Cooling solutions for the Mac minis?

[archer75]

I believe the issue must be the filters, if they are blocking the air, the airflow will be slowed down so that dust has time to settle and build up. I got a PC that I specially had the same number of exact fans for intake and outake. Only started to see a layer of dust after a good 8 months.

I clean the filters. And the airflow is very good. However the same applies to cases I have without filters. They will all, eventually, fill with dust.
Even after 8 months you're seeing the same thing. It's not going to fill with dust overnight. It takes time. The mini will fill with dust much faster. The small blades of the intake fan to the CPU especially. I've had other coolers very similar that did the same thing. Probably not a big deal if you inspect it regularly.

I work in a cleanroom. It's constant airflow but dust still builds up on surfaces. I have seen dust bunnies in the fab. Computers in the fab are full of dust. Granted it takes years longer for that to happen, but it does happen.

 

[Trips]

Imagine my surprise as a PC user of 20 years moving to Mac in 2017 via a used Macbook Pro and finding that it liked to run near TJmax all the time! Scared the crap out of me! LMAO

My new Mini runs at half those temps. A very welcome change!

Don't get it twisted though.. Heat is a big killer of electronic components, and a CPU that spends its life running near the ceiling versus one that doesn't? It's certainly not out of the realm of possibilities that it has a long term affect on the longevity of either. But that could just be the old "PC guy" in me saying that!

 

[MacMiniUpgrader]

Imagine my surprise as a PC user of 20 years moving to Mac in 2017 via a used Macbook Pro and finding that it liked to run near TJmax all the time! Scared the crap out of me! LMAO

My new Mini runs at half those temps. A very welcome change!

Don't get it twisted though.. Heat is a big killer of electronic components, and a CPU that spends its life running near the ceiling versus one that doesn't? It's certainly not out of the realm of possibilities that it has a long term affect on the longevity of either. But that could just be the old "PC guy" in me saying that!

43-53degrees depending on the hard HD browsing haha

 

[F-Train]

Alternatively, you can purchase AppleCare+, at a cost that works out to 9 cents a day, and just not worry about this for the next three years.

 

[Trips]

43-53degrees depending on the hard HD browsing haha

Or less! lol

Alternatively, you can purchase AppleCare+, at a cost that works out to 9 cents a day, and just not worry about this for the next three years.

Yeah.. And many do. But better to know, than be clueless. No harm in running iStat or some other temp monitoring. Ppl just need to focus on not being a worry-wart!

 

[DYER]

Hey guys,

I'm back again, have been posting a bit but not much after a recent injury on the day I last posted whilst undertaking another project rendered one of my hands unusable for a while - which wasn't so fun and meant I put all my projects on hold.

Anyhow, I'm still messing around with the SPEED cooling fan. In the next month or so I'm hoping to finally get a video one, equally I'll try and get some stats that compare it being used vs it not being used.

However, just to preempt what I'm sure I'll hear, and something that someone else already mentioned. It's a lot of money, if you look at cost to value I'm sure it won't be good enough for most people. Personally, I'm not so fussed, it was a gamble, it wasn't earth shattering but I am happy with the improvement in temperatures - even if there's not as much of an improvement in performance (I suspect my recent switch to an eGPU has probably also impacted those temps as well from what I've been seeing in iStat).

Anyhow, will post here when I finally get it done. My plan to upgrade their design has hit a bit of an issue in terms of getting external fan controls sorted, which was something I hadn't even considered. But such is life.

 

[canopic]

Instead of complicated fan-based risers etc, why is no one simply placing a big aluminium heatsink on top of the Mac mini? Afraid of scratching it?

The top of the unit when plugged into the LG monitor I checked out in store was pretty hot to the touch, a lot of good surface area right there.

I would intuitively think that would be a much cheaper, simpler way to gain maybe 5-15 degrees under severe workloads. But maybe I’m wrong.

 

[DYER]

Instead of complicated fan-based risers etc, why is no one simply placing a big aluminium heatsink on top of the Mac mini? Afraid of scratching it?

The top of the unit when plugged into the LG monitor I checked out in store was pretty hot to the touch, a lot of good surface area right there.

I would intuitively think that would be a much cheaper, simpler way to gain maybe 5-15 degrees under severe workloads. But maybe I’m wrong.

Yep, quite probably that'd work too. I've found the chassis of the Mini is cool to touch with the fan based solution, which is nice.

I wouldn't say it's an issue of scratching it for many, I'm not sure how effective it would be though, would be fun to try but aluminium billets aren't my forte.

 

[sauria]

Hey guys,

I'm back again, have been posting a bit but not much after a recent injury on the day I last posted whilst undertaking another project rendered one of my hands unusable for a while - which wasn't so fun and meant I put all my projects on hold.

Anyhow, I'm still messing around with the SPEED cooling fan. In the next month or so I'm hoping to finally get a video one, equally I'll try and get some stats that compare it being used vs it not being used.

However, just to preempt what I'm sure I'll hear, and something that someone else already mentioned. It's a lot of money, if you look at cost to value I'm sure it won't be good enough for most people. Personally, I'm not so fussed, it was a gamble, it wasn't earth shattering but I am happy with the improvement in temperatures - even if there's not as much of an improvement in performance (I suspect my recent switch to an eGPU has probably also impacted those temps as well from what I've been seeing in iStat).

Anyhow, will post here when I finally get it done. My plan to upgrade their design has hit a bit of an issue in terms of getting external fan controls sorted, which was something I hadn't even considered. But such is life.

Thank you, I look forward to your results.

 

[MacClueless]

I am looking at purchasing a used Mac Mini that can run the latest (Mojave) as my next computer, but I have heard and seen online that the aluminium unibody Mac minis all have an issue with overheating. They get extremely hot when put on load and the heat can be felt through the aluminum casing.

I was wondering, if there are any solutions I can buy along with my Mac mini to keep it cool and running smooth, so it doesn't throttle or anything bad that extreme heat can do. I couldn't find anything solutions to cool the Mini, but to just stick a computer fan under it or pop off the plastic base. I hope to hear that there is a better way to ensure the computer gets properly cooled. I would love to have a Mac at a low cost, but for it not to bake at high temperatures.

Hey I found your post while looking for the same thing! I picked up a 2011 Mac mini. I replaced the drive with an SSD, went from 2Gb to 16Gb, and replaced the fan while I was inside it. Now it's running great with Catalina (thank you @dosdude1) as my desktop Mac and also running Windows 24/7 so I wondered about upgrading the cooling too. What did you settle on?

 

[GoodGuy12345]

I settled on the Mac mini cooling base made by SPEED Designs, for my Mac mini 2012 and a 2018. Luckily I choose a model that will also get the new macOS 10.15, anyways, I got my Mac mini used on eBay. It worked fine, but both its chassis got hot. The cooling base worked very well, kept the computer temps at a reasonable 80 some degrees celsius when on load, and I am currently happy with it on my primary Mac mini (2018).

 

[DonCarlos]

Well I just went through this overheating thing. I did buy a Nustand Alloy cradle to keep the mini sideways. But it actually did not work that well.

So I took a small 6” square wire cookie stand grill, and laid the mini flat on it. Then added a small usb fan to the back so the air flows under to the front and ,moves air from the back away.

This brought the mini down from the sideways idle speed of 52c. to present 39-43c. Right now typing this , with 3 safari tabs open, it is at 45c. So that’s my solution.

Another thing is the heat really depends on what you are doing, and even with Photos running and some light edits, it has stayed under 65c.

Having it sideways on that NuStand cradle did very little, and it's a bit wobbly.

So in summary, flat on cookie rack that is elevated 3/4” above the surface, nothing around it but a cool looking orange miniature usb fan that turns on when I power on the mini.

Hope this helps and works for others. Not sure what to do with the NuStand, looks great but did nothing heat wise (and the I struggled with the rubber gasket that kept twisting and coming out when I bumped or moved the mini.

I realize that this works for me but maybe not for you.
Really helps to keep the space around and under the mini open and air flowing.

Regards

 

[ivnj]

My 2014 mini never gets hot.

 

[EnderBeta]

The processor running high isn't just about if the processor will be damaged. It also impacts how much and the duration of the turbo boost. The cooler the machine runs the faster it runs.

I use the free app Macs Fan Control.

Thanks! I found it and it dropped my 2012 2.3GHz i7 from running at a basic load at 80C to 65C [57C as of completing the post] which is a huge difference. That said for other people that are worried the machine was purchased right before the 2014 model was announced and was my main Mac for a year before getting my Late 2015 iMac and since then has been operating as my iTunes and VLC media server for about three years. I'm sure these new Mac Mini's should do well too. I'm actually tempted to buy one to use at the office but I don't think my boss would allow it.

 

[D.T.]

I've got my MBP in an aluminum vertical stand, it's adjustable width (uses a little allen fastener), and I think it'll expand enough to sit the Mini in it, on its side. I also have a large (LED lit) PC fan I wired into a USB cable, powered via a charging bud, and stuck to the stand with 3M tape so it just blows across the bottom of the MBP (the bottom faces the wall so it's not even visible), and that little extra air circulating makes a measurable difference, figured it will help the Mini a little too.

 

[Synchro3]

Just found this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32963689468.html?

 

[hagjohn]

I have one of these. It covers most of the bottom and is very steady.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MWH4FL4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I purchased a smaller one to exhaust my My Cloud EXT2 Ultra, to cool my HD’s.

 

[vagos1103gr]

I have one of these. It covers most of the bottom and is very steady.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MWH4FL4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I purchased a smaller one to exhaust my My Cloud EXT2 Ultra, to cool my HD’s.

Thanks I order that for my Mac mini 2018. Did you remove the bottom cover when you sit down on the fan the Mac mini. Did you notice any drop in temperatures?

 

[hagjohn]

Thanks I order that for my Mac mini 2018. Did you remove the bottom cover when you sit down on the fan the Mac mini. Did you notice any drop in temperatures?

I have not taken the bottom cover off. I have noticed a drop in temperature. I just need to get a program to see how much it dropped but I just watched a movie and my mini is cool to the touch.

 

[EnderBeta]

Here is my 2012 Mac Mini 2.3 Ghz i7, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD with 1TB 5400 RPM drive running macOS 10.14.5. This temperature is from running Macs Fan Control and setting the fan to 5500RPM.

 

[hagjohn]

 

[Chapter]

Here's a radical cooling solution for the brave at heart:

1. Unscrew the Mac Mini 2018's metal grate from the chassis and turn it to the side being mindful of the Airport cable. Do not disconnect it from the motherboard.

2. Now that you have access to the CPU heatsink, attach a much larger heatsink to it using thermal paste. For even better cooling, use a heatsink + fan combo.

P.S. I have no experience with computer parts or modding but this idea sounds cool in theory.

 

[EnderBeta]

View attachment 848034 View attachment 848033

I wonder if the fan could be built into a aluminum enclosure that would make the base look like just another mini under the mini.

 

[GoodGuy12345]

I wonder if the fan could be built into a aluminum enclosure that would make the base look like just another mini under the mini.

I think you meant by this: https://www.speed-designs.com/speed-mac-mini-cooling-base fan in a plate of aluminum, same dimensions as the Mac mini itself. Been using it for a while now, worked pretty well on cooling as it creates a perfect seal for air to be forced in the chassis.

 

[EnderBeta]

I think you meant by this: https://www.speed-designs.com/speed-mac-mini-cooling-base fan in a plate of aluminum, same dimensions as the Mac mini itself. Been using it for a while now, worked pretty well on cooling as it creates a perfect seal for air to be forced in the chassis.

Thats not bad at all. I hesitate to buy it for my 2012 at this point but a space grey to match the 2018 is tempting if I do pull the trigger on the 2018.