Mac Mini fan speed shoots up with GPU use

Hello.
I have a 1.83 C2D mini that's recently been giving me problems. I opened it up to install a new airport card (having separate issues with that!) and at some point my fan started acting up. The mini was always dead quiet. Now, anytime I do something GPU intensive the fan shoots up to 4500-5500 RPM (tested with smcfancontrol).
Here are some examples...
Browsing the internet in safari is normal, 1500-2000 fan speed.
Streaming a movie over my local network from a server through quicktime, ~3100 RPM
Begin watching a video on youtube or running a program like plex or xbmc, the fan goes nuts between 4k-5500 rpm.
If I exit and go back to internet browsing it will slowly come down.
Before anyone asks, I'm on a fresh install of snow leopard right now with same issues, I tried the SMC reset a few times, and I definitely connected the fan wire when I put the mini back together.
Can anyone help me out with suggestions as to what I did or how to fix this? This mini is basically unusable now for my htpc!
Thanks!

Hi, I have a similar problem. My Mini is from 2005. I will be working online and all of a sudden the fan speed goes waaay up (I make sure to keep the air intake slots cleaned weekly), my connection ends, the screen goes dark (black) and after bringing the screen back into view a few times (clicking the mouse), the computer will shut down. OR maybe it is the Mac running at hyper speed and not the fan.
As I am basically computer illiterate, I have no idea what causes it. I have slower than molasses dial-up and can't even get my AOL to work right anymore.
I had that "Finder" blinking problem after upgrading to this last OSX version, finally got that fixed.
After that fix about a year ago) , my computer ran better. I noticed (for the first time since I got this Mini) that I had an "alias" HD in my home/users folder. Not sure how it got there OR how I recently lost it, but seems I can't figure out how to get it back. Not sure if that is the problem.
Sorry if you don't understand my post, but it's part of my computer stupidity coming out. lol Sure this sure be "parted-out" into several categories
ok... help please?
Thanks in advance..... Murphy

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Mac Mini fan increase speed and noise

Hi all.
Quick question. This has been bugging me for a while so decided to get some expert help from you guys.
Lately my new mac mini fan has been operating at full speed sometimes when the computer wakes from sleep and also while restarting or when holding down command and R for the recovery partition. The computer I must say is not suffering any performance issuses or is not under any hard loads.
This is getting very annoying! I have reset the SMC as per apples instructions and it has got better. I am wondering if my external firewire drive is causing problems.
I will explain my hardware set up.
One UPS which is plugged in and the mini runs off that. USB cable from the UPS is attached to the back of the mini. I have one thunderbolt display, one printer on USB, one EYETV USB dongle, Bose speakers plugged into the USB as well.
The firewire drive goes to sleep after 30 mins have elapsed. I guess if I am not using it, eject it and leave the cable from the back of the drive unplugged until I need it again? trying to unplug it from the mini is a chore as the desk space is small.
Any thoughts would be great.
Thanks.

here is a list of wake reasons in the console.
10/03/2014 12:53:57.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
10/03/2014 13:54:45.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
10/03/2014 14:55:37.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
10/03/2014 15:56:25.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
10/03/2014 16:57:17.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
10/03/2014 17:58:05.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
10/03/2014 18:05:25.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: EHC1
10/03/2014 22:36:12.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
10/03/2014 23:41:29.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 00:12:17.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 00:43:10.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 01:43:58.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 02:44:46.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 03:45:38.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 04:46:26.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 05:47:14.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 06:48:06.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 07:48:54.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 08:49:46.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
11/03/2014 09:13:42.000 kernel[0]: Wake reason: EHC1
These are mainly when the mac wakes up for Netowrk access as I have back to mac turned on.
I have also included this as well from the terminal output window using:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message Req Wake
Mar 11 00:12:17 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 00:12:17 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 00:12:18 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1011 milliseconds
Mar 11 00:43:10 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 00:43:10 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 00:43:10 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 00:43:11 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1016 milliseconds
Mar 11 01:43:58 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 01:43:58 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 01:43:58 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 01:43:59 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1020 milliseconds
Mar 11 02:44:46 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 02:44:46 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 02:44:46 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 02:44:47 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1012 milliseconds
Mar 11 03:45:38 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 03:45:38 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 03:45:38 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 03:45:39 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1012 milliseconds
Mar 11 04:46:26 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 04:46:26 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 04:46:26 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 04:46:27 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1018 milliseconds
Mar 11 05:47:14 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 05:47:14 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 05:47:14 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 05:47:15 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1024 milliseconds
Mar 11 06:48:06 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 06:48:06 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 06:48:06 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 06:48:07 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1026 milliseconds
Mar 11 07:48:54 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 07:48:54 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 07:48:54 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 07:48:55 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1016 milliseconds
Mar 11 08:49:46 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)
Mar 11 08:49:46 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 08:49:46 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 08:49:47 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1020 milliseconds
Mar 11 09:13:42 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: EHC1
Mar 11 09:13:42 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Wake - Full Wake/ Dark Wake / Maintenance wake
Mar 11 09:13:42 unknown-28-cf-e9-04-d0-45 kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltNHI::prePCIWake - power up complete - took 0 us
Mar 11 09:13:43 Alexs-Mac-Mini kernel[0] <Debug>: AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 1010 milliseconds

Mac Mini MID 2011 2.5GHZ with 8GB of RAM from 4GB

Hello Everyone!
So I want to upgrade my Mac Mini MID 2011 2.5GHZ with 8GB of RAM from 4GB.
Mac Mini Hardware Summary
Mid 2011
Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Model Name:     Mac mini
Model Identifier:     Macmini5,2
Processor Name:     Intel Core i5
Processor Speed:     2.5 GHz
Number of Processors:     1
Total Number of Cores:     2
L2 Cache (per Core):     256 KB
L3 Cache:     3 MB
Memory:     4 GB
Kindly suggets to us , 8 GB ,DDR3 1600 MHz Momary will work on same.
Thanks
Ajay Kumar Gola

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_Mac_mini/DDR3_1333
I would opt for one 8 GB stick so you would have 10 GB. total. This says really no practical advantage in dual channel memory
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1fcs77/discussion_ram_single_vs_dual_c hannel_speed/

HELP- mac mini fan just sped up to 5500 RPM

mac mini fan just sped up to 5500 RPM
temps are normal though, no overload to system.

The first thing I would try is to perform an SMC reset on the system:
-From the Apple menu, choose Shut Down (or if the computer is not responding, hold the power button until it turns off).
-Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord and any display cables.
-Wait at least 15 seconds.
-Plug the power cord back in, +making sure the power button is not being pressed at the time.+
-Then reconnect your keyboard and mouse to the computer.
-Press the power button on the back to start up your computer.
If the fan continues to run at full speed after that, does it do so right from power on, or on;y after the system has been running a few minutes?

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After reviewing posts with similar issues, I tried:
- Rresetting PRAM
- Resetting the SMC
- Since I wanted to do a clean install for a while, I did a Snow Leopard clean install.
After all of this, the mac mini fan starts and inmediatley goes quiet. It repeats this over an over every 20 seconds.
What else can I try? My Mac mini is from 2007 (2 GHz, Intel Core Duo 2)

Since you've done a clean install (and updated to current/latest release?), and the AHT didn't find any obvious issues, and an SMC reset didn't help, let's look at more causal sources.
Have you looked at the vents on the bottom to ensure they are free of lint/dust/animal hair/etc? Plugged intake vents can cause high temperatures and the fan behavior you're hearing.
Have you looked at the Activity Monitor (on your hard drive in applications/utilities) to see is any program is using much of the processor, which would drive heat in the system?
Do you have iStat Pro so you can see what the temps are on various components?

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Hello,
The other day whilst play Rome: Total War I noticed the fan on my Mac Mini (bought new in 2012 with fusion drive, quad i7 2.3GHz, 8GB Ram) was blowing a gale. I downloaded MagicanPaster to monitor the Mac Mini and this occurred every time I played RTW, or when I exported a file on iMovie. I know a bit about computers, but not anything about technical stuff so wanted to check that my Mac Mini was behaving within "normal" parameters. The MagicanPaster reported the following whilst exporting an iMovie file:
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woodturner wrote:
Joe Bailey wrote:
I have the same Mac mini as you do but with 16GB of RAM. Normally in a room with an ambient air temp of 41℃ the average temperature of the four CPUs is around 55℃.
You actually keep your room 'normally' at 105 degrees fahrenheit, the equivlent of 41℃ ?
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I can't figure out how to get this to work. Is it possible?

WildBull wrote:
Will it work if I connect via usb instead of firewire?
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Just so we're clear, when you start your Mac mini in FireWire Target Disk Mode (TDM - holding T on startup), do you see a FireWire icon on the Mac mini's display? IIRC, it's not required that the Mac mini be connected to a display for TDM, but it would help diagnose whether or not the mini is actually starting in this mode.

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I there, my question is quite simple, I would like to know if the "apple remote control" can be used with a mac mini and , if so, it can be used to control also the "logic pro" functions (e.g. record, start, stop etc). Thks a lot, Danilo

Good work, thanks for the report.

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When I work with a drive to boot many computers, I use the newest model computer I will be booting, and set the system up on that, run all the Apple updates. Normally I will have no issue booting any older computer with the same drive. Unless of course those older computers do not support the operating system on that drive.
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hi there guys,
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Simon

SkiJumptoes is right. 4GB is not enough to comfortably run Logic X.
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http://www.ebuyer.com/191206-kingston-4gb-ddr3-1066mhz-laptop-memory-kvr1066d3s7 -4g?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products&gclid=COqM6KzdxbgCFcfJtAodoicARg
http://www.ballicom.co.uk/cmso4gx3m1a1600c11-corsair-value-select--memory--4-gb- -so-dimm-204pin--ddr3--1600-mhz--pc312800--cl11--15-v--unbuffered--nonecc.p87434 0.html?ref=5&gclid=CKyej_HdxbgCFQSS3godEjwAug

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Parallels...
http://www.parallels.com/
VmWare Fusion...
http://www.vmware.com/mac
VirtualBox...
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

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On Second thoughts...
I don't really know how well Logic Express 7 performs on the Mac Mini because I have not yet had the chance to experience the two together. Don't let that put you off the idea though! From my understanding of the system requirements printed on the Logic Express homepage, it states that a G4 or faster system is required, however Apple personally recommend a Dual G4 or G5 is recommended alongside a minimum of 512MB of Ram. This Does mean that Logic Express will run on the Mac Mini but you will most probably find it lags when moving samples in real time and rendering them onto your hard drive. If you really want to enjoy making "serious" music on the Mac then you really need to be looking at the iMac G5 or the iMac Core Duo (Intel) purely for your tempers sake. As for an Intel Mac Mini, there is no indication as to when we will be seeing one on the market and therefore you may find yourself on the fence between keeping your fixed budget and holding on a little or jumping in and getting on the right road to a digital musical life - mac style.
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http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/how-to-turn-your-mac-mini-into-a-low-cost-rec ording-studio/
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-Pos

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http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_Mac_mini/DDR3_1333
I would opt for one 8 GB stick so you would have 10 GB. total. This says really no practical advantage in dual channel memory
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1fcs77/discussion_ram_single_vs_dual_c hannel_speed/

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Try resetting the SMC and PRAM
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
About NVRAM and PRAM
Try reinstalling Yosemite with out losing stuff. See:
OS X Yosemite: Reinstall OS X

Mac Mini fan speed shoots up with GPU use

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