Q: Which mac mini can run 4k without fan noise?

mbpdudembpdude
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware

just got the 2018 Mac mini: 3.0ghz i5 8gb, 256gb ssd

The fan is on often and constant when viewing 4k 60fps on youtube.

I need something that can support 4k 60fps with split screen browsing.

 

Would i7 / more ram solve this issue? or do I need an external graphics card?

Or no apple...?


Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 4,087administrator
    Probably none. It's audible but is pretty quiet on my i7. If you want silent 4K, get an iMac, MacBook Pro 15-inch, or BlackMagic eGPU.
    mbpdude
  • Reply 2 of 4
    mbpdudembpdude Posts: 2member
    Would the amount of ram on (your) macmini i7 make a difference?
    I should note youtube dropps a lot of frames when I run 4k 60fps.

    On my 2015mbp 2.2ghz 16gb it barely dropped any frames but the fan was even louder.

    edited November 2018
  • Reply 3 of 4
    sternapples53sternapples53 Posts: 52member
    I have Mac Mini 2018 / i7 /16GB memory / 500GB SSD and LG 27" HDR 4K Display (27UK850)

    When I set the display to 4k and watch 4k videos I never hear the fans. this is the quietest  Mac I have ever owned.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    thttht Posts: 3,038member
    What browser are you using?

    I don’t know where it is at today, but I thought YouTube 4K video uses WebM or Google V9 codec, which Apple does not support. So, depending on video codec, the Mac mini might be using the CPU to decode or Intel fixed function hardware to decode. 

    The latter will will be much less power intensive. 

    You can can do a test of 4K HEVC on the Mac mini. If the mini is whisper quiet doing that, it could be decoding schemas. Using a Chrome may fix this. 

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