Fan SCREAMS on light use (with graph!)

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Fan SCREAMS on light use (with graph!)

I have an older 2007 Mini (2GHz Intel Core 2 duo) that originally came with 1 gb RAM.

When I first got it I was surprised at how quiet it was. My previous computers all had fixed-speed fans, and the fans on the Mini seemed silent. They didn't seem to ramp up under even under load. I didn't even know they did ramp up.

As the HD got close to capacity, the mac slowed, of course. Trying to extend the life of it rather than buying a new one, I doubled the RAM and put in a 500 gb HD. (I did this myself.)

This sped the computer up, but I also noticed fan noise for the first time. All it takes for the fan to ramp up to a high pitched whine is scrolling in Safari. The fan speed does vary with temperature, and temperature varies with use.

It's so freaking loud that I moved it to under the desk because it annoys me so.

Possibilities:

Maybe the various upgrades and changes in web pages over time put more load on the processor, but I didn't notice it before the upgrade as the HDD and RAM limitations slowed the computer rather than taxing the processor.
The fan ramped before, but physically it was much quieter than it is now (dust/bearings/wear problems).
Mac overreacting to temperature.
Incompatible hardware.
Poor installation of some kind.

Here's a chart of temp vs fan speed (I just sampled some numbers while loading on the mac by opening tabs and scrolling):

User uploaded file

Diagnostic things I've done:

I checked to make sure the cables were reattached, I made sure the foam "T" was in the same place as before. Vents are not blocked, no buildup on fan.
Did the reset thingie. (unplug, restart -- whatever the procedure was. I looked it up at the time.)
I put the old HD and RAM back in. Still with the screaming.
Did search after search. Other people who actually had this resoved hadn't connected the cables properly or got fixed with the reset. Others like me didn't get a resolution.

Any suggestions/advice/sympathy?

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jul 28, 2012 9:59 AM

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Answer 1

lillynews Author

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Jul 28, 2012 10:01 AM in response to lillynews

Dammit, the graph didn't post. Let's try the data behind the table:

temp	speed
41	2430
42	2271
43	2401
44	2480
44	2908
45	3736
46	2637
47	5266
48	5200
49	4730
51	5089
52	5444

If there's no flash running in Safari the mac at rest can get down to ~1500 RPM.

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Answer 2

BDAqua

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239,177 points

Jul 28, 2012 10:54 AM in response to lillynews

Well, looks like you've covered about everything, good work.

Open Activity Monitor in Applications>Utilities, select All Processes & sort on CPU%, any indications there?

Open Console in Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this happens.

PS. To post a pic you have to use the little Camera icon in the reply, then upload it... if you drag & drop it'll look like it's there until you click Add Reply.

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Answer 3

lillynews Author

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Jul 28, 2012 12:52 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks!

I've checked that periodically. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just now, 92% idle (only 5% on Safari, but fan speed of 3500 RPM. Once in awhile I'll find the fan at ~3500 RPM with inactivity, and there's flash running in Safari at ~30% CPU. Killing that allows the fan to return to ~1500.

There it is!

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Answer 4

BDAqua

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Jul 28, 2012 2:59 PM in response to lillynews

Can we get more detailed temp info for particular parts?

Temperature Monitor...

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12381/temperature-monitor

iStat Menus...

http://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/

And/or iStat Pro...

http://www.islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

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Answer 5

lillynews Author

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Jul 28, 2012 4:13 PM in response to BDAqua

Here's a quick one. I'll get it really cooking and do another.

Did you want diagnosics from two, or did you mean any of the three?

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Answer 6

BDAqua

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Jul 28, 2012 4:39 PM in response to lillynews

I think any will do, especially if we see one component that really heats up, but check them all for possible differences.

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Answer 7

lillynews Author

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Jul 28, 2012 8:05 PM in response to BDAqua

Here's some more. I've got the processor fairly loaded and not so loaded with similar fan speeds.

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Answer 8

BDAqua

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Jul 28, 2012 9:21 PM in response to lillynews

Pretty strange, I don't know which one you need, but I'd searh for an ASD Disc for yours, not normallky available to users.

Another strange thing, is that occasionally running AHT will fix these these things just by running it!???

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Answer 9

lillynews Author

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Jul 29, 2012 7:45 AM in response to BDAqua

BTW, thanks BDAqua for your responses (and to anyone else who has put some thought into this)!

I'll try those out. In the meantime, since I didn't do any benchmarking before, I'm not sure which step is out-of-line. Any sense of which is the true symptom?:

1) temperatures are too hot for light Internet use

2) fan speeds are too fast for normal temperatures

3) these temps and fan speeds are normal, so the fan must be louder than it was for the same RPMs than before

Thanks!

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Answer 10

lillynews Author

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Jul 29, 2012 8:59 AM in response to lillynews

No errors and no fixes from the long and short hardware test. Off to find an ASD disc!

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Answer 11

lillynews Author

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Jul 29, 2012 10:14 AM in response to lillynews

Added temperature monitor -- it corresponded with iStatPro:

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Answer 12

den.thed

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Jul 29, 2012 11:12 AM in response to lillynews

Have you installed any Fan Control utilities like smcFanControl or Lobotomo Fan Control?

For example I'm happily using Fan Control on my 2010 Mac Mini, but as you can see I have the Lower Threshold set fairly low and the Fan will start ramping up pretty fast if it goes over 51C.

I also use SMCFanControl on my early intel iMac and both can be somewhat confusing if not used or removed properly.

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Answer 13

BDAqua

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Jul 29, 2012 12:15 PM in response to lillynews

1. None of the temps look like a problem.

2. Yes.

3. Temps are lower than normal, fan higher.

Might try SmcFanControl, or the other one as mentioned.

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Answer 14

den.thed

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Jul 29, 2012 1:38 PM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua wrote:

Might try SmcFanControl, or the other one as mentioned.

Sorry for creating any confusion BDAqua. I wasn't trying to encourage lillynews to install a control utility over the top of what might be a different problem. I was really just digging around to find out if perhaps one had been installed and forgotten about.

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Answer 15

BDAqua

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Jul 29, 2012 2:12 PM in response to den.thed

I did catch that actually, thanks, but I was thinking there's something borked about whatever is controlling the fan, & that using one of those, or reinstalling one of those may cure the fan problem. 🙂

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