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... she's got a 2002 model Quicksilver that I set up for her, it does everything she needs, BUT it's been giving her intermittent/consistent kernel panics (mostly when doing routine tasks, no apparent rhyme or reason). I've run DiskWarrior and Cocktail on it, as well as Apple Hardware Test, which says that everything is clean/OK.
I'm thinking at this point that, rather than trying to figure out what's wrong with it, just to replace (though if it's something simple, I might just fix it, since it otherwise works fine for what she uses it for). Any especially good deals on a Mini recently? Models to look for/avoid? (I could also maybe consider buying for myself, then giving her my old Mini... she doesn't care if she gets something used/refurbed, rather than new...)
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If you're up for it, I'd replace the heatsink compound between the processor and the heatsink.
Often on older machines, the compound dries up and ceases to be effective in transferring heat away from the chip. This causes the chip to overheat and KP. Very common in older machines, both processors and graphics chips.
Refurb minis are a little difficult to come by these days, they have low stock for whatever reason. I have seen some great deals on minis on craigslist recently, if you're up for that route.
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I would replace it. If your current mini has an Intel CPU, it's supported for a few more years. Stock on the 2011 model mini's was very low - I tried to buy one two weeks after the new model was introduced and couldn't find one. You may want to consider a Hackintosh - they're easy to build and install the purchased version of Mountain Lion on.
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Replace - it is way too old to put any more $$ into it. I second the idea of a Mini.
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DRR wrote:
If you're up for it, I'd replace the heatsink compound between the processor and the heatsink.
Often on older machines, the compound dries up and ceases to be effective in transferring heat away from the chip. This causes the chip to overheat and KP. Very common in older machines, both processors and graphics chips.
Definitely check the heat sink compound. A little tube of arctic silver is a lot cheaper than a mini.
A few years ago, an MDD that I bought to trouble-shoot/replace my MDD began locking up hard after about 15 minutes of use. I was going to replace the logic board, but in the process of removing the heat sink, I discovered that the layer of heat sink compound had become something akin to the floor of Death Valley. If that doesn't solve the problem, it might be time to start looking for deals on Minis.
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ka jowct wrote:
[quote=DRR]
If you're up for it, I'd replace the heatsink compound between the processor and the heatsink.
Often on older machines, the compound dries up and ceases to be effective in transferring heat away from the chip. This causes the chip to overheat and KP. Very common in older machines, both processors and graphics chips.
Definitely check the heat sink compound. A little tube of arctic silver is a lot cheaper than a mini.
A few years ago, an MDD that I bought to trouble-shoot/replace my MDD began locking up hard after about 15 minutes of use. I was going to replace the logic board, but in the process of removing the heat sink, I discovered that the layer of heat sink compound had become something akin to the floor of Death Valley. If that doesn't solve the problem, it might be time to start looking for deals on Minis.
Yep, I'd check into this too. My QS 933 displayed the same sort of symptoms which I pegged to bad memory but when the shop opened it up it turned out that the fan was totally fouled with cat hair. Obviously, this led to the machine overheating.
