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2011 Mini Owners: Elevate your mini!

imahawki said:
I'm sure I'll get flamed for this but I love how everyone thinks they know more about heat management than Apple engineers. For every person on this forum who elevates their mini there will be 200 people out in the wild who plop it on their desk and use as intended with no problems.
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I never said I know more than the apple engineers :confused: BUT as someone who makes a profit off of repairing heat damaged components I think I can safely say I'm a bit more educated on the matter than most. This wouldnt be the first time a large manufacturer puts out a product that is later found to have issues. Sure, its a gamble, the minis may last for years these temps, or in 6months apple may issue an update the adjust the default fan RPM. Cant say that hasnt ever happened... :rolleyes: But I'm hedging my bets.
 
My late 2009 Mini has always been elevated, and so has my Airport Extreme Base Station. Neither has suffered any bad consequences from this and I suspect that both have actually benefitted.... It just seemed to me a sensible approach right from the get-go and so far I have not seen any reason to think that this hasn't been.
 
I have been doing IT since 1989....A few years ago I was asked to look at a PBX and voice mail system that had died. It was at a house in Los Angeles/Simi Valley and was being used by a call center. The owner had put the system in the garage...no air conditioning, dust etc. He told me it was started in 1992 and had only gone down during power outages and he said he never had to reboot it. It was running DOS and an Intel 385 SX. So when I opened it up I couldn't believe the condition. Dust, hair, bugs....just awful. Turned out the PS died so I replaced that, cleaned it out and fired it back up. To this day I have never seen a computer as abused as that one, that still worked.

Anyhow, I don't sweat my mini...
 
I also find the temp too high.

When that happens, my wireless becomes unstable.

I removed the bottom cover and put the mini by it's side.

The temp drops quite a bit this way (better air flow) and the wireless becomes normal again.

Thinking of opening a hole on the bottom cover to allow more air flow.
 
Took the advice here and made a pedastal type stand with a piece of PVC pipe. I placed two cooling fans directly behind the Mini. These came from a CoolMaster laptop cooling stand I had laying around. They plug in via USB and run near silent. I have them blowing towards the intake.

My idle temp is between 48-50*c and hovers between 70-75*c under load.

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lilsoccakid74 said:
I may be mistaken, but i thought the air intake was around the circular base on the bottom of the mini. Being so close to the desk, I would fear dust from the desk being sucked through the intake.
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As opposed to sucking dust straight out of the air where it's originally coming from to begin with?
 
japtor said:
As opposed to sucking dust straight out of the air where it's originally coming from to begin with?
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Air collects in much higher amounts when on a surface than in the air. I also run a hepa filter so im not too worried about airborne dust.
 
@Vicros, is that a DIY monitor stand made from IKEA parts? those legs look familiar. :)

@japtop, in a typical indoor environment dust is going to buildup around the intake port whether it's rightside up, sideways, elevated, or upside down. unless your mini is sitting in a hermetically sealed enclosure, it's probably a good idea to remove the base cover annually and check for dust buildup around the intake/exhaust vents and use a vacuum or air duster to blow it clean.
 
That was my point, it's going to suck it dust no matter what orientation it's in. One of my old machines was a G5...the whole face was an intake so I'm familiar with dust buildup.
 
I have just replaced my 2009 Mini (2.0GHz) with the new i7 and immediately noticed the fan noise :-(
Not all the time, but when viewing flash heavy pages, performing installations of software (i.e. iPhoto, Garageband etc.) or gaming (Civ5) it is rather loud - much more so than my 2009 Mini.
I realize it is much more powerful, but I like quiet - that's one more reason I have used SSD's for the last two years.
Will try the elevation stunt...
 
batistuta said:
I have just replaced my 2009 Mini (2.0GHz) with the new i7 and immediately noticed the fan noise :-(
Not all the time, but when viewing flash heavy pages, performing installations of software (i.e. iPhoto, Garageband etc.) or gaming (Civ5) it is rather loud - much more so than my 2009 Mini.
I realize it is much more powerful, but I like quiet - that's one more reason I have used SSD's for the last two years.
Will try the elevation stunt...
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Is that an i7 server or an i7 Dual Core?

Is there any evidence that might suggest the serve configuration has a lower threshold for the fans? My i7 Dual Core is very quiet until I play Eve Online. A server would likely be located in an environment where noise would generally not be a factor but better cooling would be important.
 
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batistuta said:
I have just replaced my 2009 Mini (2.0GHz) with the new i7 and immediately noticed the fan noise :-(
Not all the time, but when viewing flash heavy pages, performing installations of software (i.e. iPhoto, Garageband etc.) or gaming (Civ5) it is rather loud - much more so than my 2009 Mini.
I realize it is much more powerful, but I like quiet - that's one more reason I have used SSD's for the last two years.
Will try the elevation stunt...
Click to expand...

I have been able to reduce a majority of my noice by keeping the minimum rpm at around 2500 ( i know this sounds silly). For me, anything under about 3k is what i call "silent". It seems to take a lot longer to crank into the 4k range when under heavy load if i keep the fan speed up.
 
I found that after elevating the mini using the 3com bumpers, the temp still gets quite hot and once that happens, my wireless becomes unstable.

Best way is to remove the bottom cover and left it that way.

Hope some 3rd party manufacturer will think of a way to sell a modified bottom cover with many holes and mesh netting inside to trap dust.
 
cstanmac said:
I found that after elevating the mini using the 3com bumpers, the temp still gets quite hot and once that happens, my wireless becomes unstable.

Best way is to remove the bottom cover and left it that way.

Hope some 3rd party manufacturer will think of a way to sell a modified bottom cover with many holes and mesh netting inside to trap dust.
Click to expand...

I have been trying to think of a way to cover my mini without blocking airflow like the original cover. I personally would prefer to keep it right-side up, but without the bottom my temps are closer to 70's under full load compared to 90*+C, which i feel much better about.
 
Kind of having a "WTH are you guys talking about" moment here. There's no vents on the bottom if the aluminum Mini. The air is kicked out the back slit located under the peripheral ports on the black backplate (which in turn is connected to the logicboard.

Raising the unit only deals with ambient temperatures from the base plate (which I agree slides far too easily), not freeing up space for more air.

Look at iFixit's disassembly. Heck, look at the actual unit.

Again, I don't really have a clue what you guys are on about. Even the reviews of the new Mini declare it as quiet as a church mouse (and I'd agree)! Mine rests on a big, varnished desk and the base is barley warm to the touch. Unless the CPUs are ramped, I barely hear the fan. And I'm extremely sensitive to noise!

/lost
 
@Lokheed, if you don't understand what is being talked about in this thread, then you probably don't need to worry about it. ignorance is bliss. ;)
 
Lokheed said:
Kind of having a "WTH are you guys talking about" moment here. There's no vents on the bottom if the aluminum Mini. The air is kicked out the back slit located under the peripheral ports on the black backplate (which in turn is connected to the logicboard.

Raising the unit only deals with ambient temperatures from the base plate (which I agree slides far too easily), not freeing up space for more air.

Look at iFixit's disassembly. Heck, look at the actual unit.

Again, I don't really have a clue what you guys are on about. Even the reviews of the new Mini declare it as quiet as a church mouse (and I'd agree)! Mine rests on a big, varnished desk and the base is barley warm to the touch. Unless the CPUs are ramped, I barely hear the fan. And I'm extremely sensitive to noise!

/lost
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You aren't the only one. I was just looking at iFixIt's teardown and there aren't any air vents on the bottom. There's just that one on the back like you mentioned.

Can anyone explain?
 

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Don’t you mean any air being drawn in? The exhaust is in the rear of the mini and the intake is on the bottom, at least this is how I understand it works. This is why if you elevate the mini you allow for more air flow underneath, which is the point of the OP.
 
Rapscallion said:
Don’t you mean any air being drawn in? The exhaust is in the rear of the mini and the intake is on the bottom, at least this is how I understand it works. This is why if you elevate the mini you allow for more air flow underneath, which is the point of the OP.
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facepalm.jpeg

You would be correct. That makes much more sense.
 
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