Cooling solutions for the Mac minis?

[GoodGuy12345]

But what about the CPU temps under full load? What's the clock frequency? Before the fan and after?

Sorry for not seeing this, still busy with life. Back then I used to look at all those specs, and benchmark between my 2012 and my 2018, but now the cooling base keeps it cool, I don't really care about all those tinkerer's numbers. Plus, I'm very busy with life, so have no time to take a break, and do this.

But feel free for anyone else that could do it, that would be great!

 

[D.T.]

I'm about 99% sure I'm going to keep this machine, if I do, I'm going to build a little cooler stack (not my original idea).

TBC ...

 

[PseudoRegister]

I didn’t read through all the replies so I apologize if this is redundant. My graphics card (Radeon) got fried about five years ago. After replacing the mother board, I bought these USB powered, very quiet, and allowed me to put the Mini in a min-tower cabinet in my desk where I set the Mini vertically and a fan on the top and bottom. There was a big hole in the tower cabinet and would have liked to install one of the fans there but too much of a hassle, and these worked fine even though it was in an enclosed space (I typically had the cabinet door open anyway.

USB Fan for Audiophiles

And here’s the vertical “stand” — custom made for MacMini!

 

[pshufd]

I didn’t read through all the replies so I apologize if this is redundant. My graphics card (Radeon) got fried about five years ago. After replacing the mother board, I bought these USB powered, very quiet, and allowed me to put the Mini in a min-tower cabinet in my desk where I set the Mini vertically and a fan on the top and bottom. There was a big hole in the tower cabinet and would have liked to install one of the fans there but too much of a hassle, and these worked fine even though it was in an enclosed space (I typically had the cabinet door open anyway.

USB Fan for Audiophiles

And here’s the vertical “stand” — custom made for MacMini!

I bought several of those back around 2007-2008 when Radio Shack still existed. They cost about $8 and I still have them though I don't really need them anymore. The 2007-2008 MacBook Pros ran pretty hot so they were useful. What would be cool is an array of them that you plugged into a wall to use as a laptop stand.

 

[iamsen47]

Had a hunch and googled 'mac mini cooling fins', apparently you can simply place a heat sink on your mini to help the cooling.

Guy who did it says temps went from 90C down to 77C.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/5pfjv7

 

[tagumcity]

My Mac mini sits in vertical stand, the black cover was removed, and a 200mm fan is blowing cold air on it. The cpu temps are about 40C when web browsing and playing vidoes. I’ll figure out some improvements along the way.

 

[Cape Dave]

My Mac mini sits in vertical stand, the black cover was removed, and a 200mm fan is blowing cold air on it. The cpu temps are about 40C when web browsing and playing vidoes. I’ll figure out some improvements along the way.

Noctua fans are truly awesome! Well played!

 

[tagumcity]

Noctua fans are truly awesome! Well played!

For a Linux Ryzen build we just purchased Noctua iPPC 3000rpm PWM (1 120mm and 4 140mm) and will manage the speed at 2000rpm. For the cpu we're using the Noctua NH-D15 cooler.

 

[Cape Dave]

For a Linux Ryzen build we just purchased Noctua iPPC 3000rpm PWM (1 120mm and 4 140mm) and will manage the speed at 2000rpm. For the cpu we're using the Noctua NH-D15 cooler.

I love them because they are so quiet. I use Noctua in the build in my sig.

 

[StellarVixen]

Had a hunch and googled 'mac mini cooling fins', apparently you can simply place a heat sink on your mini to help the cooling.

Guy who did it says temps went from 90C down to 77C.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/5pfjv7

That looks...hideous. No offense.

 

[themfinger]

My Mac mini has arrived about a week ago (i7 - 512gb ssd - 16gb ram). I have put it under stress for the entire weekend with long renders with Cinema 4D (12 hours with all cores working): average CPU temperature 95-98° C (never going over 100°), average frequency 3,4-3,5 GHz. The aluminium case was lightly warm, never hot.

And is it very noisy?

 

[D.T.]

I put some LRF on a fan I had mounted on a MBP (side) stand, I think I may have even used this on a previous MM the same way.

So I've got my i7 '18 MM, sitting on this fan, it's about 2" off the desk, it's an old LED PC fan I wired into a USB cable, using a wall wart with it, it's pretty quiet, it certainly looks pretty cool Unless I'm hallucinating (which is always possible ...), it appears - according to Macs Fan Control - to be running about 4-5° cooler vs. just sitting on the desk, performing roughly the same type of tasks.

I think I'm going to score a better, quieter fan, do something along the same lines since it seems to be decently effective.

Maybe this:

Pccooler 120mm Fan Moonlight Series, PC-M120B LED Blue Computer Case Fan - PC Cooling Fan - Dual Light Loop Quiet Fan for PC Cases, CPU Coolers, Radiators System

Pccooler 120mm Fan Moonlight Series, PC-M120B LED Blue Computer Case Fan - PC Cooling Fan - Dual Light Loop Quiet Fan for PC Cases, CPU Coolers, Radiators System

www.amazon.com

 

[chinito77]

Just want to see if I'm not the only one with this issue but my Mac Mini (i7 2018) will overheat to the point that it goes into sleep mode (Lose video image). It connects to an 55" Sony OLED so perhaps the graphics card is taking a beating? I watch a lot of 4k content using VLC, IINA, and Youtube. Perhaps getting an egpu will help the stress I'm putting on my mini?

 

[harriska2]

My Mac mini sits in vertical stand, the black cover was removed, and a 200mm fan is blowing cold air on it. The cpu temps are about 40C when web browsing and playing vidoes. I’ll figure out some improvements along the way.

If blowing air on it might it collect a ton of dust in a short period? Might it be better (but less effective) to pull air from it?

 

[frou]

Just want to see if I'm not the only one with this issue but my Mac Mini (i7 2018) will overheat to the point that it goes into sleep mode (Lose video image).

I had a little Intel NUC computer that did the same. It was simply caused by a big gob of dust inside the heatsink/fan that was heavily impeding airflow. Cleaned that out and the issue was gone instantly.

 

[D.T.]

I put some LRF on a fan I had mounted on a MBP (side) stand, I think I may have even used this on a previous MM the same way.

So I've got my i7 '18 MM, sitting on this fan, it's about 2" off the desk, it's an old LED PC fan I wired into a USB cable, using a wall wart with it, it's pretty quiet, it certainly looks pretty cool Unless I'm hallucinating (which is always possible ...), it appears - according to Macs Fan Control - to be running about 4-5° cooler vs. just sitting on the desk, performing roughly the same type of tasks.

I think I'm going to score a better, quieter fan, do something along the same lines since it seems to be decently effective.

Maybe this:

Pccooler 120mm Fan Moonlight Series, PC-M120B LED Blue Computer Case Fan - PC Cooling Fan - Dual Light Loop Quiet Fan for PC Cases, CPU Coolers, Radiators System

Pccooler 120mm Fan Moonlight Series, PC-M120B LED Blue Computer Case Fan - PC Cooling Fan - Dual Light Loop Quiet Fan for PC Cases, CPU Coolers, Radiators System

www.amazon.com

I actually wound up going with this one:

AC Infinity MULTIFAN S4, Quiet 140mm USB Fan, UL-Certified for Receiver DVR Playstation Xbox Computer Cabinet Cooling

Ultra-quiet UL-certified USB fan designed to cool various electronics and components. Features a multi-speed controller to set the fan’s speed to optimal noise and airflow levels. Dual-ball bearings have a lifespan of 67,000 hours and allows the fans to be laid flat or stand upright. USB plug can...

www.amazon.com

AC Infinity, they had excellent reviews, and make all sorts of cooler products. It's 140mm, has really nice shock mounts on both sides, flow 57 CFM at only 18 dBA, dual ball bearings, has a USB daisy chain connector, and a switch with 3 speed positions - I'm currently using M[edium], it's almost silent on M, L it's like it's not on, but there was a decent improvement of several degrees between those two settings. Figured if I did a long, CPU intensive job, I could always flip it to the H position

It's really solid sitting on top of it, the 140mm gives it good lateral support - I might remove my bottom plate too.

 

[magicMac]

considering the mini mac is just 3 components inside (mainboard, PSU and fan/heatsink) i'm surprised there are not really any useful off-the-shelf custom cases and cooling solutions for the mini mac. Maybe that will change soon as many of the 2018 models are now coming out of 1-year warranty.

 

[iAssimilated]

Has anyone tried the AC Infinity MULTIFAN S4 on top of a mini? I have my minis stacked on top of each other with about an inch in between them and my 2018 on top. I am wondering how the fan would perform pulling the heat away. I will find out, since I decided to buy one since my mini does get hot when I am taxing the CPU.

 

[frou]

considering the mini mac is just 3 components inside (mainboard, PSU and fan/heatsink) i'm surprised there are not really any useful off-the-shelf custom cases and cooling solutions for the mini mac.

That's your cue to do a Kickstarter and make some manufacturing contacts in China!

 

[magicMac]

That's your cue to do a Kickstarter and make some manufacturing contacts in China!

I honestly would if i had the CAD skills ! I even have an education licence of AutoCAD, but unfortunately struggle to draw a triangle on it

 

[Wig321]

I had issues with high temperatures and the fan always being on doing small tasks that weren’t demanding. Now I’m using the i7 Mac mini 2018 with turbo boost disabled and an egpu, now runs very cool.

 

[magicMac]

I had issues with high temperatures and the fan always being on doing small tasks that weren’t demanding. Now I’m using the i7 Mac mini 2018 with turbo boost disabled and an egpu, now runs very cool.

how did you disable turbo boost ? (not sure I intend to but good to know)

 

[Wig321]

how did you disable turbo boost ? (not sure I intend to but good to know)

https://www.gearspace.com/board/avi...10-14-4-turbo-boost-switcher-performance.html

I use logic rather than pro tools but the comments in this link are the same experience as I’ve had.

Search Macrumours for turbo boost switcher.

 

[Spectrum]

https://www.gearspace.com/board/avi...10-14-4-turbo-boost-switcher-performance.html

I use logic rather than pro tools but the comments in this link are the same experience as I’ve had.

Search Macrumours for turbo boost switcher.

I don't dispute the findings of the posters there, but it seems pretty odd situation to have to limit the CPU to its base spec of 3.2 Ghz for the i7 (3.0 for the i5). This is 20-30% speed reduction depending on workflow. I'm not sure if ProTool uses hyperthreading, but if it does, I wonder if an alternative solution might not be to maintain turbo, but to limit the CPU to 6 cores/6 threads rather than 6 cores/12 threads. Or even to turn off 1-2 cores.

Hyperthreading (on the i7) can be turned off using the "Instruments" app. I think it may be part of Xcode:

 

[r0ll0]

anyone try this?