XPS 15 Fan Reving / Stopping For 1 Min, Revving / Stopping For 1 Min (Repeat Cycle)

So today my XPS 15 fan decided that it needed to start spinning up and then stopping immediately. I would say it was going to the 2nd of 3 fan levels I think there are. It would rev to get up to speed then stop immediately. This cycle has been repeating and I've restarted the computer as well as turned it off, taken out the battery and pressed the power button for 15 secs to try to discharge it. Still had the issue on start up.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I really like the unit, but I'm thinking I'm going to call and ask for a new one to be sent to me as the fan seems to be on A LOT even when just surfing the net without any flash sites and now I have this issue.

[Right now my fans at medium/high and the cpu and gpu temps are around 42 deg and cpu usage is at ~20% with one core none. Within 3 minutes of the fans turning off the cpu's were back at 55-60deg with just Firefox open.]

 

Same issue, fans run even if the system is on idle....I have requested for a replacement.

 

Fans will cool your CPU down to a predetermined "shutoff" point determined in the BIOS, seems to be around 50 C, and the fans see 50 C as them having completed their job of cooling, and they turn off.
Once the fan turns off, your CPU is free to heat back up to a BIOS set fan "turn on" threshold in the mid 50s, so at around 55-56 C your fans turn back on again.
Make sense?

Its a futile cycle. Fan on = efficient cooling down to high 40s, stupid fan turns off once the CPU is that cool, now that CPU has no fan turned on, temperatures climb again to mid 50s, fan has to turn back on to get temps back down to high 40s, rinse and repeat.

So a replacement system won't correct this, all the machines will do it as that is how the BIOS is programmed.

 

Fans even run with the temps are in the 40s range.....

 

High, med, or low?
If it is low thats not a bad thing, it will keep your CPU cool instead of allowing it to cycle.
If it runs on high in 40s, maybe try updating your BIOS.
If that doesn't help, maybe a bad hardware controller for the fan.

 

I think its because of the laptop thats why I have ordered a replacement, as others were not having this problem. BIOS everything is already updated, I am not sure about high or low but low 40s and low 50s when just using browser.

 

I had this problem... already sent it back in. The 420m actually heats up even when idle so it causes the fan to run. The fan went on and off every few seconds in my case. Annoying as hell. Hesitated to send it back because the 420m overclocked to 750/960 and max at 75c =(

 

CPU usage at 20% is HUGE, some serious processing is going on. Open the Windows 7 resource monitor, and take note of the running crapware (Click the CPU tab, then sort by Average CPU usage). Idle CPU usage should be 0-2% average. You're 10 times over the limit.

I'm not saying there isn't a hardware problem, but I'm certain that there is a software problem.

 

Well the thing is I have the i5 and 420 so I was expecting temperatures to be lower which would result in less fan noise. That was the main reason I took the i5.

I disagree that CPU usage at 20% is huge. I would say anything over 50% to be huge but 10-30% to be typical usage. I do agree that it was a software issue which I am pretty sure is Firefox. [That turned into another POS used to be good program unfortunately.]

Right now I'm running 9 IE tabs, HW Monitor, Task Manager and Windows Explorer and CPU goes from 0-10% usage. The CPUs and GPU heat up to 53 and then the fans turn on. I realize this is the design and run from the BIOS.

I guess what I'm saying is I thought an i5 with a 420 running a few browser tabs wouldn't heat up enough to cause the issues with the fans. I talked to Dell and they want me to test it without any browser windows in Office but that won't help me if I don't use the computer that way. I'll do some more testing tomorrow.

 

Also the fans kick in until temps are below 40 which is a good thing, but this laptop heats up tout de suite.

 

I usually have 3 FF windows open, each with multiple tabs, outlook and vista virtual PC running and I don't even hear my fan.

I did do a clean install with win 7 ultimate and didn't add the facial recognition software or really anything that came preloaded except for dell quickset.

I haven't checked internal temps but the laptop always feels cool to the touch.

 

Actually when just surfing or listening to audio, I idle around 1-3%.
10% CPU usage you should be doing something to actively use the CPU.

 

Indeed, 20% usage IS actually huge. That means something heavy is going on.

@ WhosTheBosch:
People recommended you to update the BIOS, did you do it already?

 

I also have an xps 15 with an i5 and the 420 with the fhd screen. The only time my fans rev up is when I play games, stress test my oc, or when transcoding video.(ie... Pretty much when my CPU usage goes over 50%ish)

 

Hi!!!, How long is the normal fan cycle on an XPS 15 with an i7 when running at idle or with low processor usage like Internet browsing?
Always talking about a normal ambient temperature (76ºF / 24.5ºC).

Is the fan running at low speeds when it starts it cycle? or it sounds like a vacuum cleaner?

 

I uninstalled the facial recognition software and anything else I didn't need. The laptop does feel cool and have only felt slight warm temperatures to the left of the mousepad, nothing extreme though.

I agree it shouldn't be around 1-3%. Usually Flash causes issues which I'm sure happens to other people as well. I'm going to experiment with No Script and start blocking ads as well to see how that works.

Yes, no help, though I didn't expect it as I think it just updates the types of CPUs that are compatible.

The fan cycle can last anywhere for 10 seconds to endless depending on what is happening. Usually when the temp hits about 52C the fans kick in until the temps are below 40C. I don't have a problem with the fans, just the fact they go on and off a lot which is annoying.

The fans start at the low speed which you can barely hear, then after 53C is hit they go into what I'd say is medium mode where they're definitely noticecable.

After lots of tests I've discovered that most of the time the increased CPU is due to Flash. It sucks and as this is my first laptop I've discovered that most browsers don't deal with increased DPI very well either.

Anyway, the fan revving has calmed down a bit now but if I have too many tabs open in any browser it does get out of control a bit. I do agree that when just surfing the CPU usage shouldn't be that high. Mine seems to be between 1 and 10%.

I have till Friday when the 21 days run out so I'll have to see what to do. I'm thinking a repaste + SSD + Ultimate might lower the temps a bit enough to stop the fan from going on regularily.

Thanks for the help and suggestions, I do appreciate them.

 

I primarily use firefox and use the plugin "ad block plus". I also have flash blocked. When I use IE I don't have anything blocked and the fan still doesn't come on.

The only time I've heard my fan doing what you described is when I'm loading software and it quits right when its done.

If you can't figure it out, I'd return it. That's what my 1530 started doing (3 years old) and it was very annoying. As a matter of fact, that's one reason I bought this laptop.

 

I am having the same exact problem, even the replacement laptop that came had the same issue and I sent it back right away.

Now I am not sure to return the laptop or keep it, because the fans are very annoying going on and off all the time....

What have you decided to do?

 

Sorry for the late update but moved + Christmas.

So I just repasted using OCZ Ultra 5+ and have turned on the computer after letting it sit for around an hour. While running Prime 95 torture test my cpu's got to 85 and 89 degrees with the fan going on for only a few seconds when above 60 degrees. However when opening IE 9 and running a Youtube video the fan went on steadily for a while keeping the temps down.

Has anyone else had the fan barely come on with CPU temps above 80C? Since my fan works with YouTube the video I don't think there's a problem with the fan.

Does anyone know if the fan is controlled by the CPU or GPU?

I'm going to install my OCZ Vertex 2 SSD and see how that works. But the CPU being able to go to 85+ is troubling.

 

Hey guys, i my xps 15 FHD/ i7 840 / gt 435m / 9 cell about 2 weeks ago, and I have the same fan issue, and overall my laptop just runs hot. It's still within the 21 days, so i'm thinking of either asking for a replacement or just returning it. For those that have requested a replacement, what is the return policy on the replacement? Do they send you the replacement while you still have the old laptop? Do you get another 21 days? Do they pay for the shipping costs as well? Sorry for the barrage of questions. Thanks for your help.

 

Your Fan is trying to pop VTEC every min or so XD My old XPS 15 idid the same thing so dell sent me a replacement to fix the issue.

 

What do yo mean with "to pop VTEC "

 

Ya, what do you mean? I thought VTEC just had to do with cars? My fan does sound like it's trying to start but just can't get going, however when the GPU starts heating up via Flash it has not issues running which is weird...