3 ms·

Side benefit of low power: low noise. That's actually the first thing I check when buying a new computer. How silent is it?

chrisbolt 17y ago
The Mac Mini is almost completely silent unless the CPU is being maxed for long enough (a few minutes), causing the fan to kick in.
- borism 17y ago
  It is not unreasonable to expect CPU be maxed out while computer is switched on. If you don't use it why do you keep it on anyway? It was a big disappointment for me to find out that my new Unibody MacBook Pro whines like a rack server even with a slight load of way below 100% on one core. Meanwhile my old MBP was barely noticeable with 100% on one core until the fans got a bit worn out.
- Tichy 17y ago
  No it isn't. I tried to use my PowerPC Mini as a homeserver, but my gf complained about the constant noise, so I had to switch it off. The fan is spinning continuously.
  - GeneralMaximus 17y ago
    Wasn't the PPC notorious for running hot? My Intel Mac runs completely silent unless I'm building something from source. (I have no experience with PPC Macs. Comment solely based on anecdotal evidence. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
    - mbreese 17y ago
      G4 Powerbooks (PPC) were known to cause severe burns to people. So much so that Apple never called them laptops because you couldn't use them on your lap. (Granted, those people were wearing shorts and had the computer on bare skin, and the heat built up slowly so you didn't notice it). Point being, the PPC Macs ran damn hot. My old G4 powerbook ran hotter than my current MacBook Pro. IIRC, notebook cooling and power requirements were the main reasons for the switch to Intel chips.
aaronblohowiak 17y ago
beagle board + ssd = really silent.
- riobard 17y ago
  remember to check the LCD monitor for high frequency noise, too. recently i came across several samsung monitors with this issue :|
  - chaosmachine 17y ago
    It seems to a be a quality control issue. We had 100s of the same model monitor where I used to work. Some of them had the high-frequency whine, some of them didn't.

chrisbolt 17y ago

The Mac Mini is almost completely silent unless the CPU is being maxed for long enough (a few minutes), causing the fan to kick in.

borism 17y ago
It is not unreasonable to expect CPU be maxed out while computer is switched on. If you don't use it why do you keep it on anyway? It was a big disappointment for me to find out that my new Unibody MacBook Pro whines like a rack server even with a slight load of way below 100% on one core. Meanwhile my old MBP was barely noticeable with 100% on one core until the fans got a bit worn out.
Tichy 17y ago
No it isn't. I tried to use my PowerPC Mini as a homeserver, but my gf complained about the constant noise, so I had to switch it off. The fan is spinning continuously.
- GeneralMaximus 17y ago
  Wasn't the PPC notorious for running hot? My Intel Mac runs completely silent unless I'm building something from source. (I have no experience with PPC Macs. Comment solely based on anecdotal evidence. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
  - mbreese 17y ago
    G4 Powerbooks (PPC) were known to cause severe burns to people. So much so that Apple never called them laptops because you couldn't use them on your lap. (Granted, those people were wearing shorts and had the computer on bare skin, and the heat built up slowly so you didn't notice it). Point being, the PPC Macs ran damn hot. My old G4 powerbook ran hotter than my current MacBook Pro. IIRC, notebook cooling and power requirements were the main reasons for the switch to Intel chips.

aaronblohowiak 17y ago

beagle board + ssd = really silent.

riobard 17y ago
remember to check the LCD monitor for high frequency noise, too. recently i came across several samsung monitors with this issue :|
- chaosmachine 17y ago
  It seems to a be a quality control issue. We had 100s of the same model monitor where I used to work. Some of them had the high-frequency whine, some of them didn't.