I have moved from an ImacG5 to a MacMini(Intel) and 20" cinema display. I am very pleased with both.
The mac mini sits on top of an aluminium DVD burner, good heat conductor I guess as well. In use the mini can produce a lot of heat through its rubber base (especially when preparing a DVD for burning - the multiplexing part).
My question is, by being hot at the base is it good that it is conducting heat away so it feels hot. Or is it bad that through even rubber it feels hot. The internal fan does pick up speed when multiplexing, obviously a good thing.
Basically I want to know if I should be cooling my mini ( when doing intensive DVD multiplexing type activities), or if I am being an old woman.
Jase
Jason wrote:
Basically I want to know if I should be cooling my mini ( when doing intensive DVD multiplexing type activities), or if I am being an old woman.
Most probably the latter. There are lot of possible real-life situations where you could work Mac hard for a long period of time, and therefore keep it really hot... so I'm sure we'd have heard about Minis breaking from overheating.
I used to use a Mini for work - so it spent all day with the hard disk running, and the graphics processor working hard - and all it did was push warm air out of the little vents at the back.
That said, I tend to be an old woman about my PowerBook getting hot, so, if it makes you feel happier, move it off the DVD player, and/or get a desk fan.
Thom
On 21/3/07 23:15, in article p0jMh.21211$GI.11059@redacted.invalid, "Thom White" thom@redacted.invalid wrote:
Jason wrote:
Basically I want to know if I should be cooling my mini ( when doing intensive DVD multiplexing type activities), or if I am being an old woman.
Most probably the latter. There are lot of possible real-life situations where you could work Mac hard for a long period of time, and therefore keep it really hot... so I'm sure we'd have heard about Minis breaking from overheating.
I used to use a Mini for work - so it spent all day with the hard disk running, and the graphics processor working hard - and all it did was push warm air out of the little vents at the back.
That said, I tend to be an old woman about my PowerBook getting hot, so, if it makes you feel happier, move it off the DVD player, and/or get a desk fan.
Thom
Thanks, that was the rational answer to my question. My powerbook used to feel hot but hasn't blown up yet and I have ignored it being a bit warm to the left. I am a bit of an old woman when it comes to things.
Thanks again Jase
Basically I want to know if I should be cooling my mini ( when doing intensive DVD multiplexing type activities), or if I am being an old woman.
Install Temperature Monitor from ---
http://www.bresink.com/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html
dan
Thom White thom@redacted.invalid wrote:
Jason wrote:
Basically I want to know if I should be cooling my mini ( when doing intensive DVD multiplexing type activities), or if I am being an old woman.
If the fan's working it shouldn't get dangerously hot. If it bothers you, you might want to see if there is any software available which lets you control the fan speed.
That said, I tend to be an old woman about my PowerBook getting hot, so, if it makes you feel happier, move it off the DVD player, and/or get a desk fan.
I'm an old woman about my iBook getting hot too (mostly the hard drive going well north of 50 C, but it's uncomfortable on my lap too). I looked for some software to control the fan, but couldn't find any and even read it's not possible to control the speed of the fans, but couldn't really believe that.
It is possible, you just need to read a few datasheets and write a kernel extension to reconfigure the thermal management IC. Well, somebody had to, so I did. My fan now comes on slower (quieter, but it starts to sound a bit rattly when set too slow) at a lower temp and ramps up as required to keep it at something more lap- and hard-drive-friendly. I much prefer it to the default, which is for it to wait till it's very hot then bang the fan on loud for a while. When you're an old woman, it's quite nice to know you can leave it sat on the carpet with CPU and hard drive working hard without it getting too warm.
I think some (all?) PowerBook G4s use the same chip, so the same kernel extension may work for you Thom (I think you need something different for an Intel Mini though - I'd guess the same software that works with MacBooks). Wanna be a beta-tester? It's not very user-friendly yet (changing the settings involves editing a plist in the kernel extension bundle and rebooting!), but if your PowerBook uses the same chip it should work.
Tim