Mac Mini Cooling?

[blueapplepaste]

I'm finally getting ready to set up my 2018 Mac Mini.

I've had my 2012 Mini on this shelf under the desk (see pic) since I bought it 6 years ago. It sometimes does get pretty warm, but not sure if that's a function the computer just intrinsically gets warm, or if this is inadequate air flow?

Never considered it until now, but I want to ensure the new one lasts as long as this one did.

Should this be sufficient? Or did I just get lucky with the current Mini and I should find a better solution for the new one?

 

[antz359]

Mine's in a similar setting and gets a little warm. In your case is there space to stand your MM on it's edge ? That may help or raise it up a little to increase air flow. What's the black box next to it which looks like air vents pointing at your MM.

 

[Candurin]

Why not consider a simple vertical stand?

Or go for the rigged look and use Velcro (even better, 3m dual lock) to stick it to the top of that shelf space?

 

[blueapplepaste]

Mine's in a similar setting and gets a little warm. In your case is there space to stand your MM on it's edge ? That may help or raise it up a little to increase air flow. What's the black box next to it which looks like air vents pointing at your MM.

That's my Xbox 360. I have Xbox One X on shelf below (you can see the top) so the 360 hardly ever gets played. Probably haven't played it in a year or so.
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Why not consider a simple vertical stand?

Or go for the rigged look and use Velcro (even better, 3m dual lock) to stick it to the top of that shelf space?

That’s probably the solution I would use. But would prefer to use shelf if possible.

 

[FrontierForever]

I put mine in a cupboard with doors on the front. I used the saw from a Swiss Army Knife and cut away the pressed card board backing away near the wall to keep the cupboard vented.

 

[F-Train]

For the last two weeks, I had mine on the sill of a partially open window. Heat hasn’t been an issue. Yesterday, it was a bit below 0°C/32°F here. I have a few months to come up with a summer solution.

 

[Trusteft]

Two major reasons a computer will get hot, too hot and I am talking mostly about the CPU and/or GPU, are dust/dirt accumulation inside the machine, including fans and vents (where applicable) and the drying out of thermal paste on the said CPU/GPU.

A good cleaning of them and replacing of thermal paste works wonders.

As a recent example I did a cleaning and replacing of the thermal paste of my gaming laptop (non Apple, but that's irrelevant) and saw a HUGE drop in temperatures and increase in performance. The laptop at the time was about 3.5 years old.
Bare this in mind.

I am including links to one of my videos about this. They are the same video, one on my youtube channel and one on my cocoscope channel. Even if you don't watch, please always remember what I said earlier.

https://www.cocoscope.com/watch?v=5705

 

[twennywonn]

I have a 2018 Mac Mini in my HT stand and I just installed this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009COQYA0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[HenryAZ]

I am doing the same thing with my new Mini (that I fired up yesterday) that I did with my 2011 Mini. That is to mount a 120mm case fan to blow across the Mini such that it cools the case and blows away any heat coming out of the rear vent. You can get either 12v powered fans (widely available) and figure out some way to power it, or do what I did and buy the same fan wired for AC. Then you simply splice in a cord and plug it into any available outlet. I never had a problem with heat in the 2011, and so far the new Mini is running cool as can be. The fan on its lowest setting does not move a huge amount of air, but it is plenty, and is also quiet. Not as quiet as no fan, but still not something I notice.

 

[weaztek]

Should this be sufficient? Or did I just get lucky with the current Mini and I should find a better solution for the new one?

It's fine. It seems people here have collectively forgotten the Mini has a series of sensors and fans to keep it cool when it gets hot. Apples might be expensive but they're not complete idiots when it comes to thermal protection.

 

[macdos]

Should this be sufficient? Or did I just get lucky with the current Mini and I should find a better solution for the new one?

You can always remove the fan and immerse the mini in oil. That'll take care of all and any heat problems.