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stuart scott
Mar 9, 2007

Problem description: I've got a Mac Mini late 2012 that is plagued with hard restarts (BSODs when I boot it in Windows) and crashes when playing games (primarily Kerbal Space Program) or running Logic.

Attempted fixes: I'm sort of stumped, so I haven't tried much. I have some suspicions. Two main suspects are the RAM (2 x 8GB Corsair Value Select, i.e. the cheapest RAM on Amazon when I got it in 2012), and/or overheating. The case gets pretty hot when I'm running the applications in question, but based on some Googling it's inconclusive whether that's totally normal or not. I run the thing in the normal horizontal position. The RAM appears to have mostly good reviews on Amazon. Should I look into replacing the RAM? I'm going to experiment with running with the case open to see if the heat issues actually matter.

Recent changes: No, and it's happened pretty much since I got the machine.

Operating system: OS X 10.9.2, Windows 7

System specs: Mac Mini Late 2012, 2.5 ghz Intel i5, 16 GB DDR3, Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB, 500 GB hard drive

Location: United States

I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes

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CaptainSarcastic
Jul 6, 2013



You should also be suspecting the hard drive. I'd suggest running memtest on the RAM to see if it shows any errors. If you can boot to Windows you could run Crystal Disk Info and paste the results here for analysis.

http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Sonic Dude
May 6, 2009
If that came into my shop, the very first thing I'd check is that RAM. It gets good reviews for being cheap, not for being reliable.

Factory Factory
Mar 19, 2010

This is what
Arcane Velocity was like.
RAM is my first instinct, but I didn't post because I have no clue how to make a Memtest86+ boot disc or USB from OS X. There's a command-line tool, Unix's memtest (not memtest86, not memtest86+), but because it can't reach all of the system memory, it's not perfectly reliable. Apple's built-in memory diagnostic is apparently next to useless.

As for SATA information, try SMART Utility before booting to Windows just for SMART info.

stuart scott
Mar 9, 2007

Thanks to all for the responses.

Crystal Disk results: http://pastebin.com/uckZW1Sb

Seems in order.

Having trouble getting bootcamp to boot from the memtest USB drive but I'll post those when I get it working.

I did tinker a bit last night, I ran it with the case off and it lasted a lot longer than normal before crashing, maybe an hour or an hour and a half. Then for the hell of it I swapped out the Corsair RAM with the 2 x 2GB factory RAM that came with it, and I was able to run it without crashing at all. So I'm leaning in the direction of the temp being a problem and damaging the Corsair RAM maybe.

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Sonic Dude
May 6, 2009
If your computer overheats, it shuts off. Anything short of that is in no way hot enough to damage anything, save for maybe a nice soft cheese.

Check the warranty on the RAM and get it replaced. Or buy some from OWC and call it a day.

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