Elevating a Mac Mini reduces heat significantly

[anp27]

Heat is something that I try to be super aware of when it comes to computers. So in my efforts to have everything under control, I decided to put four rubber feet on the four corners of my Mac Mini and even have a little external fan facing the ports at the back. Now that the Mini is elevated by 0.79 inches and with the fan, I'm happy to report that my Mini runs at an average of 45 degrees Celsius with Mail and Safari open. Before this, the temperature was around 55 - 60 degrees running these same applications.

I saw some links of the NuTech Mac Mini stand but didn't really like it since the Mini is held up on its side (vertical position). I read somewhere that heat dissipates much quicker when the object is horizontal as opposed to vertical.

I greatly recommend elevating your Mini if you have one, especially the quad core Minis that tend to run a little warmer.

 

[Johnlpi]

I got an acrylic case for mine and I do worry if I’m not cookin’ the inna’ds. When the fan speeds up it’s blowing hot air out the back so I’m not too concerned - it’s never hot to the touch or anything.

 

[jbarley]

and even have a little external fan facing the ports at the back.

Sounds like you are trying to blow air into the same exhaust ports where the mini's fan is trying hard to exhaust air out.

 

[anp27]

Sounds like you are trying to blow air into the same exhaust ports where the mini's fan is trying hard to exhaust air out.

No, the fan is at a diagonal position. Any air coming out is being blown away, not back in.

 

[dyt1983]

edit: To remove personally identifying information not relevant to the thread.

 

[anp27]

Hmm, I don't think that applies in all cases, and specifically not to a Mac Mini. It's kind of hard to address an annotation like that... "somewhere"

I wish I could remember where I read it, but I can't. I'm sure it's something you could Google.

I think I read somewhere that rubber feet on a Mac Mini can cause things to break?

It can, but not if you put the rubber feet at the corners. As long as you don't put them on black circular panel on the bottom, you'll be fine.

Hmm, you wrote above that it was pointed at the ports.

I wrote "facing the ports", but I should have written "facing the ports at a diagonal position".

BTW, how do you know the feet raised it 0.79 inches?

Because the length of the rubber feet I purchased is 0.79 inches.

Do you think it would work as well if it was 0.75 inches? Or 0.85 inches?

I would imagine so... there's a guy here on the forum that has his Mac Mini elevated by 2 inches: Link Read post #20.

 

[dyt1983]

edit: To remove personally identifying information not relevant to the thread.

 

[anp27]

Ah, so your Mini isn't really elevated 0.79 inches, because the corners are already some height from the surface the Mac rests on. So I guess the height isn't really that important. It's just when such a precise measurement is given (to the hundredth of an inch!), the precision is usually important. Thanks for the clarification!

Yeah I guess the point is that as long as the Mac mini is not resting on the black panel (as it normally would if it wasn't elevated) you should see a difference. I mentioned 0.79 inches so that anybody reading could get a rough idea of how much the Mini was elevated by. Didn't know I was dealing with an engineer!!!

 

[newellj]

Mine's been up on rubber feet since I opened the box, but I'm far from convinced that it runs any cooler. I put the feet on because it was a little too likely to slide around on the black plastic cover.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I have a rubber pad I purchased from OWC which fits nicely on the circular disk on the bottom of the mini. No problems.

The "rubber feet / overheating" issue strikes me as:
- people over thinking this
- someone had a defective mini which overheated while they had rubber feet/pad on the bottom and started thinking that was the cause.

While I suppose some heat is dissipated via the bottom because if you pick up the mini the table it was on is probably slightly warm, my guess would be that it was minimal and the lion's share of the heat is dissipated via the aluminum case and fans.

To me it's akin to saying, "When I put my cup of coffee on the table it chills my coffee," because, if you pick up your coffee mug it's probably warm just underneath it. Yes, heat is being lost there but much more heat is being lost through the mug on all sides and the top of the mug where it's open.

 

[George Dawes]

The 2011 models - i have 2 get very hot , the new one 2014 model is amazingly cool no matter what , both of mine are on 24/7 and don't even get warm , amazing really

 

[Brad Bishop]

I had a 2011 model running 24/7 for about 2 years without an issue. It may get a little warm if I were transcoding a video or something but I don't ever remember it hot.