Mac Mini fan noise?

[batistuta]

I am considering a new Mac Mini to complement my MBP 4.1 (2.4GHz, 4GB RAM) which tends to spin up the fans a little too often for my taste. Especially annoying when using my Elgato Eye TV Hybrid to watch TV on it, even if both cores are nowhere near 100%.
I am hoping the Mini would have an easier job getting rid of the heat? At least the processor should run slightly cooler - the same goes for the graphics (8600m GT vs 9400m in the Mini).
I intend to go for 4GB RAM and either a 500GB 5400rpm drive or an 80GB Intel X-25M SSD - the latter to cut down noise further.

How is fan noise when the mini is idling? My MBP fans idles close to 2000rpm, which doesnt generate much noise, but I would like to go lower yet.
Any difference in noise between 2.0 and 2.26GHz versions?

All Mini fan (no pun intended) observations welcome!

 

[pjashley1]

I can't hear my mini at idle - you can barely even feel the air moving at the back unless there's some number crunching going on.

 

[ADent]

It is pretty quiet most of the time.

I do hear fan noise when doing stuff like multi-core video encoding.

 

[noodle654]

I can't hear much from the Mini, the fans usually idle around 1500 RPM. However, I have noticed that the Mini does run quite warm compared to my MBP. Usually around 130-150*F with Safari running. When the fan do start up, it is quite loud. If you use SMCFancontrol, and you set your speeds and change them, it usually takes a minute to bring the speed back to normal because the fan in the Mini is quite low end.

 

[CubeHacker]

The mini at idle is almost inaudible - even in a quiet room. By far the quietest fan based computer i've heard. The thing is, even after encoding video for several hours, i've never heard the fan speed up. In other words, my 09 mini is quiet all the time. Its great!

 

[tumpy]

Yeah, my 09 mini is very close to silent. Coming from a PC tower with about 5 fans, its kinda weird at first getting used to the lack of noise.

I've been encoding a video with Handbrake for the last hour or so and there's a faint whisper coming from the mini. I am really impressed with this little computer.