How quiet is the Mini?

[badlydrawnboy]

I am interested in a Mini as a second computer to use with a new standing desk I bought (along with an external monitor mounted to the wall above it).

My main machine at my sitting desk is an iMac with a flash drive. I specifically chose the flash drive because of how quiet it is. I do a lot of recording and I don't like spinning hard drives.

How audible is the Mini? I was disappointed to learn that no Mini models have a flash drive, so I suspect they do make some noise.

I plan to mount it under the desk, so that might help a bit.

 

[shftoptk]

I have a mini with an SSD in it and no disk drive besides the external but let's assume I unplug them.
My mini is silent during normal usage (couple of firefox windows, photoshop, itunes, etc.)
The only thing that makes noise is the fan, but that's only when I'm exporting through premier or playing a game like minecraft. Underneath a desk the mini should be very, very quiet.

Note: I have the mid-2011 2.3 i5 model with a samsung evo ssd. I also have my mini sitting 4 inches from my keyboard, still very very quiet.

 

[jdblas69]

You can get mini's with flash storage?? Anyhow I have the same mini as shftoptk and still runs a HDD and still in pretty quiet until like they said you push it to the point of the fan kicking in then it is a bit noisy

 

[CoastalOR]

OP: You can order a new "build to order" (BTO) Mac mini with an 256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB Flash storage.

 

[CaptMarvel]

I honestly forget it's there when I use mine.

 

[gsmornot]

I have a UPS in my office sitting at the other end of the desk. I hear that but not the mini which sits right behind my monitor. It really never makes any noise unless you're using it for a task that requires a lot of processor time and in turn needs the fan to run on high to keep it cool. 95% of what I do will not cause the fan to run so I "never" hear it.

 

[ActionableMango]

Minis are fairly quiet except when under full load. Unfortunately due to the fact that the fan is small, it's fairly noisy under full load.

I'm assuming you're asking about newer models. The older G4 and Core2 Solo models were actually fairly loud more often than the newer ones.

I'm certain you can use a flash drive instead of a spinner. Either Apple BTO if you get the mid-level model or better, or DIY for any model.

 

[mountain]

You prob wont hear anything under normal browsing and light task but any video and photo editing will render some noise.