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Mac Mini without HD, CD-DVD driver, and fan.

giambattista

giambattista

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 21, 2007
14
0
Rieti, Italy
Hi, in order to have a 100% silent computer is it possible to use a Mac Mini G4, 1.42 GHz:
1) without hard drive (start up with a silent external FireWire 350 GB LaCie mini disk).
2) without CD-DVD optical drive (using, of course, an external high quality and silent LaCie CD-DVD drive).
3) without any fan (I would like to remove the fan because I don't want to hear any noise).
In order to refresh the Mac Mini and keep it cool, I would not replace the external top cover, just leave it open, allowing air to naturally circulate.
Do you think it will work for more than a few hours, or will it take fire?
Is someone out there who tried to have a silent Mac Mini?
I am a Mac Cube G4 450 GHz user. Cube it is totally quite, but it runs too slow. That's way I would like to have a silent Mac Mini.
Please let me know your opinions.
Thanks.
 
I have a stock mini. No modifications.
Apart from the odd hard drive noise, it is silent. I never hear it.
Why remove odd. External one will be just as noisy when in use.
Fan has never spinn up for me, I play 1080p video and still remains silent
 
mines silent too cept say for the expected odd spin up of optical media . I can just , and I mean just hear the fans faint purr when my ear is literally on the thing.

Mac Mini by far the best Mac , there -I said it.
 
Thanks for your replies.
Unfortunately my Mac Mini is very noisy.
Sorry but is impossible to use it running sound editing applications as Bias Peak 4 or T-Racks 24.
It doesn't make any sense to use a Mac Mini with such a programs.
Apple should have produced a (modern) silent Mac for use with music software.
The only silent Macs are MacPlus and Mac Cube (they both don't have fan).
But Apple doesn't seem to care about the problem.
Thanks again.
 
It would take some work but I suppose you could modify the mount plate for one of those giant third party fan-less heat sinks like the ZEROtherm BTF95.

There are also numerous 120mm fan cooled heatsinks which could be set at minimal settings to cool the CPU and be near silent (placed in a quiet ATX case would help more). Those have more mounting option so you may be able to find one with adjustable top and bottom mounts.
 
Our iMac is fan free also. 400MHz iMac DV.

Can you use the Cube as the remote display for the mini? IE put the mini outside the room and Remote Sharing into the mini?
 
ADent said:
Our iMac is fan free also. 400MHz iMac DV.

Can you use the Cube as the remote display for the mini? IE put the mini outside the room and Remote Sharing into the mini?
Click to expand...

Screen sharing is relatively slow and choppy on fast computers with a direct gigabit ethernet connection. This would not bode well for video playback:eek:
 
How about a brand new Mini?

I can attest that my PPC Mini was a lot noisier than my current (2009 Intel). My fan would constantly spin up whenever I did processor-intensive things, but I can barely hear my current Mini. My external drives drown out any noise from the Mini. I can only hear it, if it's accessing the optical drive.

It really is like night and day. I would say rather than going through the bother and expense of the mods, just buy a brand new Mini.
 
I would get a new Intel Mini w/ SSD. Remove the fan and optical drive. Remove it from the case and submerge it in a custom made case filled in mineral oil.

100% silent and cool Mac Mini. :D

The G4 Mini was nice but the 1gb memory cap was a handicap. You can overclock the G4 processor a few 100mhz but that only increases heat which is what you don't want, unless you go the mineral oil route or custom install a larger heatsink.
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
I would get a new Intel Mini w/ SSD. Remove the fan and optical drive.
Click to expand...

I don't even think this is necessary. I honestly have no noise from my new iMac Mini unless the optical drive is being accessed. It's extremely quiet.
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
I would get a new Intel Mini w/ SSD. Remove the fan and optical drive. Remove it from the case and submerge it in a custom made case filled in mineral oil.

100% silent and cool Mac Mini. :D

The G4 Mini was nice but the 1gb memory cap was a handicap. You can overclock the G4 processor a few 100mhz but that only increases heat which is what you don't want, unless you go the mineral oil route or custom install a larger heatsink.
Click to expand...

Forgot about the mineral oil cooling. Since I've read that something should be put in to circulate the oil what do people use. I'd think the viscosity would trash any computer fan. Do people submerge pumps or use RC boat motors with propellers?
 
Thanks for your replies, greatly appreciated.
I'm not completely sure the new Mac Mini is so silent.
But at the moment I prefer not to consider this option (of course I consider interesting 2009 Mac Mini).
Now let's go back to the original subject.
ZEROtherm BTF95 looks fantastic but the manufacturers said BTF series is too tall for a Mac Mini, and sugested Atom30H (it is only 30mm tall and may fit my configuration, but Atom30H is only compatible with socket 775). At quietpc.com they don't have experience with Mac Mini a all.
I would like to remind that I am planning to use the Mac Mini without internal HD, internal CD-DVD drive, and of course fan (let's say any sort of fan).
I would like to have a totally silent computer (like a Mac Plus, a Mac Cube).
Besides, since I don't use AirPort Extreme card that produces a lot of heat, I would remove it as well. Also Bluetooth components. Everything. The daughtercard (if not needed) too.
Most of all, I would like to keep the Mac Mini open, without top cover to improve air's natural circulation.
In plain words the only component I would like to save is the motherboard and RAM, with an extra quality CPU heat sink.
So the only thing I would like to add is a fan-less heat sink to replace the original Apple heat sink (because, I suppose, the upgrade will improve the cooler system).
Do you think I will fry the CPU?
Besides ZEROtherm BTF95, is there other options regarding heat sink for a Mac Mini G4, 1.42 GHz?
If yes, please supply some URLs.
Please be as specific as possible.
Thanks.
 
I have a 2008 2.0 C2D and it is quiet, but now where near silent, esp when both cores are maxed out doing video compression or such.

I would think there is more cooling options for the early intel Mac mini, and those CPUs are socketed, so if you over heat the CPU you can change it out.
 
My March 2009 C2D Mini is completely silent, I've never been able to hear it unless I either ramp up the fan speed manually, or put my ear right next to the exhaust port. Maybe I'm just lucky to have a silent machine, though?
 
Mine is also very quiet so I don't really get the original point of the OP's thread. I have my fans set to 2000rpms for increased airflow and it runs @ 111-113*F. I also can't hear it as it's in my bedroom. It runs 24/7.
 
No, the newer models are pretty silent. To be fair, the OP has a G4 and my older G4 WAS very noisy. That's why I suggested a new model since the sound-reduction in my experience was so overwhelming.
 
mstrze said:
No, the newer models are pretty silent. To be fair, the OP has a G4 and my older G4 WAS very noisy. That's why I suggested a new model since the sound-reduction in my experience was so overwhelming.
Click to expand...
My G4 1.42 Mini was also dead-silent. I even overclocked mine and it was still quiet. You also couldn't control the fan like you could with the Intels.
 
velocityg4 said:
It would take some work but I suppose you could modify the mount plate for one of those giant third party fan-less heat sinks like the ZEROtherm BTF95.

There are also numerous 120mm fan cooled heatsinks which could be set at minimal settings to cool the CPU and be near silent (placed in a quiet ATX case would help more). Those have more mounting option so you may be able to find one with adjustable top and bottom mounts.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your opinions.
The noise is probably something subjective.
What is silent for you, may be noisy for me, and vice versa.
Please bear in mind that I use my Mac for editing sound files with Bias Peak and T-Racks 24. Quietness is fundamental. Probably generic use or TV-Cinema entertainment may be different.
That said, if a computer has a fan, I guess you are going to hear it, unless it is a 100% silent fan. But, are there silent fans in the market today? If yes, please let me know.
Probably a good solution to the problem is to find a fan/heat sink for my Mac Mini PPC 1.42 GHz, but this component seems hard to find.
velocityg4 kindly suggested a "120mm fan cooled heatsinks which could be set at minimal settings to cool the CPU and be near silent (placed in a quiet ATX case would help more)."
If you have any infos about this "120mm fan cooled heatsinks", or just a enhanced heatsink that will fit a Mac Mini G4, please be as specific as possible.
Thanks again for sharing your opinions.
P.S.
I have found the infos I am looking for here; never mind.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...BESTMATCH&Description=120mm+heatsinks&x=0&y=0
 
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