Hello.
I'm also one of those "nuts about fan noise" people.
So, I've got this perfectly good late 2007 Mac Mini 2.1 with a silent SSD in it.
Slowing the fan/blower down with software doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.
When installing the SSD, I noticed the manufacturer of the fan. It's an AVC (Asia Vital Components) custom fan/blower for the Mini. It uses a custom 4-wire connector with 3 spaces used.
Just for curiosity, I searched eBay for "Mac Mini Fan" and came up with several results.
Surprise! Plenty are available for the 1.83/2.0 mid-2007 Mini. Also, they're from a different Vendor, Delta.
So I ordered one up and installed it. The fan noise is very similar in volume but slightly more annoying in character. From my point of view the original AVC fan is less annoying but only by a very small amount.
The construction of these two blowers is considerably different. The fact that the noise signature is very similar seems to indicate a very exact specification from Apple.
Disassembling a Mini is not for the faint of heart, weak of eye or unsteady of hand. The parts and bolts are tiny and delicate. The all-important Airflow is carefully contrived to cool all parts adequately using both the inlet and outlet of the blower. It's very important to make sure that all the foam seals are in the correct locations, particularly the one attached to the bottom of the hard drive.
Here's some pictures of the original and replacement fan, its connector, the wire routing and the board it plugs into.
While a 3-wire fan, it's a good bet that it's not a standard "+,-,Tach" wiring approach nor should one assume which wire does what. Fitting a Zalman FanMate as suggested elsewhere is impractical as there's no place for it. There's hardly any room for the existing wiring let alone modified, spliced wiring - you'd have to make tiny soldered, heatshrinked connections and mount the FanMate outside.. yuck!
It's another good bet that the firmware doesn't like seeing the fan run at a different speed than commanded.
Nor should it. The Mini needs its cooling air. We as fussy users need to respect this and just leave the fan speed alone.
But you might want to try an AVC-supplied Apple fan. It seems slightly better.
Have Fun,
Keri
I'm also one of those "nuts about fan noise" people.
So, I've got this perfectly good late 2007 Mac Mini 2.1 with a silent SSD in it.
Slowing the fan/blower down with software doesn't seem like a very good idea to me.
When installing the SSD, I noticed the manufacturer of the fan. It's an AVC (Asia Vital Components) custom fan/blower for the Mini. It uses a custom 4-wire connector with 3 spaces used.
Just for curiosity, I searched eBay for "Mac Mini Fan" and came up with several results.
Surprise! Plenty are available for the 1.83/2.0 mid-2007 Mini. Also, they're from a different Vendor, Delta.
So I ordered one up and installed it. The fan noise is very similar in volume but slightly more annoying in character. From my point of view the original AVC fan is less annoying but only by a very small amount.
The construction of these two blowers is considerably different. The fact that the noise signature is very similar seems to indicate a very exact specification from Apple.
Disassembling a Mini is not for the faint of heart, weak of eye or unsteady of hand. The parts and bolts are tiny and delicate. The all-important Airflow is carefully contrived to cool all parts adequately using both the inlet and outlet of the blower. It's very important to make sure that all the foam seals are in the correct locations, particularly the one attached to the bottom of the hard drive.
Here's some pictures of the original and replacement fan, its connector, the wire routing and the board it plugs into.
While a 3-wire fan, it's a good bet that it's not a standard "+,-,Tach" wiring approach nor should one assume which wire does what. Fitting a Zalman FanMate as suggested elsewhere is impractical as there's no place for it. There's hardly any room for the existing wiring let alone modified, spliced wiring - you'd have to make tiny soldered, heatshrinked connections and mount the FanMate outside.. yuck!
It's another good bet that the firmware doesn't like seeing the fan run at a different speed than commanded.
Nor should it. The Mini needs its cooling air. We as fussy users need to respect this and just leave the fan speed alone.
But you might want to try an AVC-supplied Apple fan. It seems slightly better.
Have Fun,
Keri
