Latitude E6400/E6500 Owners Fan Noise?

I'd like to ask any E6400 or E6500 owners about their fan noise as I'm considering those machines right now. I'm thinking of going with the Intel 4500 graphics for hopefully less heat and noise than the Nvidia NV160.

How long does the fan stay off while doing basic web browsing? When it turns on does it ramp up to a slow speed or does it blast on and then ramp down to a slow speed? Does this cycle of off and on continue?

The reason I'm asking is I had a Lenovo Ideapad Y430 that was very irritating regarding fan noise. With basic web browsing or even idling the machine the fan would stay off for about a minute or two and then would blast on when it turned on before ramping down immediately to a slow speed for about a minute. Then it would shut off and this cycle would continue over and over. Was very distracting and annoying when in a quiet environment.

I'd like a fan with either consistent fan noise (stays on at slow speed forever) or with no noise at all (stays off forever). How close is the E6400 or the E6500 to this ideal behavior?

I was amazed when I tried out a Dell Studio 1537 that had a fan that didn't turn on at all while web browsing. I could use it for hours and it wouldn't turn on.

 

If you get an E6400 or E6500 with integrated graphics, the fan will run very little and at low speeds (if at all) during routine internet browsing. The fan is almost inaudible when it runs at low speed. My hard drive is actually makes more noise than the fan (I installed a 320GB 7200rpm of my own after I got the E6400).

If possible, choose one of the 5400rpm hard drives to keep the system as quiet as possible. It will generate less heat and will make less noise itself.

 

I've got with GMA and P8600 when on Vista when I'm working (not stressing) laptop (on BIOS A12) fan is off for .. lets say 20 minutes ... turns on but just humming quietly for 2 minutes and stops. I can say that this is quiet laptop , seriously. But I cannot say how it's behave when with NVidia.

 

Mine is off during normal usage. Web browsing might turn it on slow speed if watching videos, but it still is very quiet.

The E6400 is a VERY quiet laptop.

 

I'd be swapping out the HD for a SSD so that's why I'm concerned about the fan noise - it'll probably be the only thing I hear.

Hmm 20 minutes before it turns on I could probably live with, maybe.

Is it abrupt when it turns on or would you guys say it's gradual when it turns on?

Also do any of you notice the dreaded Intel CPU whine (sounds like morse code if you put your ear next to the processor). Amazingly both the Lenovo Ideapad Y430 and the Dell Studio 1537 had no CPU whine at all (T3200 processor I think) but my Macbook has it and it's irritating.

 

It's gradual. But mine doesn't turn on unless I do something reasonably demanding. If I just browse web pages or use MATLAB with no number crunching, it stays off until I switch the laptop off again.

 

Wow that's pretty amazing since you have the Nvidia card too. So if you were web browsing with wifi and without any flash or 3D sites your fan wouldn't come on at all even after many hours?

 

The few times I checked the fan speed with I8kfanGUI, no. But it might have turned onto the slow speed, I wouldn't notice it anyway.

Although this Nvidia card is dedicated it is clearly meant for people who want a bit more power than Intel graphics but still a quiet laptop. Heavy gaming or heavy 3d CAD work are beyond the reach of this card. But for my uses, this laptop is perfect.

 

If the fan is so quiet that it's hard to notice even when it turns on that's really good.

I wonder if the E6500 is even quieter or runs cooler than the E6400. My thinking is that since the E6500 is bigger, there's more room for the heat to spread out and it should run cooler and hopefully be even less noisy. Anybody ever had a chance to try both and could comment?

 

Not only that, the E6500 has two separate cooling circuits for the CPU and GPU, while the E6400 only has one. On the other hand, the E6500 has a better graphics card (DDR3 graphics memory instead of DDR2) which might heat up a bit more.