Mac Mini running extremely hot

Hi jasc87,
I have the same Mini like yours and my idle temp is usually 115 and about 150 under load.I think that is a normal temp for this computer.
You should download Fan Control 1.2 and iStat Menus 2.0 (if you don't have them already).

Those temps look fine to me. The Mini is mainly using notebook components, but has a stronger cooling fan than notebooks.

If you visit the MacBook forums you'll see higher temps than those for similar components.

Modern CPU's are designed to shutdown before thermal damage occurs.

im in the middle of converting some video footage format and my mac is clocking over 100 degrees celsius and im concerned cause my fan is only doing 1500 to 1600 rpm and it just keeps getting hotter

Xt3rminater,
As you probably know, the fan speed should increase as the workload / temperature increases. My early '09 Mini seemed to have come with a defective fan, just would run about 1500rpm, even while encoding MP3s. I installed smcFanControl and was able to manually increase the fan speed. Here is one of several sites where you may download it:
http://download.cnet.com/smcFanControl/3000-18487_4-102230.html

Strangely, last week I noticed the fan WAS working correctly! It increased speed by itself to >3000rpm under some light video viewing. Don't know why, or how, it repaired itself!

Good luck!

Craig

Xt3rminater,
Just noticed that you have added ram and a new HD. If the fan worked correctly before your mods., could you have disconnected something during the update?

Craig

As a long-time developer of kernel extensions and such, I know that the CPU series in the Mac mini (Early 2009) is designed to assert PROCHOT# (thereby shutting the system down) at 105 degrees C.

That said, I am experiencing a similar problem. My mini idles at 53-60 C. Light use pushes it to 70 C, and running a benchmark pushed it into the mid 90s before I cancelled it. The fan never budges from 1497-1504 RPM. I know that recently it shut itself off during an intense bzip2 session (it maybe got too hot?) and I had to reset NVRAM and PMU (by unplugging it for 15 seconds and plugging it back in whilst holding the power button). Could that have broken the SMC fan controller?

I can't even boot another OS on it to test, Win7 has graphic corruption and Linux refuses to start with segfaults (that's another thread though).

CorgiDude --

RE: "I had to reset NVRAM and PMU (by unplugging it for 15 seconds and plugging it back in whilst holding the power button). Could that have broken the SMC fan controller?"

If you have an Intel Mini, the procedure you just described (PMU reset) can temporarily or permanently damage your computer (because Intel Minis have SMCs rather than PMUs which are only in PPC Macs).

*NEVER hold down the power button while plugging in power to an Intel Mini!*

Your only hope now is to apply the correct SMC reset which is described at the end of this link:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US