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useme2305

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 12, 2011
73
14
hey everyone,

the new mac mini server (2011) is a fantastic little machine. i think we all agree here. but it can be a little noisy when put under pressure, right?

first of all i'd like to ask everyone who has a new 2011 mac mini server and eyetv to report their mac mini temperatures (degrees celsius) when watching live 1080i television (sky sports hd etc.) with eyetv. press "cmd+alt+i" in eyetv to look up the resolution of the current program. make sure to wait for at least 10 mins or so to get a relevant temperature.

you can use smc fan control to monitor your mac's temperature.

when i got this mac last week i was a bit let down by the noise my new mini server would produce when watching HD television.
whenever i would switch to an HD program my mac's temperature went up to over 90 degrees and the fan's speed went with it. so high that it was impossible to enjoy the running program.

well, after some thinking i decided that i should try to remove the weird plastic cover that covers the board's heatsink.

i'm talking about this piece of plastic:

http://i54.tinypic.com/30ixnp1.jpg

i'm NOT talking about the mac mini's chassis' cover.

well, to come to an end here: removing the to me totally useless piece of plastic helps to keep the mini's temps well under 90 degrees when watching HD television and whatnot.
this prevents the fan from speeding up and keeps the mac mini server QUIET.

i honestly don't know what this piece of plastic is supposed to do other than keep the heatsink from cooling down and thereby causing heat to dam up.

i for one am keeping this thing out of my mini FOREVER.
the idle temps have also drastically sunken. the mini is just way cooler now.

only do this if you really know what you're doing.
if you're not sure how to safely disassemble the mac mini you can use this video as a guide.

try it and report back in this thread to help others.
 
Last edited:
I noticed that one use of the piece of plastic you mentioned is to hold the hard disk connectors (the SATA connectors) to their positions. Without it, the SATA connectors may jump up and go loose.
 
ah, alright.

seriously though...such a big piece of plastic for such minimal use?
btw my hdd connectors sit tight even without this thing.

good to know what it's actually there for though. thanks.
 
The purpose of the plastic is to contain the heat from the heat pipe and focus it towards the rear baffle that the fan blows through. Without the plastic you are heating up the rest of the Mac Mini's internal components. You may experience higher RAM or Hard Drive temperatures.
 
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