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2011 Mac Mini i7 Dual Core High Temps

S

shortcut3d

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 24, 2011
1,112
15
I apologize for another high internal temperature thread, but this is slightly different as it involves bootcamp and idle temperatures.

I have three 2011 Mac Minis. The two i7 dual core are idling very warm compared to the i7 quad core Mac Mini Server which is cold to the touch when idling.

The 2011 Mac Mini Server still has 1866MHz 8GB RAM. The i7 dual core machines are now running Samsung low voltage 1333MHz in an effort to cool the systems down. All systems have had the MBR patched to enable AHCI successfully and are running Windows 7 x64 SP1. They all have Vertex3-MI SSDs and WD Scorpio Black drives. I've updated the video drivers from the manufacturer, ATI for the i7 dual core and Intel for the i7 quad core. Power Settings are set to Best Peformance with Sleep (S3) disabled on all machines and minimum CPU utilization lowered to 5%.

Any suggestions?
 
simsaladimbamba said:
What are the ACTUAL temperatures (Celsius or Fahrenheit)?
Click to expand...

The observation is based on touching the external case. The i7 dual core are much much warmer when idling. The i7 quad core is ice cold when idling.

Unfortunately, I'm not in front of the Mac Minis at the moment so I can't check CPU temp.

Recommended application to check CPU temp in Windows?
 
I'll install and get actual temperature.

However, just based on the external touch test there is a huge difference in idle temperatures between the 2011 Mac Mini mid-range and the 2011 Mac Mini Server. I would think with the quad core in the server model would be much warmer, but in actuality its much cooler to the touch.

Any suggestion on items I should look at?
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Then what is the actual temperature? I guess you already looked at Task Manager?
Click to expand...

I have a day job so, installing the recommended software will be a bit down the road.

These systems are clean installations used for Windows 7 64-bit Media Center, so just DCA, PlayReady, Silicon Dust HDHomeRun Prime software. Therefore, Task Manager is not showing anything significant at idle.
 
My suggestion is that a touch test is not really a good way of determining whether your computer is running too hot.
 
I guess my question is more along the lines of why is the mid-range Mac Mini so much warmer than the Mac Mini Server?

I'm actually sure the system is within operating temperatures, but it doesn't appear to cool off like the server model under Windows 7 with Bootcamp. The driver behind my question is related to power savings. If the system is warmer its obviously consuming more energy when idle. I'm looking for suggestions on settings / drivers / registry within Windows 7 that may be the cause. Speeding up the fan is not a solution as the goal is power saving without Sleep (S3).
 
Unfortunately I have not seen detailed posts about temperatures for the 2011 Mac Mini and I don't own one myself at this point in time so it's difficult to judge, but I can assume a couple of things:

1. At idle the Mac Mini server runs the fans at a slightly faster speed than the non-server model according to this forum
2. I assume that the server model, with its quad core chip and integrated graphics, has a lower total TDP than the non-server model with discrete graphics and will therefore draw less power and generate less heat than the non-server model. I assume this and I am too lazy to check right now.
3. Therefore this would suggest that the non-server model would indeed feel warmer, but we would need some testing to prove this.
 
Temp increase is most likely due to the GPU. My MPB always seems to use the AMD Radeon rather than the integrated graphics when in Win7 and runs about 20-30C warmer as a result. No big deal and I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Just to add to my own post and the above poster. Yes, the idle power consumption of an IGP like Intel HD3000 is hugely lower in comparison to a discrete GPU. That will account for the temperature differences you're "feeling".

This is why you have switchable graphic solutions in laptops because even whilst idling a discrete GPU consumes your battery power and it's hardly needed when you're messing about on your desktop.
 
The last two posts make sense. I'm going to update the Intel Chipset Drivers to see if it improves the energy savings.

All I can say is WOW, the discrete GPU is much warmer than the IGP :eek:
 
shortcut3d said:
I apologize for another high internal temperature thread, but this is slightly different as it involves bootcamp and idle temperatures.

I have three 2011 Mac Minis. The two i7 dual core are idling very warm compared to the i7 quad core Mac Mini Server which is cold to the touch when idling.

The 2011 Mac Mini Server still has 1866MHz 8GB RAM. The i7 dual core machines are now running Samsung low voltage 1333MHz in an effort to cool the systems down. All systems have had the MBR patched to enable AHCI successfully and are running Windows 7 x64 SP1. They all have Vertex3-MI SSDs and WD Scorpio Black drives. I've updated the video drivers from the manufacturer, ATI for the i7 dual core and Intel for the i7 quad core. Power Settings are set to Best Peformance with Sleep (S3) disabled on all machines and minimum CPU utilization lowered to 5%.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

You're feigning potential problems. The unit being warm to the touch, even quite warm, is entirely normal. If your unit was in fact overheating, it would cause performance issues and shut down on its own - that's why the unit has temperature sensors - the sensors don't exist to give end users access to monitor their hardware. (You can thank third-party software for that access.) The ability to monitor the internal temperatures has opened up an entire group of end users who use it to pretend something is wrong. (I'm a certified Apple technician and have been doing this way too long.)

I have a 2.7 i7 Mac mini as well and it's warm to the touch 24/7, whether running a game or doing nothing.

It's normal.
 
monokitty said:
You're feigning potential problems. The unit being warm to the touch, even quite warm, is entirely normal. If your unit was in fact overheating, it would cause performance issues and shut down on its own - that's why the unit has temperature sensors - the sensors don't exist to give end users access to monitor their hardware. (You can thank third-party software for that access.) The ability to monitor the internal temperatures has opened up an entire group of end users who use it to pretend something is wrong. (I'm a certified Apple technician and have been doing this way too long.)

I have a 2.7 i7 Mac mini as well and it's warm to the touch 24/7, whether running a game or doing nothing.

It's normal.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the confirmation.
 
The 2010 2.4 model with same application runs at 18-20% CPU utilisation and temp is just under 50C at this moment. The 2011 2.5 model is running with same application around 7-8 % and is a tad over 70 C. (limiting factor is the data throughput so the FSB speed of 1066 Mhz in the 2010 is not enough for me). The fan of the 2010 never ever gets above 1800 rpm, even when I am pushing the CPU hard. The fan in the 2011 speeds up quite noticeably.

I am using Windows 7 and found a utility to increase minimum fan speed of the 2011 to 2200 rpm at which level it drops down to just above 50C. (MacFan0_65)

There are also messages that there is also some form of fancontrol for OS X.

PS Above 65C will shorten the life of the equipment considerably - it may not bother some but it does me.
 
Have you tried installing a program such as SMC fan control? This will give you real time CPU temperature and fan speed. You can also install GFXCardStatus, this will let you monitor which graphics card the mac mini is using, and allow you to switch.

Correction, just been made aware that you can't switch video cards like in the MBP. So, GFXCardStatus may not be useful.
 
Last edited:
I finally got around to installing HWMonitor in Windows 7 64-bit.

i7 2.0GHz Quad Core:
240GB OCZ Vertex 3 MI FW 2.08, 750GB WD Scorpio Black, 8GB Kingston Hyper X 1866MHz RAM, Windows 7 64-bit SP1
Main Board 38C - 40C
CPU Cores 36C - 41C
Fans 2297 RPM

i7 2.7 Dual Core:
240GB OCZ Vertex 3 MI FW 2.08, 750GB WD Scorpio Black, 8GB Samsung Low Voltage, Windows 7 64-bit SP1
Main Board 63C - 67C
CPU Cores 66C - 71C
Fans ~2600 RPM

These are the idle temperatures with all software installed identical. The Vertex 3 MI reads alarmingly high 128C which I think is an error in HWMonitor as well as the AMD 6630M reads over 2000C. The WD Scorpio Black 750GB reads the same as the main board on each respective machine.

Based on these IDLE TEMPERATURE readings, any suggestions or should I just consider the discrete graphics that much warmer than the Mac Mini Server quad core?
 
The dual core will run warmer due to the discrete GPU being activated full time. The temp of the SSD is erroneous, no worries, it's fine: i get the same error with iStat.

Unless you can figure out how to get the integrated GPU operational full time or adjust the fans higher I would suggest that you'll be stuck with those idling temps.
 
I'm some what in disbelief because I thought the non-server models should be idling with fans at 1800 RPM. However, my fans are at 2600 RPM under Windows and a near 30C temp difference is a bit extreme.
 
shortcut3d said:
I finally got around to installing HWMonitor in Windows 7 64-bit.

i7 2.0GHz Quad Core:
240GB OCZ Vertex 3 MI FW 2.08, 750GB WD Scorpio Black, 8GB Kingston Hyper X 1866MHz RAM, Windows 7 64-bit SP1
Main Board 38C - 40C
CPU Cores 36C - 41C
Fans 2297 RPM

i7 2.7 Dual Core:
240GB OCZ Vertex 3 MI FW 2.08, 750GB WD Scorpio Black, 8GB Samsung Low Voltage, Windows 7 64-bit SP1
Main Board 63C - 67C
CPU Cores 66C - 71C
Fans ~2600 RPM

These are the idle temperatures with all software installed identical. The Vertex 3 MI reads alarmingly high 128C which I think is an error in HWMonitor as well as the AMD 6630M reads over 2000C. The WD Scorpio Black 750GB reads the same as the main board on each respective machine.

Based on these IDLE TEMPERATURE readings, any suggestions or should I just consider the discrete graphics that much warmer than the Mac Mini Server quad core?
Click to expand...

MacFan0_65 gives correct temperatures and idling speed - the i5 with discrete GPU runs at 1800 rpm at idling. MacFan0_65 is a command prompt driven program, to get temperature do: macfan /temperature 15 (or whatever number you want to refresh the temperature) I've found that setting idling at 2200 rpm gives it nearly the same idling temp as the 2010 Mac mini.
 
I noticed that Power Play is not available in CCC. This maybe a source of the problem.

Any ideas to enable it?
 
shortcut3d said:
I'm some what in disbelief because I thought the non-server models should be idling with fans at 1800 RPM. However, my fans are at 2600 RPM under Windows and a near 30C temp difference is a bit extreme.
Click to expand...

buy yourself a kill a watt meter and you will see the the discrete i7 pulls close to 18 watts doing nothing and the server pulls about 9 watts. those 9 watts translate to the heat difference.
 
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