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    Fan noise

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by simcamil, Dec 9, 2008.

  1. simcamil

    simcamil Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hello,

    I just got my new XPS 1530 one week ago. It is a great machine and my temperatures are very nice but I am a little bit concerned with fan noise.

    The fan is most of the time off and the CPU temp is always around 30-40ºC. The problem is that when it reaches about 42ºC the fans suddenly go on and make quite a lot of noise. Not enough noise to be heard while watching videos or listening to music, but it does sound loud in a library, for example.

    This happens every 5 min and lasts about 30 seconds (while doing light use of the computer)

    My sister has a Studio15 and her temps are similar to mines but her fan doesn't sound as loud as mine.

    I don't know if this is normal in the XPS. I would prefer the fan to be always on at a very low level.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thank you
     
    simcamil, Dec 9, 2008
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  2. scottbenntt

    scottbenntt Notebook Consultant

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    what bios are you running?
     
    scottbenntt, Dec 9, 2008
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  3. simcamil

    simcamil Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have A12.
     
    simcamil, Dec 9, 2008
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  4. Koer

    Koer Notebook Deity

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    hmmmm.... A12 makes the fan a bit less noisy... im afraid its just how the computer works, mine does that also, but its far from annoying.

    if its loud while in the library, you can either:

    1- go to a place where you are alone, put some headphones on, and you wont hear a thing.

    if this doesnt work because of any reason, then try raising your laptop a bit with some books to get some air flow on the bottom of your laptop. this will make your laptop run cooler, and hopefully the fans wont kick in.
     
    Koer, Dec 10, 2008
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  5. simcamil

    simcamil Notebook Enthusiast

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    The laptop is already raised due to the 9 cell battery. The problem is not temperature since it never exceeds 45ºC. (With max load it reaches 48ºC) It is just that the fan goes suddenly from 0% to 100%. Wouldn't it be much better if it was constantly at, for example, 20%?
     
    simcamil, Dec 10, 2008
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  6. ATG

    ATG 2x4 Super Moderator

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    You can control the fan using the Dell application i8kfangui. No idea what control features this application has(I'm not a Dell owner), so I've no idea if it'll solve your problem.
     
    ATG, Dec 10, 2008
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  7. Koer

    Koer Notebook Deity

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    nope, sorry to say but ; dell has set some new code in the BIOS that no longer allows any fan control software to work....

    by the way, some video drivers have been known to make your fans work more, maybe you could check out laptopvideo2go.com and download a driver from the forums.
    i have version 180.84 and it works really well and the fans only kick in at low RPMs .

    if you dont know how laptopvideo2go's drivers work, il explain breifly, you have to download and extractt the driver then donload the modded .inf file, and drop it in the extracted folder, when asked to replace the current file say yes, run setup and taa daa! you got a new driver :D
     
    Koer, Dec 10, 2008
    #7