M4500 Fan always on

So my fan is almost always on at 2600 rpm, even when my processor is at 50 C and at a lower multiplier state. The temperature doesnt go lower. Also, I have active thermal management on in the power settings, but I dont think it used to be on almost ALWAYS, as it is now. I have opened it up and blown some dust out. I also have a cooler master elevated stand, but other than that, Im not sure what to do if I can do anything, or should I do anything? Thanks.

 

What cpu do you have ?, I have an i5/FX1800 and it almost never comes on unless being taxed pretty heavily.Mine, once warmed up, is pretty much never below 50 degC either as far as cpu temp.

Did you use new thermal paste when you dismantled it to blow it out.
Personally, not much of a fan of blowing things out, fluff just tends to get blown somewhere else not wanted, or end up right back where you blew it away from.

 

Of course, heh... an i7 740 QM and a FX 880M and just put in 8 GB of ram from 4.

And it just cycles between 52 and 75, even when not doing anything (at lowest multiplier), no fan for , goes up to 75-80 real fast, and fan comes on, drops to 50ish after a long time with the fan. When I am using, even if its for simple stuff, the fan just stays on all the time almost and hangs out around 55-60. Heavy stuff it stays around 70. Goes up to 80 for some bits. Is this normal?

I just dont like how the fan is on almost all the time now. Ive got a new bios and blew it out inside with some air.

Dell had no idea what the norms were and are sending a tech to replace it a heatsink, fan, and some grease, no thermal paste on the chip apparently just a pad. Should I do this, cause I dont want them messing it up just from replacing stuff.

I've had this comp for about 7 months.

 

So you removed the fan from the heatsink assembly and cleaned the fluff away from the front of the radiators?

I would disassemble and repaste myself, I repasted when I first got mine, but didn't remove the fan from the heatsink assy because there was no need to.
I use a self spreading thermal paste that's not electrically conductive called Tuniq TX-2, a little blob, half the size of a small match head is plenty, after the old stuff is cleaned off both surfaces thoroughly.

 

No I didnt remove anything, just opened the back of the case, blew air at it. I scrapped a little dust off the fan blades with a screw driver. was that a bad idea? Should I just take the fan out?

Also, If I use paste will it come off easy? There is no paste on the chip, just a thermal pad so they can replace it easy. I don't want to void my warranty blatantly by having it stuck to the chip.

Below is the layout of my computer, more or less.

http://aquitan.de/picture/IMG_1543.JPG
(Kistebier's pic from this site)

 

I've never had any luck removing lint and fluff by compressed air, always dismantle [carefully] and clean properly.

Mine only has thermal pads on the graphics memory chips, everything else is paste, although it may be in some sort of pad form when it's originally assembled.
I cleaned all their crud off with isopropyl or rubbing alcohol and used Tuniq on each core except the graphics memory chips which do use the thick blue wax pads [which thermal paste can't replace because of the big gap and thus won't work effectively]

Most thermal paste comes off easily, ones that you have to spread like arctic silver 5 can end up quite messy, which is why I like self spreading types like Tuniq that only require you to have a little blob on each core before you tighten the heatsink assy back down in the numbered order that is cast into the components beside each captive screw.

If you aren't confident in doing it yourself [it's really pretty easy if you are half pie practical] it might be best to watch the dell tech do it first for future reference and or peace of mind.

There are dell service manuals on the dell support website which can assist you http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/wsM4500/en/index.htm

From the horses mouth [dell] they wouldn't deny warranty if it's done properly, but would if someone made a complete mess of it, which I guess is only fair.

 

Great, thanks.
Would I just push it down after putting it on pea style? How big is that?
Also, what do you mean by each core, since there is only one surface?
Do you use new thermal pads on the graphics by the way?

 

If the M4500 uses the same temperature thresholds for fan control like the M6500 does (most likely it does), the fan will kick in at 60°C and switch off at 50°C.

If you want to change this hold Fn + Shift and type 15324. The scroll LED should blink now. Then hold Fn and press r and a hidden BIOS menu should show up where you can change fan speeds and disable the BIOS fan control. This setting will last as long as the laptop is connected to a power source.
If you disable the fan control it will stay in its current state, so you'll have to change the speed manually (watch out for the temperatures!).

After being glad to have a silent laptop for a while you'll realize that always having to look for the temperatures on your own is nerving.
If so, try i8kfan [1]. You can use it to set your own temperature-based thresholds. Adding 10°C to both thresholds is fine. Even 20°C shouldn't cause any long-term problems.
It will not overwrite the BIOS settings but use its own thresholds. Therefore disabling the BIOS fan control is still necessary.
It may be old but it works fine on the M6500, at least under Linux. So I guess it should also work on the M4500.

[1] Dell Inspiron Inspiron/Latitude/Precision fan control

 

You can't push it down, it has to be screwed down bit by bit in the order that is numbered, not pea size!, at most, a match head size or a ball 2 - 3mm in diameter.
The first time I repaste a different notebook, I usually repaste, screw it together and then remove the heatsink assy again to check that the paste is covering the cores properly...or if there is too much being squeezed out the sides after screwing down, clean it off again, and redo it.
Read the dell instructions how to remove the heatsink assy, as the pipes and radiators are relatively fragile and can bend fairly easily if you start yanking on things.

the cpu core and the graphics core, which is smaller [not the graphics memory chips which have the blue wax pads] you will see when you take the heatsink assy off.One heatpipe comes from the graphics core, the double heatpipe from the cpu

No, don't remove or touch any blue pads unless you have new material to replace it, only they greyish goop dell uses, it's easy to tell the difference when you see it.

You can always use your NBD warranty as you have already paid for it, if you do it yourself and end up stuffing something, it is your own responsibility

 

great thanks. Can the tech use the paste that I give him? Or should I just watch him do it using his paste and then do it myself?