S96J Fan

Hey, I just got the S96J....

It seems like a slick computer, except for some reason, the fan always is on and its loud. sometimes it will turn off randomly after sitting there for 10 min.

I dont know if its just me, but the fan does sound really loud (ie. someone blowing air out normally), and my computer was just sitting there (with Windows freshly installed... and not doing anything).

Anyone know what i can do?

 

If Windows is freshly installed, chances are it has a crapload of advertising software on it. Most notebook manufacturers receive good money for installing such garbage. Try reducing start-up programs, background tasks, unneeded services, and just try slimming down the initial workload for your laptop. After booting, a good number of processes is 30 (at least, for the P4@3GHz I use).

 

I installed windows from a cd, so that shuldn't be the problem.

 

Very odd. My fan hardly ever comes on and it is very quiet. Do you have an fan software running? I would suspect that there is something wrong with fan.

 

Ye the fans in these laptops are very silent even full blast its low noise. Not sure if it a broken fan. Are you putting your head right up to the vent? Remove fan monitoring soft and any modding /clocking utils like flip sugested .

 

would downloading drivers/bios affect anything ? if I were to reinstall my comp again, since ive only been on it for 3 hours

 

OK. what does the fan sound like? Do you hear any "whining" or high-pitched noises? It should sound like cross between a person whispering and blowing lightly.

Another thing. When you first power it on, the fan should come on high. Then, after the BIOS POST, the fan should relax as Windows is booting. If it doesn't do this, something is wrong.

You may want to try opening the user access panel and checking the cpu fan plug. Unplug the fan, and plug it back in. If you want details on how to do this, ask. Don't do anything if you are unsure about it.

 

the fan sounds pretty normal, just as though it were on high speed.

are you saying user access panel = hardware? ie. open up the computer's bottom? and check fan?

yeah, thats not my specialty area haha

 

Oh, since you said you installed windows, I figured you most likely had either assembled the thing or have experience doing such a thing.

The user access panel is the little panel on the bottom of the laptop secured by 3 screws. You unscrew them, slide the panel towards the front of the computer, and it pop's out. Most of the hardware is accessible from this point.

Have you checked to see if the fan slows down after the laptop boots up?

 

the fan stays on after the laptop boots up. when I restart windows, the fan stays constantly on full blast even at the point where windows has shut down and it is entering windows boot.

it seems after about 10 min the fan stops, and then 10 min later the fain starts, and then stops and then starts.... Its either dead silent or full blast.

 

Sounds rather odd. What version BIOS are you running?

 

it says in the system information under bios:

American Megatrends Inc. 080012, 5/29/2006


could the problem be that I actually updated the drivers BEFORE I upgraded to SP2?

 

That version number looks fishy.

Yonah version of the BIOS should be 0601 I think, built on 4/21/06
Merom version is in the 09xx range

Does it report the same thing if you pause during POST right where the BIOS version is reported?

 

Wow, I never hear my fan unless its totally quiet where I am.

The S96J/Z96J are very quiet.

 

uhhh...

when I boot, i get a black screen with an intel symbol at the very bottom right....
next screen is a flashing cursor (nothing else is on screen)
next screen is windows boot screen.

there is no other information :|

I treid pressing f10 during every screen.. nothing happened?


EDIT: im thinking of reinstallign windows again. I should only update drivers (from the cd) after SP2 is installed right?

 

F2 during the intel logo to enter BIOS setup. Disable the logo so you can watch the POST.

That doesn't sound right. Although I guess it could be. I'm running a Z96J with BIOS ver. 07093 updated 5/29/06.

 

You should be able to see the boot diagnostic screen by going into BIOS (F2 at POST), boing to Boot->Boot Settings Configuration and Disabling 'Full Screen Logo'... then just be quick with the pause key when you see the AMI logo (red triangle looking thing)... the BIOS version should be reported on the second line... reads like:

ASUS Z96JS ACPI BIOS Revision xxxx

What is xxxx for you?

 

ok heres the bios version: 0703

everyon seems to be having different numbers?

Edit: people are mentioning 0601,

it seems to be what Asus has on their website for bios updates, is it safe to roll back onto an old BIOS? (im guessing 0703 is new? strange if Im the only one with this number...)

 

I am running 0601 with no problems... but I don't make a habit of flashing back and forth without good reason.

My fans don't spin down until midway through the O/S load (still WinXP scrollbar thing on the screen) so maybe O/S+driver reload before back-flashing?

Is there a way to recover these things if you DO brick the BIOS? (I know there is a procedure for Phoenix... is there a crisis recovery for AMI too?)

 

do yo know the temp of you cpu and gpu mayby something went wrong with the applieng of the thermal paste and there for the cpu/gpu cant lose there heat .so they stay heat and the fan is at full blast whole the time.

is the lptop on a table when u use it or o you have it on your lap .when i use my laptop on my lap it gets a few degrees warmer / and here by comes more fan

 

how do I find out the temp of the cpu? is there a software way?

my laptop is on a table. no obstructions to fan and bottom of lapotp is clear off the table.

 

I think the fan is probably always on while on AC power because everything is running at max. On battery power everything drops frequency so you don't need the constant cooling.

But, realistically, you can't be expecting a high end gaming notebook to have the same acoustic properties as one with integrated video.

 

still though, the fan might always be on, but I shouldn't be able to hear it unless its performing something intensive.

 

Speedfan

Notebook Hardware Control

Motherboard Monitor

etc...

 

does it have anything to do with the fact that i dont have my battery plugged in?

 

I disagree with this entire post. The laptop shouldn't really run any hotter on AC than DC. Sure, if you are gaming on AC and web-browsing on DC, there is going to be a temp difference. But not if you are doing basically the same thing.

Second, you CAN expect a laptop with dedicated hardware to produce less noise than a low end laptop with integrated hardware. My Z96J runs much more quietly than ANY other laptop I own. Sure, the Uniwill in my sig has dedicated hardware, but I had a $500 HP laptop that was pretty loud, and my Dad's dell from 3 years ago(inspiron 1100- $600 bottom of the line) is by far the loudest computer in my house.

No, it shouldn't.

Do you have an S96J, or a Z96J? Because you are running a Z96J BIOS. Perhaps there lies the issue. But still... you wouldn't think it would really be a problem. They are practically identical. I would suggest to watch your temps quickly. You can also try NHC. They recently released a new version with better support for the core duo.

 

really? thanks for the great tip. I definitely have a S96J. since the S96J keeps on getting confused witt the z96J 'cause its real name is the z96js, then perhaps the reseller (NCIX) got mixed up when setting up the bios?

Im going to try using gentechpc's bios update cd:
http://forums.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=62289&page=2&highlight=s96j+tech+support

rolling back to 0601. Thats S96J's regular bios. if im correct.

EDIT: that didnt fix the problem. ****. Im gonna update to sp2 (without installing drivers)... and then install drivers after its done


does drivers ahve anything to do wit hit?

my drivers cd is:
NI546, ver 1.0

is it outdated?

i might just use the asus webpage list of drivers instead.

Also, what about omega drivers?

 

You're SURE? The S96J has a low-res WXGA(1280x800) screen. If yours is any higher, then you have a Z96J.

Intel has released an 09** something or other BIOS that adds support for merom. But I would probably stick with the one you linked up above. Heard people had trouble using yonah's with the merom bios.

 

ok, well the bios is now 0601, nothing seems to be hampered, everything is normal, except the fan problem si still there, so it didnt do anything.

EDIT: my comp is 1280x800

 

well my fan is inaudible 99% of the time. the only noise comming from my z96j is from the hard drive. I can barely hear the fan even with my ear against the keyboard. even with the fan running at such a low speed it is cool to the touch and only the trackpad gets a bit warm.

 

so does NHC allow me to control my cpu fan?

I still can't figure out the problem, this will be a temporary solution..


could it be because I dont have that arctic 5 stuff?

btw, I downloaded speedfan and my computer is runnning on average at 54C (and i can't find the asus model in the speedfan options?)

 

No, it doesn't. Wish it did. Haven't found anything that could.

So what happened with the BIOS flash?

EDIT: Nevermind about the BIOS question. Somehow missed the last two posts. Speedfan does nothing. Your temps are normal.

 

rolling back the bios didn't do anything. although my computer remained alright, which I guess is a good thing.

I wanted to find a program that could let me try manually adjusting the speed of my fan, so I can see if it is an equipment issue or not (ie. if I select lowest setting, and take the next setting up, if the fan blows loudly, that would be a good case) im trying speedfan but can't find z69j motherboard option.

 

did you install the windows xp duo cpu hotfix? maybe your cpu is running at 100% constantly and causes the fan to spin

 

No mrgodai, his temps are fine. The fan reacts to temperatures, not cpu speed.

yip_boy, you cannot use speedfan. Speedfan rarely works with any computers, to tell you the truth. And I've never seen it work with a laptop. The only thing it is good for is monitoring temps. There is no way to my knowledge to control that fan.

Do you know anyone that has an S/Z96J to compare yours to? Perhaps yours is just running normal.

 

unfortunately I dont; although i doubt this is normal. people keep saying the fan is very quiet, cant hear it 99% of hte time, but wat I hear on an empty windows screen (with no programs running), the fan is running heavily, giving the same noise as, for example, a playstation 2 gives. (if you ahve a ps2)

bestway to describe it, my dad's 5 year old toshiba runs quieter than my comp.

 

I just went and powered up my sister's PS2 to see how loud it is(I do all gaming and basically everything on a computer) and the Ps2 is easily twice as loud when you power it on than the Z96J. You shouldn't really be able to hear the fan at all.

My dad's dell, when the fan comes on, you can hear it loud and clear from across the room. Sounds like his laptop is about to takeoff from his lap.

 

Does the fan turn on full blast the second you turn on the laptop? Or do you have to wait a few minutes?

Is 54C the CPU temp? Do you know the GPU temperature? Since the laptop uses only a single fan to cool both then if either of them are hot the fan will turn on. If that's ur CPU temp then it's fine, but your GPU might be hot if the heatsink isn't making good contact.

Try going into your video card driver settings in ATI's Catalyst Control Centre and changing the Powerplay settings. Set it so even when plugged in the GPU is throttled back (optimal battery life setting). See if that changes anything.

Speedfan's fan control works for the Z70Va.

 

the weird thing is that ive had it boot up without having the fan turn on loud?!?! sometimes it does and sometimes it doesnt. it follows the 10min rotation thing very well though.

il check what you said in a little bit

 

Fan should always be off when you boot up, because the system temp is below the BIOS fan threshold that Asus sets. The rotation on/off is the fan turning on once the temp gets high enough, and then off when the temp cools below the lower setting. Fan on/off temps and speed are BIOS settings, which can sometimes vary between releases, but are not alterable by the end user. You have to learn to live with it, or hope for a bios release in the future that works better. Usually, however, Asus seems to have set the temps lower on subsequent releases for their various models.

 

The fan automatically comes on at high speed during the BIOS POST. After the post it will slow down. If you are doing a cold boot, the fan will turn off.

But yip_boy sounds different. With his 10 minute interval thing. VERY weird. Have you contacted your reseller?

 

ok! So I contacted NCIX --- who told me to immediately send it in (they apparently can give me no help whatsoever on the phone). I called Asus... who forwarded me to Intel (im guessing since its VBI) who told me to contact my reseller

Much help there.... haha

 

Yes. That is one of the problems with VBi. You no longer get support from the ODM. They'll redirect you to intel. If you had a Z96J, they would have been very helpful from what I am told.

And intel hasn't done much of anything for their so called VBi program.

So what are you going to do? Send it in?

 

since i live in toronto area, im planning to head down to milestonepc's and check out their s96j model to see the difference, and maybe they can help me out.

I wouldn't mind paying money for services (like $20 to look at laptop is it?) and I think things are covered by warranty by asus/intel, so since they are a reseller if they need to switch parts they can do it for me wihtout cost?

I believe?

 

UPDATE:

I just opened up my s96j, and auhhhghghgh I am so mad.

its been about 30 min since Ive reassembled it and there seems to be no fan going full blast anymore..

I think I fixed the problem... and you know what is was?

the power-wires for the fan... were sandwiched between the heatsink and the X1600 chip!!!!!!!!

NCIX.com grrrrr they need to be more careful... frig.

anyway, I think i fixed the problem. Theres a post somewhere about a fan problem with a link to mine. So likely, its not the S96j. No worries, peoples.

 

Hmmm... maybe what was happening was that your X1600 was overheating. I can't imagine the core of the X1600 having a good contact with the HSF if there was a wire between it. Probably wasn't really transferring any heat at all. Which explains why your fan was contantly running extremely high.

Glad to see you've found the problem. There is a reason why I never trust anyone to build a computer for me. You should ask NCIX if they use fan wires as their TIM of choice on a regular basis.

 

thanks JPZ for your help btw through 5 pages of posts.