Mac Mini i7 2.3 HD Native is processor getting HOT!!

[jjking]

Running PT11 on mac mini i7 using the host only gets the processor to very high heats.
Will the HD Native Thunderbolt make it cooler??

[Jay_uk]

Just out of interest, can you tell me if the mini has 7200 or 5400 drives?

cheers
J

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Jay_uk

Just out of interest, can you tell me if the mini has 7200 or 5400 drives?

cheers
J

Depends on the exact model and any options when ordered. Stock drive is 5400 rpm but in some models and years you could get 7200 rpm drives. Has nothing to do with any heat issues though.

HD Thunderbolt won't necessarily help with the heat either as that does no dsp processing and that's probably what's causing heat issues. Something people don't take into account is airflow around a Mini. Get that sucker up off the table top an inch or two to allow airflow around all surfaces; the air intake on a Mini is through the bottom cover as the ports out the back are the air outflow from the internal fan. Also occassionally take the bottom cover off with the unit unplugged and clean out the dust bunnies inside. You'd be amazed at the amount of dust inside one after a couple of months. There's a LOT of dust in any air even if you can't see it.

[jjking]

Thanks for your reply Jack,
My setup is Mac mini i7, 2.3Ghz (Late 2012), 16 gb ram, 1tb ssd, Protools 11 running native using the host power only.
The question is whether an HD Native thunderbolt will take care for the protools mixer dsp leaving all plugins to the host power or the host will have to take care for the mixer dap power along with all plug ins?

[nst7]

HD Native does virtually no processing. This will all be done by your computer.

[jjking]

Originally Posted by nst7

HD Native does virtually no processing. This will all be done by your computer.

This will leave all over heating problems as they are...
The question then is how long will live a mac mini running in 95c?

[Hugh-H]

Hello jjking,

We have a number of Minis with expansion chassis and in our testing the Minis would get up to 92degC after about 2 hours of heavy use. Obviously yours is getting hotter. After the first one got that high I took it in to Apple who tested it, and told me "not to worry, if the Mini gets too hot it will turn itself off for protection". Not what we want.

We did a bunch of cooling testing on the Minis to determine a solution and Apple's airflow design is inadequate. The air intake is in the front of the machine in the narrow slot between the bottom plastic cover and the case, the air then flows through the hard drive area, into the main cpu area and over the heatsinks, then through the fan and out the back. The restriction is the narrow slot - everything else in the Mini allows adequate airflow.

Make sure enough air can get through the narrow slot and make sure the rear is clear to avoid short cycling the airflow. Of course we would NEVER void the Mini's warranty by modifying any airflow in the unit.

Hugh

[propower]

HDN Thunderbolt helped not at all for me as well.

Under any load over 20% this is how the mini works. Not to mention the fan noise to keep the mini at 90 to 95degC.

Two of the main reasons I sold my Mini last October.

[jjking]

Originally Posted by Hugh-H

Hello jjking,

We have a number of Minis with expansion chassis and in our testing the Minis would get up to 92degC after about 2 hours of heavy use. Obviously yours is getting hotter. After the first one got that high I took it in to Apple who tested it, and told me "not to worry, if the Mini gets too hot it will turn itself off for protection". Not what we want.

We did a bunch of cooling testing on the Minis to determine a solution and Apple's airflow design is inadequate. The air intake is in the front of the machine in the narrow slot between the bottom plastic cover and the case, the air then flows through the hard drive area, into the main cpu area and over the heatsinks, then through the fan and out the back. The restriction is the narrow slot - everything else in the Mini allows adequate airflow.

Make sure enough air can get through the narrow slot and make sure the rear is clear to avoid short cycling the airflow. Of course we would NEVER void the Mini's warranty by modifying any airflow in the unit.

Hugh

Two strange things:
1. The menu gets over 83c hot when just PT11 is open -even after closing the session!
2. The cpu is only about 16% when the cpu heat is 96c!
Does it have any connection to the fact I am using protools aggregate io using the mini inputs & outputs?
Do you know if running PT11 HDX bypass this over heating issue?

[propower]

When I had mine - ~16% CPU was enough to drive the temp to max out the fans as well. Temp varies between 90degC and 100degC for the mini as to where a specific unit regulates (search macRumours for tons of info).

WRT 16% CPU with no session open... (I assume that is Activity monitor) please check this thread and see if it applies for you ... the Mini Fan was my first experience with this ...

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=349742