The correct orientation of the Mac Mini

[PaulD-UK]

@metanoiaway “I wouldn't put it vertical, it can cause thermal paste to migrate to one corner thus making the cpu run hotter as it's no longer evenly distributed on the surface.”

Doesn’t happen with iMacs/Mac Pros, over the ~20 years that they have been vertical.

 

[Stiksi]

Naturally, users of the mini include those who enjoy tinkering and making the best of our "assigned" corners, are wondering if that hinge is functional, and also imagining what's on the other side. 😁

Yes, the hinge is functional, but it hides all the mess. There's the DAS, a USB hub and a bad heat channel for the egpu's side fan. Luckily it mostly uses the rear exhaust. When I play a particularly GPU intensive game, I tend to open the door a bit to let it breathe easier.

I've still not done proper cable management in there, I'll get to it eventually but some of the cables will still be replaced with more suitable length versions. The most eagle-eyed might pick up that I did some managing on the door between the shots. The one I left unzipped is my "rogue" usb-c cable, that I use for connecting temporary external drives etc.

The stickers in the bottom of the top shelf are from a previous cable routing, they're velcro and stapled to the shelf.

I apologize for the lack of context in the images. I wanted to share this project, but I also take online privacy a bit too seriously to show more of the home.