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How loud is the Mac Mini?

D

dbam987

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 27, 2007
210
0
Just a quick question here, how loud does the Mac Mini get? Does it have a fan-less design?
 
Not sure how loud it is but it does have a fan.

Here is a picture of the innards.

And here is a link with information about the fan noise.
http://www.russellbeattie.com/notebook/1008309.html

hd.jpg
 
Flyer0815 said:
We have these in the office and they are dead silent. Cant even tell they are on!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was amazed when I got my mini. My PC sounds like a jet engine, you can't even hear the mini. The only time you ever hear it is a) if you have a cd-rom in the drive (obviously), or b) if you max out the processor for a little bit you will barely hear the fan. I have a ministack drive and that is fairly noisy, can't hear the mini over that at all.
 
Yes, it has one in the front just like every headless Mac.

The mini is a pretty quiet computer. When you run it at full tilt for a while in a hot room it's sound level increases dramatically (blowers type fans tend to be loud).
 
How does that speaker sound on the Mini? Thats an added plus I didn't know about... :)
 
dbam987 said:
Just a quick question here, how loud does the Mac Mini get? Does it have a fan-less design?
Click to expand...

The only time mine ever got loud was when running HandBrake. The optical drive spun up and the fan had to kick in some. They're NOWHERE near as loud as any PC. My mom's PC sounds like a lawn mower running over concrete at times. The Mini sounds more like a 2-inch fan. In fact, my Western Digital external hard drive makes more noise.
 
In short, very quiet. Fan usually runs at around 1500rpms. Around 2400rpms when watching HD TV using an eyeTV (w/ one core at 50-60%load on a 1.83 CD). 2400rpms is getting noticeable, but only if you turned the volume down from whatever you were watching.

The ministack on the other hand, sounds like a jet engine. They really need to get a fan control program for that enclosure, b/c the fan is way too loud compared to the mini.
 
The mini is very quiet (aka basically silent) typically, but if you are doing heavy CPU then the fan will spin up and you can actually hear it.

The optical can be heard and the Superdrive seems quite a bit louder than the Combo in the other unit.
 
One more Q

does anyone have the lacie external hard drive that sits under the mini? I am wondering on how loud that could get...

Thanks for all the responses! They all help in my decision to get the mini.
 
I just got a Mini yesterday (got a good deal on a refurb from Apple) and this thing is very quiet. My GFs MacBook Pro has a louder fan. As others have said, the DVD/CD drive can get loud, but it is quiet when playing a movie from DVD.

I have the Mini hooked up to a TV/LCD, and it seems to be the perfect machine for moderate computing and watching movies. Front Row is a fantastic feature.

I'm gonna push this thing to find its limits, but so far I am VERY happy with it.
 
For being the black sheep of the apple line-up, it's a very impressive little machine
 
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