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The black disk replacement

P

plejon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2010
6
0
So, my mac mini gets hot as ****.
And it got me thinking.
Why is there not a replacement for the black disk that you turn to open up the box.
And with replacement i mean a thicker one that has a fan on it.
Been googling and i can't find anything about it.

If i can't find one i'll try to make one myself.
What does macrumors think about this?
 
plejon said:
So, my mac mini gets hot as ****.
And it got me thinking.
Why is there not a replacement for the black disk that you turn to open up the box.
And with replacement i mean a thicker one that has a fan on it.
Been googling and i can't find anything about it.

If i can't find one i'll try to make one myself.
What does macrumors think about this?
Click to expand...

THERE is a wall mount black disk that fits the bill. but are you sure your fan moves. try turning the machine upside down and booting it with the cover removed. you would be surprised how many times the fan is not connected and is not spinning.
 
Dweez said:
I'm curious about this statement. Why would the fan not be connected?
Click to expand...

well I buy and mod them.
2 or 3 a week and I handled enough of them to be able to say 2 or 3 connectors were not fully snapped in thus no fan at all.

to be fair one time I noticed the problem after adding 2 sticks of ram and putting a hdd in. so I may have done it.

the other two times the fans were not connected.
after the first fan which may have been my fault this is my first thing to do :

when a mini comes to my shop first step is turn it upside down remove cover and boot. look for spinning fan. then plug in a keyboard and the monitor. check to see all oem stuff works then do the mod.

I have found 2 machines with loose connections this way out of 40 or so. they run really effing hot for 20 or 30 minutes then the mini shuts down .
 
mostly when im playing warcraft. it get so hot.
are all macs like this. feels like the air that's coming out is like 50 degrees C
 
plejon said:
mostly when im playing warcraft. it get so hot.
are all macs like this. feels like the air that's coming out is like 50 degrees C
Click to expand...

The core I series processors can reach 105 C before they shut themselves off to protect against oveheating so unless you are seeing temps in the 95+ range I wouldn't be concerned. Everyone worries about the temps of their minis but it is completely rediculous. I'm going to trust the engineers at Apple to know what these can handle more so than a few random forum members who know little to nothing about thermal design points (I know very little myself other than the basics). Apple has a lot of money and reputation to protect.... I have neither :)
 
paulrbeers said:
The core I series processors can reach 105 C before they shut themselves off to protect against oveheating so unless you are seeing temps in the 95+ range I wouldn't be concerned. Everyone worries about the temps of their minis but it is completely rediculous.
Click to expand...

I'm an old fart where it comes to silicon. But, back in the days, things like purple plaque and accelerated electro-migration started speeding up at temperatures over 250ºC. Given feature-size and possible hotspots, I'd consider anything below 150ºC to be in essence 'cold' for silicon.

(Tiny areas on a modern CPU might get hotter than what the temperature-sensor records, and you don't want a single nanometer of electromigrating interconnects on a 45 nm cpu..)
 
I should get in the business of making useless fans for worried mac mini owners. I'd make a killing, considering how many threads there are on this topic.
 
Logic335 said:
Just downloaded it. What is considered a normal temperature?
Click to expand...
Temperatures vary with the workload, so it depends. As long as it's not shutting down, it's within normal operating range. The Intel processors used in Macs are designed to automatically shut down to prevent damage if they truly overheat. CPU Tjmax = 105C, GPU Tjmax = 100C on i3, i5, i7 processors. (Source: Intel) If you're not already using it, iStat Pro will give you accurate readings of your temps and fan speeds, among other things.

Unless there is a rare defect in a Mac, most temps are well within the normal operating range, considering the workload being put on it. Websites with Flash content, games and other multimedia apps will put higher demand on the CPU/GPU, generating more heat. This is normal. If you're constantly putting high demands on your system, such as gaming or other multimedia tasks, expect temps to rise and fans to spin up accordingly. It's just your Mac doing its job to maintain temps within the normal range.

It is also quite normal for your Mac to become extremely hot to the touch during intensive operations. The aluminum body transfers heat more effectively than other materials used in computer casings, so you will feel the heat more. This doesn't indicate that it's overheating and will not harm the computer to be hot to the touch.

Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning at a minimum of 2000 rpm (for MBPs) or 1800 rpm (for MBAs, MBs and minis). iMacs have 3 fans with minimum speeds in the 800-1200 range. They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. If they're spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC. (PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with these issues, so resetting it will not help.)

The intake and exhaust vents are in the back of the computer near the hinge on all Mac notebooks. The iMac vent is a slot on the back near the top of the computer. Make sure the vents remain unblocked to allow your computer to perform at its best.

Learn about the fans in your Mac
Apple Portables: Operating temperature

For Flash-related issues:
 
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