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    How do I turn on the fan ?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by wearetheborg, Jul 15, 2006.

  1. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    I tried out my M90, the fan didnt come on (much I think). How do I set it for maximum cooling ?
     
    wearetheborg, Jul 15, 2006
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  2. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    The fan will come on as needed. Are you having overheat problems?

    You can use this program to monitor and turn fans on but be sure to RTFM if your not sure whats up.

    http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html
     
    hydra, Jul 15, 2006
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  3. Paul

    Paul Mom! Hot Pockets! NBR Reviewer

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    The M90 is pretty good about cooling itself. The GPU stays in the 40s or 50s while the CPU stays in the 20s or 30s. I tried i8kfangui, and the fan controls were a little hit or miss sometimes. They didn't like staying on the whole time or something.
     
    Paul, Jul 15, 2006
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  4. mZimm

    mZimm Notebook Evangelist

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    I have never used the M90, but since it's essentially the same system as the M1710 I would assume that you could use i8kfangui. It's a great program that allows you to take control of your fans.
     
    mZimm, Jul 15, 2006
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  5. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    The fans are controlled by the BIOS. Basically, the temperature has to get to a certain point and then the fans will come off, and if the laptop continues to get hotter, the fans will adjust accordingly.
     
    Amber, Jul 15, 2006
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  6. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    Thanks. While the laptop is not shutting down, the underside IS getting more hotter than it should, esp around the HDD area I think.

    Is fan control or external cooler better ? For more cooling ?
     
    wearetheborg, Jul 15, 2006
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  7. jeffmd

    jeffmd Notebook Evangelist

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    external coolers dont work on laptops.. they just sucker gullible people out of money.
     
    jeffmd, Jul 16, 2006
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  8. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    The bottom getting hotter is normal, no problem.

    Hook up with notebook_ftw if your not comfortable with your temps.

    As SouthernGirl said "the bios also turns on the fans and adjust automatically". The bios alone makes your temps look like a shallow roller coaster, Mine are ON at 76C, OFF at 64C.

    Since I torture mine enough gaming in OC mode, I have i8kfan set to auto run, on start up, second GPU fan when doing day to day stuff. This way the GPU stays at a steady 50C. When the bios takes over, like when gaming, both fans are on and off via BIOS and i8kfan steps aside.

    I have to agree with jeffmd for the most part. I just keep the back elevated with those rubber thingies or whatever is lying around.
     
    hydra, Jul 16, 2006
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  9. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    My CPU was around 46C - fans didnt kick on.
    Is there any way to adjust the bios so that fans come one earlier - i8kfangui works in windows, but I want something for linux too.
    And if it can be done in bios, whats the purpose of i8kfangui then ?
     
    wearetheborg, Jul 16, 2006
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  10. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    Good questions!

    The bios is pretty much hardwired for the average user, that's dells territory if they update or not. I would like to see the fans come on earlier but dell's engineers think not. Go to the i8kfan site to see why it was developed, it just turned out to be a good overclocking safety net for a lot of us. If heat kills then I'm already on borrowed time ;)

    Your CPU, no problem there. Mines gone much higher at times, before fans kick on. Use i8kfan for a day or two running in the background just to record your bios temps. You'll notice when bios kicks fans on and off by scrolling back chart.
     
    hydra, Jul 16, 2006
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  11. ScifiMike12

    ScifiMike12 Drinking the good stuff

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    If you need more cooling then buy a laptop cooler. I just bought one from Newegg and it had great reviews.
     
    ScifiMike12, Jul 17, 2006
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  12. wearetheborg

    wearetheborg Notebook Virtuoso

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    How well does it work ? How much does it cool the laptop by ?
     
    wearetheborg, Jul 17, 2006
    #12