I am running Windows 7 and on both the 2010 and the 2011 Mac Mini I find that the fan kicks in at a higher temperature than under OS X. This makes the situation worse for those running Windows. Initially I drilled a series of 1/8" holes in the bottom cover plate in the area above the grill surrounding the WiFi antenna. I've have enlarged these now to 11/64" but this makes the placement of some rubber feet critical since the bottom flexes a lot more which was not the case earlier on. I get the impression that at 2300 rpm the front of the Mac Mini is cooler than at the back. This leads me to believe that the body plays a large part in the (passive part of the) cooling. The 2010 Mac mini uses approx 8 watts at idle and the 2011 i5-2530M about 15 watts and imho the cooling system is not sufficient enough (at idling at least) for the 2011 mini. Something must be wrong with the fan control as well under BootCamp. I am now seriously considering adding two heatsinks on the outside of the 2011 Mac Mini (...
Search on macrumors for my posts: ( primarily http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.p... ) Drilling the ventilation holes hardly made a difference at lower speed however I am under the impression that it makes a difference at higher speeds. (used to be involved in electronics and have a drill template to create evenly spaced holes) Since the 2011 has more often higher fan speeds I consider air filtering a welcome addition (see my other posts on this subject). With overhead lighting (ceiling lights) the filter is not even noticeable. Less dirt buildup internally = better cooling. No dismanteling = no warranty invalidation. I've also a post on references to safe operating temperatures and running this machine above 80C is not advisable, it will impact reliability. ( http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.p... ) Increasing the idle fan speed to 2200 rpm gives it about the same idle temperature as the 2010 mini. I am only running Windows 7 (I know) and am using MacFan0_65 utility to set the fan speed after...
Torq 6 - I do not think it is to keep someone out. The plastic clips on the cover look to be in the same place but since the cover is a clip on the head of the screw is smaller / different and hence they finished up with a smaller Torq size. I even have some Torq 5 floating around. At least Torq is a standard configuration unlike some other stuff that is really custom designed.
If they wanted to keep people out then they would have done something like they did in the old days: put a blob of paint over the head that you first had to scrape off. Then the inside would be marked with who did a repair.
The major thing I have an issue with is that the HDD is in the bottom slot and that the logic board has to be removed in order to get to it.
I think a fusion drive is a smart move. If not then you would need the PCIe connector. Now you can replace the spinner with a SSD once price drops enough.
The metal part on the 2011/2012 bottom is in the way so that won't fit. I suspect that either the metal lid has been done to prevent enterprising persons from leaving the cover off and placing a large fan there or that it was done for better shielding from the faster WiFi - the old cover did not have metal contact with the rest of the enclosure.
For the past few years I have used some foam designed for the air intake filtering on a motorbike underneath and it has kept the inside rather clean.
when I looked the 13 piece was $6.95 priced down from something like $13.95. Seems the priced has been upped somewhat (a lot).
Torx 4 upwards tamper proof .....
http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Grade-13pc-Tam...
I wonder what the "Advanced Format" that is mentioned on the HDD is?
Torq 6 - I do not think it is to keep someone out. The plastic clips on the cover look to be in the same place but since the cover is a clip on the head of the screw is smaller / different and hence they finished up with a smaller Torq size. I even have some Torq 5 floating around. At least Torq is a standard configuration unlike some other stuff that is really custom designed.
If they wanted to keep people out then they would have done something like they did in the old days: put a blob of paint over the head that you first had to scrape off. Then the inside would be marked with who did a repair.
The major thing I have an issue with is that the HDD is in the bottom slot and that the logic board has to be removed in order to get to it.
I think a fusion drive is a smart move. If not then you would need the PCIe connector. Now you can replace the spinner with a SSD once price drops enough.
The metal part on the 2011/2012 bottom is in the way so that won't fit. I suspect that either the metal lid has been done to prevent enterprising persons from leaving the cover off and placing a large fan there or that it was done for better shielding from the faster WiFi - the old cover did not have metal contact with the rest of the enclosure.
For the past few years I have used some foam designed for the air intake filtering on a motorbike underneath and it has kept the inside rather clean.