⟐ Commented octubre 25, 2024 at 8:14 GMT-7

Mi intención sería sustituir el disco actual por un disco SSD de 250 Gb.

⟐ Answer accepted diciembre 21, 2014 at 10:48 GMT-7

⟐ Answer accepted mayo 02, 2026 at 17:40 GMT-7

Somehow I completely forgot that Apple ever made a discrete GPU Mac mini. Having realized that, I looked up GPU benchmarks and found that the 6630m GPU is kind of decent. Many times mower powerful than the 320m that came before it, or the Intel HD 4000 that came after it. Based on benchmarking the 6630m vs the minimum GPU system requirements for GTA4, I should be able to play that game on it too!

Those are the specs. Now here's the reality. The mini's GPU runs really good for half a minute or so? Then the fan in the mini maxes out, and the GPU throttles so bad, the framerate tanks. IN FACT, its so bad, that I had to dial back the graphics settings in GTA San Andreas to MATCH what I play on the nVidia 320m!!! So on a Mac with over 3x the GPU performance, I'm effectively getting the exact same amount of real-world performance.

My first thought was, Windows 10 must be broken, I should revert to Windows 7!
But after continued use, I'm not sure that's the issue. The second most obvious problem might be bad thermal paste? I know that replacing thermal paste on Macs is all the rage these days, but its not usually as effective as "reddit" would make it seem. But that said, I am in a case where I'm trying to max this machine out. So maybe its worth while to pop off the heat sink, clean it all down, and put some fresh paste on it? If I do go this route, is it worth buying some fancy kind of paste, or will any new, unopened paste be fine?

Any other thoughts on what might be going on? I would be very happy if I could use this mini to play GTA:SA at full native 1080p, and if I could play GTA4 at any decent, playable graphics level.

⟐ Commented abril 28, 2026 at 5:04 GMT-7

⟐ Answer edited abril 08, 2026 at 11:16 GMT-7

I have just replaced the internal HDD of my Mac Mini with a Crucial MX500 SSD, in the process of moving the logic board I pulled it out too far which disconnected the wires from inside the logic board connector of what I believe is the optical drive sensor. I have inserted the wires back into the connector but even so I’m having an issue with the fans on full speed.

As others have recommended, I am using the app SSD Fan Control but became perplexed as to why it wasn’t doing anything when I set it to Auto or S.M.A.R.T.

Only when I set the optical drive setting to manual did it stop the fans from spinning on max.

I’m guessing this means the optical drive thermal sensor is broken.

I taped the HDD thermal sensor to the new SSD, similar to how it was on the original.

The app is set to SMART on the left half (hard disk) and manual (2500 RPM) on the right side (optical drive). Does this mean the fans are still working automatically based off of the data from the thermal sensor on the HDD, just not on the sensors on the optical drive? The optical drive on this Mac is never used, so could I feasibly continue to use the Mac as normal and won’t have to worry about overheating so as long as the optical drive isn’t used? The reason I believe the HDD thermal sensor is working is because the measured data on the app fluctuates a little (RPM and degrees) so I think it’s reading some sort of data.

Separate to this, does this app work in the background? When I close it, it doesn’t show anything in Activity Monitor that I can see, so will it still read the sensor data and adjust the fans accordingly? I’ve set it to open upon logging in via System Preferences, Users, Login Items.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

⟐ Commented febrero 20, 2026 at 5:33 GMT-7

⟐ Commented febrero 18, 2026 at 21:53 GMT-7

⟐ Edited enero 27, 2026 at 17:42 GMT-7

However, I encountered difficulty in re-installing the Antenna Plate, particularly the two 5.0mm T8 Torx on both sides. While it was originally perfectly fit (when I tried to remove the antenna plate), it is now re-installed with only one side of the T8 torx on either one side and the two 6.6mm T8 screws in the bottom part, leaving one 5.0mm screw uninstalled. Though my mac mini worked perfectly fine without that screw.

I don't think I have damaged or transformed the antenna plate and I believe that the antenna plate was not perfectly fit out of the box. Do anyone of you encounter this problem? Any solution?

⟐ Commented enero 20, 2026 at 17:10 GMT-7

From what I searched, USB-C doesn't handle the max power output of the original, which is aproximatly 19V/6A, and I also can't find any diagram or pin layout of the connector, which is a shame. Even if it is slightly underpowered, can it run normally?

⟐ Answered enero 20, 2026 at 0:37 GMT-7

⟐ Commented diciembre 24, 2025 at 0:58 GMT-7

Do I replace it with a new power button unit or?

⟐ Answer accepted diciembre 15, 2025 at 15:00 GMT-7

I thought the storage becomes faulty since I upgrade it but I tried using the original storage but I got the same result.

Here’s my situation: after plugging in the power, the Mac mini’s light keeps glowing on and off. When I press the power button, there’s no chime or response—just the same pulsing light. The dock station connected to my Mac mini isn’t turning on—there’s no light on my mouse.

Here’s the thing I have tried.

1. I hold the power button to turn it off. Then I press it after again. I can hear the chime and there’s white light glowing for a while after a several mins the light will turn to blinking red.
2. I have successfully “revive” the original storage but still the same result.

#

1. Also I just found out that the dock station slot I use to connect my Mac has a blinking light, which means it’s having trouble maintaining proper conductivity. The other slot works fine. Also only the mouse is connected to the dock station so believe I'm not overloading on it too.

⟐ Commented diciembre 12, 2025 at 16:40 GMT-7

Thanks in advance :)

⟐ Commented diciembre 07, 2025 at 14:20 GMT-7

⟐ Answered diciembre 06, 2025 at 14:19 GMT-7

The internet has been strangely silent on this topic. I haven't been able to find anything definitive from either iFixit or OWC, which are usually all over upgrades like these.

⟐ Answered noviembre 21, 2025 at 8:42 GMT-7

⟐ Answered noviembre 18, 2025 at 22:59 GMT-7