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    What reason is there for the GPU fan to work the way it does?

    Discussion in 'Gateway and eMachines' started by myztikgohan, Jun 10, 2011.

  1. myztikgohan

    myztikgohan Notebook Consultant

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    Why let the GPU get hot, turn the fan on, then repeat? Why not just keep the fan always on?
     
    myztikgohan, Jun 10, 2011
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  2. BeastRider

    BeastRider Notebook Evangelist

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    Mostly battery life. You can set it to on all the time I believe in a setting somewhere, though it'll drain your battery quicker I'd imagine. I think when you game it does keep on though..Or something like that..
     
    BeastRider, Jun 10, 2011
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  3. myztikgohan

    myztikgohan Notebook Consultant

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    I can't do anything with the fan on this laptop.
     
    myztikgohan, Jun 10, 2011
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  4. ratherthan

    ratherthan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Which BIOS version are you using?

    I just asked a similar question in the BIOS sticky thread at the top.

    The old BIOS version that came with this laptop kept the gpu fan on all the time and it was annoying. I upgraded to .23 BIOS and now the fan only comes on after reaching 80C or 81C. I just asked in that sticky thread whether this type of behavior was better for the life of the hardware.

    So basically the question boils down to:
    noisy fan on all the time vs. let it heat up, fan kick on, fan turn off, let it heat up, fan kick on, fan turn off, etc? Which is better for the hardware's life/longevity or is it just a matter of preference as far as the noise is concerned? Will the constant heat up, cool down, heat up, cool down, harm the gpu?
     
    ratherthan, Jun 11, 2011
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  5. DemonBG

    DemonBG Notebook Guru

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    Having the GPU heat up to 80 degrees then cool to 60 on a repeating cycle is about the worst thing for an electronic component... it isnt far off what companies do to stress test electronic components while testing them (But with a higher temp differential). The reason is that as the component gets hot, it expands (thinking particularly about the solder connecting the GPU core to the MB). Then you get the fan blowing to bring it back down to temp quickly and everything thermally contracts.

    This will end up in a thermally induced fatigue failure of the solder connections around the GPU... (Not good).

    i personally would suggest sticking with the 9C.17 driver as that is much more capable of keeping the GPU at more constant temperature. (mine usually hovered around 50 - 60 degrees).

    OR - Something i would genuinely pay for, is the 0.23 driver to have a lower activation temp for the GPU (say, about 55 or 60 degrees) rather than 80. At least then there is a much lower temp drop so less expansion / contraction and you are less likely to have a fan constantly coming on and off.


    That's my interpretation on it anywho,
    Hope that helps,
    Demon
     
    DemonBG, Jun 15, 2011
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