HP's new BIOS!

The new BIOS (F25) for HP's Pavilion line can be found at HP's website .

In this release HP claims that they modified the thermal control method to improve system stability.

What I've noticed from using the new BIOS (I updated it from F16) was that the fan doesn't run all the time like it used to. Before with the F16 BIOS the fan was turning on when the cpu temp reaches 33-34 and turned off when the temperature decreased to 20-22.
Now with the new BIOS the CPU temp is 45-50 and the fan spins when the temperature reaches beyond 52-53 and shuts down when the temperature is decreased to 44-45.

Finally they realized that with an ambient temperature of >25 you cant possibly get your CPU temperature to 22 degrees with air cooling

WARNING! DUE TO THE INCREASED TEMPERATURE RANGE IN WHICH THE FAN RUNS THE OTHER COMPONENTS MAY PRODUCE MORE HEAT THAN THE PREVIOUS BIOS VERSION! USE WITH CAUTION!

 

Cool! I've been waiting for this to come out.

 

Finally HP have done something worthwhile. Brilliant post - thanks for that - I'll give you some rep next time I can!

 

I assume the new BIOS is being used in all dv9500t/dv6500t/dv2500t models?

 

this BIOS has already been posted and talked about.

the problem is that while the fan doesnt spin as often, CPU temps have risen as well as HD temps which are becoming unacceptably high. while HP has compromised fan noise for temps, some people may find the temps unacceptable.

also some ppl are claiming the quickplay button sounds cannot be turned off as the BIOS option doesnt seem to work

 

The fan noise didn't bother me a whole lot, but high temps WILL. I like my computer to remain cool and not overheat. It sounds like this will be a problem in F.25?

 

And I highly recommend you do not download it. Having the CPU idling at 45C is unacceptable and HDD temps hovering around the same (55C is the critical temp) is ridiculous. Fan noise is better than damaged hardware.

 

there is newer one for dv2000t series..check there website, version F26 is available for download.

 

I downloaded the F25 yesterday on my dv6000t. Soon I noticed the left palm rest and keyboard were hotter. I ran SpeedFan and it confirmed that. HDD stayed at about 52C instead of 45-46C. I went back to F16 for the cooler computer.

Bill

 

I went back to F.16 also. F.25 got WAY too hot, and I too noticed the left palm rest/keyboard getting much hotter. I like my computers to run cool, so F.16 is definitely the way to go for me.

 

Do any any of you guys use a "cooler" and if so, does that help?

I am running F.13(I think-whatever my Vista flashed me to) and have tried others including F.16. All had fan issues and my HD heat w/o the help of a cooler were allways above 50 for drive 1 and drive 2 was in the mid 40s.

My CPU temp is around 30 with my speed stepped down plus cooler. W/O the cooler my LAP would fry if I used in "portable" mode.

Thanks.

--Mickey

 

Hi Mickey,

I don't use a notebook pad because I haven't had to. However, I'm concerned about the heat emanating from the computer. F.25 may stabilize something, but it's not the heat! Frankly, the fan "issues" in F.16 were never an issue with me. The fan is not loud or annoying, and I like a computer that runs cooler. Surely a cooler computer is better for the longevity of components. I really think we'll see HP do something pretty soon about this BIOS update.

Bill

 

I am sure that the new BIOS keeps the temperatures at a safe operating level. I am sure that although somewhat hotter, the temperatures are within normal operating range. Also, depending on where the thermsistor resides in the hdd it will have higher/lower readings.

 

For notebooks, 45 C degrees at idle is relatively normal and not at all dangerous to the computer (maybe to your lap though). Perhaps some prefer to keep the internal temperature to very cool level, but that comes at the expense of battery life and noisier computing experience. Perhaps HP should add fan speed setting on the ROM setup?

Now if only HP would provide similar firmware update to very noisy and recently released 6x10-series (6510 and 6710).

 

the problem is the hard drives are getting too close to the 55C threshold with the new bios

the CPU temps are accetable

 

You might want to try and counter that with a low-noise cooling pad of some sorts.

 

That is exactly what I noticed. It is the hard drive, not the cpu that is producing the not comfortable heat on the left side of the palm rest. The hard drive temp raised from 44~45 to 50~55 which is in the critical range of hard disk operation especially for a laptop. That is why I decided to downgrade too, and wait for a better BIOS update.

 

I haven't update my Bios. BUT...if I don't use the cooler, my HD runs over 50 anyways. Looking at the SMART characterisitics, drive 1 has peaked at 87(more on what I think why later). Drive 2 has peaked at 55.

Now - the 87 temp is more than likely that my DV9000 woke up from sleeping while in my bag due to the Media Center thinking wanted to automatically update the guide(hint: don't let set to Auto Update if you use SLEEP).

I still may try the new Bios nowing I can go back to a previous release. I am curious about the fan. I will more than likely test with and with out the "cooler" to see what gives.

--Mickey

 

Yes I realize that 45C is not bad for a laptop and that laptop CPUs are made to take it but a 17C degree jump from 28C to 45C isn't worth it [to me, anyway]. But the troublesome temp is the HDD, this new Bios is edging it uncomfortably close to the 55C critical temp.

And some sort of built in fan control would be appreciated.

 

I - much like many you others out there - tried the new BIOS. Temps are absolutely out of sight. 58C HD temp id bay 1, 45C in Bay 2. CPU idle is around 50C. This was without the Chillpad. With the chillpad, my temps are lower. 50-51 HD in bay 1, 36C HD in bay 2. CPU is at 50C. Bottom line is that the chillpad lowers 8 plus degrees.

What about the fan? It comes on periodically...if I could only trap that hot air!! I have many uses for it. But not in summer time. I think I have now successfully raised my room temperature 2 degrees.

BTW...I was at F.11. However, I am going to F.16(last known supported BIOS from HP). F.11 was what the Vista upgrade downgraded me to. There were no major differences with fan or heat from F.16 that I was at before the Vista upgrade. Heat/fan is basically the same between XP and Vista too.

My personal opinion is that the current HP design as heat dissapation flaws. Not sure what the answer is either. I had tried running without the HD covers but that didn't help.

Oh well...the saga continues.

--Mickey

 

yup i flashed to f25 and my hd temp has risen to 54C and the CPU temp is 48C

huge difference from f16, very bad IMO.

i think they should either go back to the f16 tables or try something in the middle.

 

f25 sucks. CPU temp was 26 C @ idle with a Zalman-NC1000 cooler on high. With the f25 CPU temp went to 52 C. Since I don't have Vista I went back to f6 Bios.

 

why did u go back to the f6 bios??

 

There isn't any legitimate reason to downgrade a BIOS unless the newer BIOS is corrupt in some way.

 

yeah but the f16 bios doesnt have these complaints and its available from HP

 

That's the problem. Everyone is having heat issues with F.25. Many of us, it seems, have reverted to F.16 because of that.

BTW, I think the poster who said he went back to F.6 meant F.16.

Best,
Bill

 

I personally would rather have the fans running constantly but keeping the machine cooler than having the fans running less but increasing the temp of the machine. who wouldn't?

Is the fan noise really that bad neway?

 

nope the fan noise is quite low but the bad thing about it is it reduces the life span of the fan plus it uses more battery life.

 

I have to agree with this assessment. When i had my dv2kt, i tinker around with it because the left palmrest was hot. I took out the hard drive and then hooked up an external usb drive and installed xp on the external Without the hard drive in the palmrest, the palmrest still emanated heat. Not as much as with the hard drive in it, but it was still noticable. Perhaps it's the material or special glossy coating on the palmrest, or it maybe there are some components under there that is generating an unusual amount of heat. regardless of the reason, i had to sell my dv2kt because of that annoyance.

 

Yeah, but more heat reduces the lifespan of the whole computer.

 

can anyone tell me how i can revert to f.16? i just bought my dv6000t recently, and my idle temps are a whopping 68 degrees celsius! i'd rather have my fan going and lose the heat. if a copy of the f.16 bios is required, please include it if possible.

 

Go to the HP site and check the driver section for the dv6000t. on the version type of the BIOS, there might be a link to the previous versions.