Mac mini graphics card overheating

I always run mine with the bottom cover removed and the unit sitting on a metal grill that allows free airflow into the unit. Tests have shown that this significantly lowers the CPU temperature. Steve, you might be able to get away with leaving the bottom off your mini, but I'd be afraid to try that with my version. The circular bottom on mine very clearly has a seal on the inside which encloses the exhaust fan section, forcing the fan to draw air from the rest of the computer.

Taking the bottom off would allow air to bypass the rest of the computer and go straight into the exhaust fan, only to be immediately blown out again, doing no good. Moreover, Apple's engineers might have strategically located the mini's thermal sensors with the assumption that the computer would always be run with the bottom cover in place, and with air flowing in the bottom-front of the computer and out the rear.

If air isn't flowing through the computer in the path that the engineers planned then some sensor readings might not accurately reflect the temperature in other parts of the computer. So even if the CPU temperature is okay, other components might still overheat. In general, unless you're a thermal engineer, it's a bad idea to run any modern computer without all of it's covers firmly in place -- especially one that's packed as tightly as the mini.

If you really want to help your mini stay cool, my advice is to set up a small USB fan to gently blow on the outside of the mini's aluminum enclosure. That enclosure seems to act as a big heat sink, and, based on my experience with G-Technology's fanless, aluminum-clad hard disks, even a small amount of air flow can make a big difference. I actually had a USB desk fan sitting around doing nothing. It was really is a great idea to use the fan. Now to see if it actually lowers temp My fan is from Kikkerland and is sitting on top of the mini facing straight down while being elevated with legs.

Very cool and I'm watching my temps right now. Windsor Smith wrote: Oct 6, Posts: To post in ? Hardly a record. Or do you mean to never post since then? Moderator et Subscriptor. Ars Scholae Palatinae et Subscriptor. Windsor Smith. Seniorius Lurkius et Subscriptor.

Ars Legatus Legionis et Subscriptor. Something something sarcasm something something judgment something something better than you. Windsor Smith wrote:. Jump to: Aug 26, Posts: Wed Apr 24, 6: Jul 3, Posts: Thu Apr 25, Aug 13, Posts: Thu Apr 25, 3: Jun 11, Posts: Thu Apr 25, 5: Feb 4, Posts: Sat Apr 27, 5: Sep 17, Posts: Sat Apr 27, 2: Reefab Ars Scholae Palatinae Tribus: Paris Registered: Jan 18, Posts: I'll see if I can track down that post and ask the poster to run a test. I have no experience in applying it so I'm not sure what the process is like - hopefully others can contribute on this.

Without changing any fan curves I noticed that the fans seldom ramped up in macOS post re-application on medium load. While the system still throttled at max. I do not have numbers to back up my experience however. In my opinion a combination solution of good thermal paste and a better fan curve if any app comes up that supports the same would be a great starting point on the Mac mini. People on this forum seem to be suggesting that the mac mini already has a lot of thermal paste and any more could have the opposite effect. I then applied a thin coat of Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut using the included plastic spreader tool.

My guess is the firmware is tuned for low noise rather than aggressive fan curve. More can be bad as itsage points out. Also the quality of thermal paste matters too. Apple has historically used poor compound. Also, itsage , do you think in your case it has helped at all? I expressed these thermal issue concerns on macrumors and someone who has already purchased their mac mini seems to be pretty insistent that the high temperatures are not something to worry about. When I pushed him on this he gave me this answer:. I do video encoding twice a week.

That's the only thing I do that stresses it. So not often. Intel has spec limits on it, they have systems to slow the frequency down to reduce temperatures when they feel it's too hot.

When encoding and mine is in the 90's it's still running above base frequency so they're clearly ok with it running at that temp otherwise they would throttle it sooner and more aggressively. I'm really not worried about it.

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Maxing a CPU will push it's temp. Not just in a mini but even in your desktop PC's. Even my watercooled PC is still in the upper 80's when encoding. Imagine with just a fan on that! I encoded with previous computers with only a CPU fan and they would also hit the 90's. No issues. The system will shutdown to prevent damage though i've never actually seen it happen as it uses it's other systems to bring the temp down first.

So Vacuum Fan solution must work. For the damaging the internal fan part, I am skeptical about, say if the fan run higher than its max speed say rpm higher due to air being drag out of the cooling assembly, it won't exert much more friction on it to be honest. And even if it happens, I think Apple would still replace it So if we vacuum air from mac mini's exhaust vent, I am sure it will work In extreme case , say we just connect a W vacuum cleaner to it's exhaust and seal it off While it is true that nothing will happen to system even if it is running hot for long periods example: In summary, people aren't applying thermal paste to macs for longevity they last long regardless , but to eek out any modest performance gains possible with better compound and if possible reduce throttling at high load.

In that case, may it be worth investigating some kind of DIY solution using a normal fan externally connected to some kind of makeshift power supply? I'm not an electrician or that good at DIY adding the RAM in the mini will be my limit , so unless there's a plug and play solution ready on the market, how would one go about this? The difficult part to exhaust fan trick is when we want elegant to it To make it a viable setup, I would invest on making a perfect seal that fits perfectly to Mac Mini's exhaust vent I will try measure it when I get mine Do this at your own risk, I am not responsible for your damaged Mac Minis, in particular, parts fell off due to strong winds.

If its fine after that, then chances are it still will be after 3 more. Apple Care, priceless. None of my Apple products actually have AppleCare. I have just had some tremendous luck with their products. So 15min into the call regarding this a senior advisor pops up, takes my Apple ID, and orders a next-day air free replacement unit. I bet haha. Lol, the AppleCare idea isn't actually that bad - run it care free for 3 years and see what happens: I'm actually very happy with the performance so far, just a bit worried about long term effects if the temps are hovering at mid 80s a lot.

But I also don't really want to stick a vacuum cleaner to the Mini, kinda beats the whole point of it ;. So basically, get AppleCare, run it in to the ground for 3 years and see what happens - sounds like a plan. Maybe even sell it within that period with Apple Care as it will still hold a lot of its value and maybe even upgrade to a new mini that doesn't have these thermal issues, lol. I believe this is a Mac only program, but if someone can run the same test on both Mojave and Windows while using Temperature Gauge Pro to max out the fan RPM in Mojave, we can then compare performance to see whether maxing out the fan RPM solves the thermal issue.

If anyone on here has a 3D printer and a mac mini I would be happy to try to model something a mm fan would go on to increase air flow.

I would need a good measurement or two but could work off that. Imagine, all inside a case like this: I want the distance of the part that actually friction fits into the mac mini base. I will try modelling something that fits a mm fan and helps cool it that someone with a 3D printer could try out. Ok well barring an actual precise measurement, I tried to measure off of picture.

This probably won't fit the mini properly yet. The mm fan would slot in the bottom there, and get screwed in. The base pieces holds it up and lets air in the corners. The top of the round part would push into the existing mini base, replacing the stock base. Although by doing that you would lose all the tininess and beauty of Mac Mini but I was thinking about some similar idea! Why not a cooler blown by a big diameter fan stuck with thermally conductive paste on top of the Mac Mini itself?

Being a big metal surface that is blown by the internal flow it would help a bit reaching the thermal load without affecting any internal components set point The base plate has a diameter of But it's not friction fit. The base plate has three non-circular holes at 2 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 10 o'clock in your picture, that snap onto the three raised screws of the base. The hole edge is 2.

The hole in the bottom of the Mac Mini has a diameter of It has a depth of 3. I think there's a curved radius of 1 mm such that the full depth is not all The distance between the edge of the hole and the air intake holes is 10 mm.

The stem of the screw is 3. The head of the screw is 4. Screw height 2. Screw head height 1. Screw stem height 1. There are a few options for attaching your fan adapter to the mac Mini 1 Use the same snap on method as the base plate. Awesome work anethema! I do not have a 3D printer unfortunately but I did see someone on the original thread who said they had one and would be willing to give it a go. When I get my mac mini I'd be happy to send the design to a 3D print service and give it a go.

Are these things usually expensive to print?