don't know what to think about all this...

 

[thebart]

Hi juicy box: what app are you using to see those stats? Thx

 

[Juicy Box]

Hi juicy box: what app are you using to see those stats? Thx

I am using iStat Menu. It provides a lot of info on the menu bar, and drops down to the photos I posted.

I used the iStat widget for years on my much older Macs, and was sad to see that go away. iStat Menus is not free like the old iStat Widget, but IIRC, it does have a free trial to see if you like it.

I can't remember, but I think I purchased the a family plan license of iStat Menu because of all the Macs I own.

When I get a chance, I will look up the cost for the version I am using.

 

[Cham2000]

I used the iStat widget for years on my much older Macs, and was sad to see that go away. iStat Menus is not free like the old iStat Widget, but IIRC, it does have a free trial to see if you like it.

I also use the iStat widget on my old Mac. Yes, it's a very usefull utility, and it's sad that there's no version for the widgets in Ventura.

How much ram do you have on your mini? I'm still struggling about choosing the default 16GB or pay the high price for 32GB...

 

[Juicy Box]

How much ram do you have on your mini? I'm still struggling about choosing the default 16GB or pay the high price for 32GB...

Maybe I should have posted my MM specs, I thought I did, but I guess I did not.

My 2023 M2 Pro Mac Mini has the 12c CPU, 19c GPU upgrade, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB Storage.

As for what you should pick, I can't really say, as it is really based off of your usage.

I can tell you this, when I was doing the WoW tests above, it was after a restart with only the Battle.net app and the WoW app opened. The iStat Menus dropdown for memory showed about 13GB used.

That is a lot, but also keep in mind that 13GB was also with every possible graphic setting maxed out, which is optional.

I personally like to multi-task and tend to have many different apps opened and sometimes a few dozen Safari tabs opened at one time.

I can't answer if the 32GB upgrade option would be worth it for you. I was back and forth about it my self, as the upgrade cost is pretty high. But, I plan on using this Mac for a very long time, and then passing it down to one of my children at some point, so the even if I could barely get away with 16GB now, I am sure that the investment will be worth it down the line. For example, I doubt the next expansion of WoW will use less RAM, and chances are, it will probably increase a little.

But, you don't need iStat Menus to see what your RAM usage is, look at your current RAM usage, and memory pressure using the Activity Monitor app in the Utility folder.

 

[Cham2000]

I can tell you this, when I was doing the WoW tests above, it was after a restart with only the Battle.net app and the WoW app opened. The iStat Menus dropdown for memory showed about 13GB used.
...
I personally like to multi-task and tend to have many different apps opened and sometimes a few dozen Safari tabs opened at one time.

I can't answer if the 32GB upgrade option would be worth it for you. I was back and forth about it my self, as the upgrade cost is pretty high. But, I plan on using this Mac for a very long time, and then passing it down to one of my children at some point, so the even if I could barely get away with 16GB now, I am sure that the investment will be worth it down the line. For example, I doubt the next expansion of WoW will use less RAM, and chances are, it will probably increase a little.

I have a similar usage. You tend to confirm I should go to 32GB. Thanks!

 

[osxfr33k]

I really don’t care so much of fan noise, I will use Fan Control to ramp up the fan to make sure I stay in a range and keep it below 70 maybe up to 75, hoping the fan will have enough torque to keep the temperature below 75 under the worst conditions.