Cooling pad for Mac Mini

What model Mac Mini?

Why do you think you need one?

The later Mac Minis have a round plastic base that the Mac sits on and that would not provide a good head transfer to a cooling pad. The Mac Mini has a fan and is air cooled.

Newertech Nustand from OWC:

It has a proven increased cooling effect and takes up far less space on the desk.

Yes, the Mac needs ventilation you can use a small fan if you want. otherwise make sure that the Mac is not in poorly ventilated area

I use this with my 2012 mini...

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-True-Odor-Eliminator/dp/B000H0Y4XM%3FSubscr iptionId%3DAKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q%26tag%3Dduckduckgo-d-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp% 3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB000H0Y4XM

very quite and the air that is moved is filtered so I am removing some of the dust before it is circulated around the mini....since the mini has a metal case it acts like a heat sink and with air circulating around it..(sits off to one side on an extension cord) it works very well for cooling....and helps with odors of unknown origin 😉

The devices available to allow a Mini to set on its side, appear viable if practical in

the space you have available for your gear. An older Mini I have can stay on its

side without a holder-upper; the newer one is too thin that direction to allow it.

For now, I've found that four similar height re-used items that can fit under the

corners of the Mini, keep it elevated further off the desktop, help keep it cooler.

These could be durable thermal plastic, or just cut-offs of similar shape metal

so the computer sits flat. Since the newer Mini has that round base, if you do

set up something to raise it off the surrounding surface, take that into account

because that may also add to instability should the items be dissimilar.

I'd considered, if available super cheap (at second hand store, etc) that one of

those 'aluminum food thawing trays' but square and not rectangular, may work.

It would raise the unit up, while Mini would still rest on the round base, though.

Since heat rises; the exit is in the back of the Mini, intake is around the base.

The bottom does not get all that hot, due to internal air-flow & metal conductivity.

I prefer my method of raising the entire unit up, flat, above the desk. In part this

was due to concerns of spillage of liquid near the Mini, while on a desktop. An

upside down small metal pan, or a baking rack may do, too. And I'd want to be

able tofilter dust from all air going into the Mini - without restricting the flow, too.

Anyway, other than one of the command-line tests to run up all the cores at once

to test it, there isn't much I've done to make a quad-core reach top temperatures.

Hopefully yours works OK and doesn't get near the thermal maximum... 🙂

What I have done in the past is (if your model has it) taking the lid off the bottom, and setting it upside down. It will drastically improve the air intake to cool the components, but make sure you are VERY careful when turning it upside down (I'm sure Apple would cringe at this)

It will drastically improve the air intake to cool the components

What utter rubbish, how on earth did you think that up.

Removing the base cover reduces the air pressure and changes the air path though the computers components, resulting in a overheated machine. Also the warranty will be invalid as you would be operating the machine in a situation it was not designed for.

Turning it upside down is the only thing in your post that would cause no damage.

Well considering the fan pulls heat AWAY from the components and Apple didn't exactly equip it with adequate ventilation, the idea was to allow more air into the system. And when I monitored the temperature, it allowed dropped about five degrees PLUS removal of the cover allows heat to dissipate more quickly. That wouldn't result in an overheating machine, running resource intensive programs causes the overheating.

Here is my modification using laptop cooling pad. I chose the one "pull" the air UPWARD.

Because the round/flat base of Mini - if I put the Mini directly on top, I can not really feel the air flow.

Also the bottom clearance of the cooling pad, that I needed to add space to get the airy space.

So, I used velcro to attach 4 buttons on top. 4 small cut off wood blocks to glue at the bottom of the cooling pad.

There is an USB extension cable on the side, so I can attach the USB fan power when I know I need to cool the machine down.

smcFan control is a nice app that you can monitor the CPU temperature and fan speed. You can also set up some perimeter to increase fan speed when you know the CPU will under some kind of overload.

Here are the visuals

As you can see, I am using Mini's USB power to turn on the fan. I put an extension USB cable to be located in accessible spot so I can use it for fan or USB thumb drive etc.

Sam

This is my modification using laptop cooling pad. I chose the cooling pad "pull" the air UPWARD.

Because the clearance of Mini - if I put the fan on top, I can not really feel the air flow.

Also the clearance of the fan, that I needed to add space to get the airy space.

So, I used velcro to attach 4 buttons on top. 4 small cut off wood blocks to glue at the bottom of the fan.

There is an USB extension cable on the side, so I can attach the USB fan power when I know I need to cool the machine down.

smcFan control is a nice app that you can monitor the CPU temperature and fan speed. You can also set up some perimeter to increase fan speed when you know the CPU will under some kind of overload.

Here are the visuals

As you can see, I am using Mini's USB power to turn on the fan. I put an extension USB cable to be located in accessible spot so I can use it for fan or USB thumb drive etc.

Sam

Hi Samtenor,

I have just seen your post about your cooling system. Looks great!! Could you please tell me a bit more about it?

Many thx,

Arnaud

After my Monster Mac Pro kicked the dust as I spent close to 3K for that giant (the house light would dim when I hit the power button), I have grown much fond of Mac Mini. I got my first G4 Mac Mini, moved to 2007 C2D Intel, then 2010, 2011, 2012 and now 2014.

I did plenty of home movie editing (also used to burn them into DVD - RIP iDVD!!) that I was pushing CPU to it's limit (yes, Minis are least powerful CPU in Mac family but I got time to wait for the process).

I started to notice the heat issues - first, I avoid using internal optical drive. Later, I explores cooling pad to do the trick. Prior to 2010, Lunch Box Mini using plastic chassis and heat would trap inside - Flash video playing, movie editing etc tasks would increase the load of Mini. I discovered/ still use smcFan control to give me some indication of the temperature - I was able to do some comparison regarding using cooling pad or without, while also combing smcFanControl. I am quite happy to see after 2010 Mac Mini - the Unibody design - in my opinion, the aluminum chassis also serves as heat sink, much better than the plastic lunch box Mini.

Mini's fan system and ventilation is quite a challenging. I felt it "suck" the air from the base then exhaust through the back/vent aide. So, I chose the laptop cooling pad - specifically "upwards air flow style"

Throughout some modification - increasing the clearance on both top and bottom, I can achieve 20 degree cooler on 2010 2011 Mac Mini when they were doing home video rendering.

I did notice 2012 and 2014 Mac Minis - they are more efficient and much cooler than 2010 and 2011 models.

So, the frequency of using the cooling pad for later models - is decreasing. Even I did not need to turn on the fan during typical usage, I am less-worried with Mini got in suspended position.

Hope this answered your inquiry.

cheers

Sam