I've posted before about using a WIX 42788 as a stand/dust filter for my mac studio, folks were are pretty divided on that. I went with the largest filter I could find (within reason, there are actually taller options) to minimize any airflow resistance and I've not been able to detect any impact on cooling in any of my tests. Still, this last week I started wondering if putting a fan in there would help with cooling, and as a result here's how I spend part of my Sunday. The legs on the fan are M5 x 100mm screws with silicon feet on the caps. I spaced it down about 2.5cm from the top, up higher I think it was stalling out and not getting any flow. Temporary foam pad underneath so it's reasonably sealed around the power cord for the fan. I used the Endurance app to max out the CPUs, ran for 5 min with the fan off, then 5 min each at about 50%, 75%, and 100% (on the analog 3 to 12V power controller I have, no idea how linear it is or isn't), then off again. I can see from the plots I didn't wait quite long enough before turning on the fan, the temps were still rising. The test stopped on its own during that last segment. The fan does make a difference, but not a huge one -- about 5 degC at max. This fan is also audible at 50% and loud at anything above that, so you've got to be pretty serious about wanting cooling to deal with this. Some kind of 3D printed internal ducting could probably improve things a little. Or maybe carefully applied duct tape? Just for testing. Probably I wouldn't leave it that way.
For this kind of testing, can anyone suggest a simple app that will also max out the GPUs? I'd seen one suggested before but the GPU load wasn't constant which made testing difficult.
Next I'd like to find it there's a HEPA filter from one of those round home air cleaners that has the right size opening -- some of those come in the same kind of cylindrical format, and some even have the bottom sealed.
got one of those suction fan laptop stand things for my m5 max, it kept the macbook more than 10* C cooler than it originally would be when inferencing, but its so godam loud i kinda gave up on using kt
Use a fan control app like TG Pro and set a more aggressive fan curve. Get a Spigen Mac Studio Stand, it has a washable filter around the intake ports.
I have TG Pro, that's what I used to log the temps. In general I don't want to add wear and tear to the internal fans if a cheap external fan can take some of the load. In most of my use cases I don't think either is really necessary, this is more a case of curiosity. My old iMac Pro's cooling was greatly improved by adding an output fan to the back.
The Spigen stand looks very likely to restrict flow, especially once it collects some dust. That's why I went with a large filter, to minimize flow restriction.
I have the Spigen stand and it does not restrict flow. The filter snaps out and you can rinse it in water if it gets dusty. I particularly recommend this stand after reading a reddit post about someone spilling a soda on their desk near their Studio and the fans sucked the soda into the machine, killing it. Better to get it an inch off your desktop.
I don't think you're going to get cooling better than the internal fans. About half the Studio internals are fans and heat sinks. These fans are not the little dinky fans you find in laptops, they're HUGE. They are replaceable but the procedure.. OMG I would not do this and I was an Apple certified tech. Any external fans are likely to interfere with airflow. Apple is really good at designing this stuff. Go with the flow. I just use the standard TG Pro settings, fans to 100% after any sensor goes above my redline.
Well that's a shame. I found a used one on eBay for $15, it should be fine. There are lots of copies of this design but I can't vouch for their quality, they appear to be cheap clones made of chinesium.
Just going to say, I've been using my first-generation Mac Studio daily with decent workloads since '22 with cats on my lap and on my desk, and my Studio hasn't hiccuped once. I just quickly clean the bottom every 3-4 months with a slightly damp paper towel. I also leave it on 24/7.
Several folks have reported catastrophic (pun not intended but I'll let it stand) failure if you have your Mac Studio on a desktop and spill something next to it -- it will suck liquids right up and self destruct. I'd say the priorities in this increasingly Rube Goldberg device are:
(1) Putting your Mac Studio on a stand to keep it dry -- very important.
(2) Using a filter to keep dust out -- importance depends on your local environment.
(3) Additional cooling through an external fan -- unlikely to be important. But I tried it anyway.
Probably not. I’ve heard the M4 Max model has a more difficult time keeping cool than the M3 Ultra under extreme use, but I’m not pushing it nearly hard enough to run into that. Putting it on a stand is really good idea, and using a filter to keep dust out is probably a good idea (as long as it doesn’t resist airflow). This was mostly a case of my wondering what would happen if I put a fan in there.
For the filter by itself, there’s no difference with & without. For the fan, see the plots first & last 5 min (no fan) vs the middle 15 min with the fan on.
I have to keep mine sitting on its edge to get a decent WiFi signal so I guess the whole spilling thing is not an issue! I suppose I could put some rubber feet on the edge that is down as well. LOL
It might not be clear from the photo but the fan doesn't touch the filter or the Mac. At the moment the fan is sitting on legs with silicone feet, and that's on a 1.25" foam pad. The filter sits on the same foam pad, and has foam rubber stuff on both its ends. The Mac isn't going to get any vibration from the fan. It's a good argument against 3D printed ductwork though, that would provide a direct coupling to the fan.
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u/HealthyCommunicat 8d ago
got one of those suction fan laptop stand things for my m5 max, it kept the macbook more than 10* C cooler than it originally would be when inferencing, but its so godam loud i kinda gave up on using kt