Does the Mac Mini make noise?

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Level 1

13 points

Does the Mac Mini make noise?

I'm thinking of buying a new Mac Mini, but I notice that it's really small and was wondering if it makes a lot of noise and gets hot when playing video games for a while? I have a newer Mac Air (small laptop) and when playing computer games, the processor goes into overdrive and starts humming. Plus, the laptop gets a little warm, and I'm afraid to play the computer game for hours and hours.

Can someone that plays 'processor-heavy computer games' such as EVE Online or WOW on the Mac Mini and if it makes a lot of noise, vibrates, and gets very warm? Would you recommend the Mac Mini for this purpose? Thanks.

Mac mini

Posted on Apr 12, 2016 6:15 AM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,519 points

Apr 12, 2016 6:28 AM in response to Mark A...

Like any computer, when working hard it generate a lot of heat. When that happens the fan speed will increase to maintain temps within acceptable limits.

The Mini has better heat dissipation than a laptop because it is thicker.

Unless you keep the Mini in a cubby hole where there is insufficient ventilation it should barely be heard/felt.

The Mini is not the best at games because it uses integrated graphics (the graphics unit is integrated into the CPU die).

The baseline Mini would not be satisfactory for gaming since it only has a 1/4 HG CPU and Intel HD 500o graphics. The second and heist tier one have a faster CPU and the better Intel Iris graphics

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Answer 2

dwb

Level 7

33,310 points

Apr 12, 2016 3:19 PM in response to Mark A...

Everyone seems to stress out about their computer getting warm while playing games. I find this interesting because activities like video editing are just as CPU intensive and create just as much heat but nobody ever writes, “When I’m editing photos in Photoshop my computer gets hot and the fans run. Should I be worried?” Use the computer and stop over thinking it. The fan exists to cool the computer and if by chance the computer does get dangerously hot the computer will shut down automatically.
If you do decide to stop gaming on the notebook the mini is not a good choice. Games being released today require at least Iris Pro graphics system and mini doesn’t ship with Iris Pro.

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