NP9150/9170 Fan Noise

Hey guys

So I noticed a lot of people have been concerned about the level of sound these machines are pumping out to keep the 7970m and ivy cool. Until now it's been largely conjecture and subjective opinion but I found this video which demonstrates it pretty well.

Sager Np9150 gameplay and screen - YouTube

Now before anyone says it's meaningless because there's no baseline to compare it to, I agree that it is difficult to guage this accurately. But what this does demonstrate is his voice as a baseline and the fan sound relative to it from approxuimately 1foot away (typical distance you'd be when using the computer). If you set your system volume to be at approx the level of db that you'd hear if he were infront of you then you get a pretty good guage of what the sound will be like from the laptop.

Notice how it whirls up when he loads diablo, then whirls down when he exits into windows and whirls back up when he starts BF3.

In my opinion based on this video, these machines are not whisper quiet or barely audible at all as some have been leading others to believe. Have a look and let us know your thoughts

 

has GPU utilization problem on diablo3?

 

has GPU utilization problem on diablo3, B3 on this machine?

 

no idea, he doesn't test for GPU utilization. I posted the video for reference to the fan niose as it seems to be very loud.

 

From the perspective of a future buyer also worried about fan noise, i'm actually relieved to hear game sound will cover it no problem. I think i'll be safe if i'm using headphones/earbuds.

 

I haven't seen anyone say these are whisper quiet under load. Maybe not loud enough to bother you or something like that. If you use that much power in any laptop, you will hear the fans. Heat has to go somewhere.
They are fairly quiet on low power and relatively loud under load. Just don't expect to play bf3 in the library.

 

There was a huge thread on this where various NBR reps from the different re-sellers were giving indications that even on load these machines are barely audible above normal home environment sounds which is just nonsense and was refuted by quite a few posters.

I think if anything that video proves that the sound is really rather loud and can be heard pretty well over and above even the sound of Diablo and BF3 in-game.

Now don't get me wrong, I understand that power comes at a cost both monetarily and acoustically but when you think that the price tag for these systems fully kitted is over and above the $2,500 mark, it really is does beckon the question as to why heat/noise hasn't been better managed.

Just my opinion as someone who was seriously studying these machines over the last week but is now struggling to maintain interest in what sounds like generic build systems from the early 90's.

 

I just got one of these machines (NP9150 w/ the 7970) and I can tell you unequivocally, that this machine make a lot more noise than I'm used to. Alot more than the dell I use for work or any other laptop I've ever used for that matter. That being said, the noise is most prevalent during gaming. During internet or other basic use, the fans are on a very low setting that is barely noticeable. During gaming, it is definitely noisy. So noisy that my wife said, "wow your new laptop makes a lot of noise!"

 

I'm not surprised at all by that. It's quite obviously noticeable in the video too. Notice how high the noise goes when he loads up diablo and BF3 - sounds like a mini hair dryer or something. Who can honestly play on a machine like this without a headset to dampen the background noise and not get a headache after 20 mins?

It makes no sense at all putting that kind of power behind an architecture that isn't sophisticated or refined enough to keep it in-line with the expectations of modern-day technology.

 

I was certainly disappointed to find out that this thing was so noisy. I had read some reviews pointing out that it could be an issue. People were saying it was noisy and others saying it wasn't relative to other laptops. The fact is its noisy, bottom line. So yea. If thats the worst of my problems, I guess I'll deal with it. I wish I didn't have to however.

 

Loudness is subjective. It doesn't sound much louder than my current XPS M1530, and the fan noise quickly became something I barely notice, just white noise.

My question is this: is there another 15" laptop with as much computing and graphics power that is notably more quiet? Yes, many laptops are more quiet, but they run lesser hardware putting out less heat. Yes, there are desktops that are more quiet & run hardware as good or better, but they have space to use for heat management that isn't available in a laptop.

If you want a truly whisper quiet machine, go find something with a lesser video card. I'm not aware of any other 15" laptops offering these cards, let alone providing their graphics power at a lower noise level.

 

Speaking of fan noise, can anyone with the 660m report if the laptop is quieter than the 7970m or not? Considering the lower tdp, it might actually result in less heat and, at least in theory, fan noise. Altough with only half the power, it can be an option for anyone that wants a quieter laptop.

Now thinking back, i noticed in the video the game sounds cover the fan noise, but i don't know exactly how much cranked the volume was. Could even be at max volume, and that would cover any sound, honestly. Can anyone give a feedback on this?

 

and therein lies my point.

They, nor the resellers, bothered doing anything to compensate for the additional heat these components would pump out. They just slapped it into the same tired design and said "oh well, you want better components you're gonna get a loud system".

That's a pretty lazy solution for a $2,500 price tag.

 

And what better design solution do you have?

*edit* Also, since the heat management solution would be applicable to all configurations, it's more fair to consider this a $1400 system, which can be optioned up from there. The cost of SSDs and high end LCDs has no bearing on the investment in the heat management.

 

Let's not start with that again, please.

 

Again? Perhaps it's because I'm newish here, but I'm not aware of this having been discussed.

As-is, kingbobo hasn't provided an example of a system with similar specs that does a quieter job of properly cooling, nor a suggesting on a design approach that would provide a more quiet cooling job at similar cost. I'm giving him one last chance to do so before deciding he's just a troll and ignoring him for good.

 

I'm talking about the usual "oh look you're camplaining about it, why don't YOU get me a better one then". It always leads the discussion nowhere.

 

No, I'm actually curious if there is a better design solution I'm unaware of. I haven't personally seen one, but I generally work on low end consumer laptops, and usually older ones at that.

 

When you figure out a new cooling system for laptops besides fans, let me know. Until then you need to understand that when you put PC-level hardware in a laptop you are going to get a lot of heat and all the drawbacks associated with it. If you want a quieter system, go for one that has less performance. None of the goodies that PC towers enjoy can be used here (noise cancelling foam in the case, liquid cooling, multiple quieter fans, more venting, etc.)

 

From what I read, it seems the Alienware M17x cooling is slightly better (at least with the 7970m), as most reports of temps around the 70ºs in Furmark come from AW users. However, I'm yet to even see one in real life, and we are all well aware of AW's pricing.

 

any other laptop noise level comparison with anything less than a 7970m onboard is invalid unfortunately. No gaming laptop is ever going to get as quiet as an ultrabook or a modern macbook pro on integrated graphics. the fans are only noticeable on intense gaming (ergo BF3 and so on) and most desktop pcs I've been around start ramping up unless they are water cooled. I have yet to notice them while wearing my plantronics gamecom headset.

Disclaimer: I have been around long enough to remember the PowerBook 100, so maybe my viewpoint is skewed.

 

And the Alienware & Sager both use the same basic design for cooling - fan sucking air in the bottom of the laptop, and blowing it out through a heatsink, with a separate system for CPU and GPU. The m17x has more space to work with, though I couldn't find anything to confirm if it had larger heatsinks, which would allow for lower fan speeds and less noise. There could also be subtle differences between the fan design (blade shape, etc) and the grill designs that could make small noise level differences.

But there's nothing there that supports kingbobo's claims that the engineers/designers that did the NP9150 just slapped it together in some lazy fashion. All I'm seeing is a fairly standard cooling design for gaming laptops. And they're all noisy when things get cranked up as far as I'm aware.

 

it seems the AW uses a 3 heatpipes system for the whole video card heatsink, as opposed to Clevo's 2 heatpipes for the gpu, and a dedicated third for the video card memory. Maybe that's the main difference for the temps.

 

Because they run it in 720p and no 1080p. Otherwise they get the same temps.

 

How does a company like Noctua design fans that are practically inaudible? They set the goal of designing the most silent fan in the world.

Why does Apple use asymmetical impellers in their new laptop?

Hmm... what might happen if Clevo was to contract a competent manufacturer who specializes in the design of radial impeller type fans, and who actually has "some" consideration to minimize acoustic noise emissions as part of their overall design goals.

The fans noise from in these systems is anything but "white". There are distincts high peaks at blade-pass-frequency and harmonics that will drive you nuts after a while. It's even worse if your bearings are drying out or the impleller is imbalanced. You get acoustic resonance and vibration through the chassis...

A few rather extreme mods I did helped a lot:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...evo-p170hm-owners-lounge-492.html#post8324147

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/653826-reduce-p170hm-fan-noise.html#post8422793

But ultimately, the simplest solution: being able to customize fan temperature tables, would solve a lot of headaches!

 

I didn't realise I was being paid to come up with better cooling design solutions for them. All this time I thought I was supposed to be focusing on my specialisation in life and leaving others to focus on theirs. Imagine that.

Impeccable logic there. Precisely what I am saying is, the heat management solution cannot and should not be "applicable to all configurations". You put higher end components in there, you're expected to accomodate those components with a better heat management solution. Not just slap it into the same chassis and not come up with a way to make sure your product doesn't sound like a jet steamer.

By your logic it's as absurd as putting an M3's engine in a standard 3-series and seeing the driver fly off the side of the road or crash into a brick wall because you didn't provide upgraded suspension or upgraded brakes that can handle the kind of "horsepower" (or graphics in this case), you put into the chassis. I'd like to see you argue that technically "it's a $30,000 car, despite paying $80,000 for it, so you should expect the same suspension/brake solutions"


Absolute nonsense.

 

People looking for a quieter laptop could consider a Macbook Pro. Having used one for over 4 years (until it finally died and I needed something to replace it), I can say that the fans well and truly run silent when the system is idling or otherwise doing photo processing jobs and internet surfing. At these tasks, I can say my new 9150 is louder.

HOWEVER, when both systems are stressed with intensive gaming, then both systems are just as loud, but is it a fair comparison? I am running games at max settings on the new 9150 and was running them at near minimum on my old Macbook Pro. My brother has an Alienware M17x R2 with crossfired AMD cards. He runs programs at near max, but not as smooth like butter on my 9150. Yet, the fans on his computer are as loud, if not louder, than the ones on my laptop.

I know people are forever going to be worried about fan noise. But for what it's worth, I've grown to put it out of mind. The machine has brilliant performance and it stays at a balmy temperature even when stressed. It is a plain, no-nonsense computer at a great price that has the mojo where it counts. It would be nice to have quieter fans, but IF, and only IF the cooling remained just as effective and performance was not compromised.

Pointless to have high-end components only to have them burn out because of inadequate cooling. And this is where I think customising fan speeds is dangerous, unless you really keep an eye on the temperatures.

On the topic of cars...I don't mind them being loud, so long as they are real performance cars, not some tarted up shopping trolley that is modified to sound like a V8.

Wouldn't a good external laptop cooler be useful for a high-performance laptop? This is especially if those fans run quieter and augment the laptop fans. What about elevating the laptop above the table? That helps too.

 

My point is you are accusing the designers/engineers of lazy/slopping work, when you in fact can't even give an example of how it could be better. Apparently you know a lot and nothing about designing a cooling system at the same time. I can understand being disappointed in the fan noise, but to attack the designers out of your own ignorance is just dumb IMO.

No, in this case it's more like they've fitted the suspension & braking to handle the high horsepower in all the cars, including the lower horsepower ones. The cooling system is designed to handle the heat output of all the cpu/gpu offerings offered in the system to ensure the components don't overheat. You are doing the equivalent of complaining about the ride quality of a racing suspension. Everything's a trade-off. If you want a squishy ride, you're not going to get it in a supercar, and if you want a whisper quiet laptop, you're not going to get it in a top end gaming rig.

 

Just got my np9150 yesterday and yes the fan noise is louder than the average notebooks. Even at normal tasks like browsing it's louder and when you're gaming its better put a headset on!

 

Example: The Asus G series laptops are notoriously quiet for gaming laptops. Much more quiet than the Sager/Clevos.

 

Does ASUS put high end graphics in their gaming laptops?
They don't right?

They don't ship anything with 7970m, they didn't ship anything with 6970m or 580m, they don't have any plans to put the high end chips in future laptops either do they?

As someone before pointed out, it's Apples and Oranges unless you're talking about comparing laptops that similarly support 100W TDP GPUs

 

It's not Apples and Oranges. We do know their cooling is comparable with the 5870M at least and other GPUs. 5870M ran pretty hot and even on extreme testing on Furmark, Asus cooling was able to handle as well as Clevo cooling could, both with highly overclocked 5870Ms.

IF Asus decided to put in the 6970M which no doubt runs cooler than the 5870M, there is no doubt it could handle the cooling with no issues, no sweat. And people have overclocked the 670M and Asus cooling handled that easily, very low temps. The 680M should run as cool as the 670M.

The issue for Asus isn't cooling, it's price and control. They probably want to keep it simple, to keep their tech support simple and not deal with any issues that come with high end gaming laptops anymore.

Clevo isn't really focused on quiet fans, that is the main draw for Asus. But that also means their laptops are HUGE, much bigger than the competitions. And Clevo's focus is on performance and packing as many ports etc. as possible. In terms of ports, options and power, nothing comes close to a Clevo.

Also different demographics. I don't think people who shop at Best Buy or NewEgg/Amazon/Tiger Direct, casual gamers would want a laptop that is as loud as a Clevo. High end workstation/gaming laptop enthusiasts know what they are getting when they order a Clevo and you can't just walk into a Best Buy and get a Clevo P150EM. Most Clevo buyers I think do enough research to know what they want and what they are getting. That's IMO the biggest difference here.

 

Under load is one thing...idle is something completely different in my opinion. I expect my sager to be loud when gaming given the hardware, but at idle the 7970m fan should be off since the GPU is off. The processor fan is constantly on and the CPU idles at 38-42 degrees...compare with my sager W110er where the fans don't even turn on until 50c. That heatsink is smaller on thew110er, but the processor is the SAME. I don't see why the P150em has to be so aggressive with the fan at idle...the little 11" guy doesn't struggle at all, and its silent. I would kill for manual fan control on the 150em, or in the very least would trade a little more heat for silence when I'm doing anything not stressful.

 

I agree the p150em is indeed waay too loud for normal tasks. Doesn't make any sense why the p150em is louder than other gaming laptops. It should be just as silent with optimus or enduro turned on... Hopefully there will be a bios update with better fan profile and control.

Is this only with the newer notebooks np91x0?? Or does the older np81x0 get loud too when idle?

 

No, it happens in my clevo p150hm too.

I hope somehow a solution will be found even for us.

 

If any of the Asus G series were shipping with the 7970M PLUS a 95% gamut matte screen at the time I was looking to buy, then I would have taken a closer look. But alas, they didn't.

Don't get me wrong, I wanted to like the G75 and G55. They look like great computers. I actually like the look of those laptops as well. But for those of us wanting the latest and greatest in video cards at the time of purchase (which is most of us, really), then they just don't meet the mark.

 

As an owner of a G series, I did not want a G55. The G series cooling system sticks out in the back, and the bezel around the screen is enormous making the G55 probably bigger or as big as a P170EM, probably bigger. I'm going with a P150EM because I'm looking to downsize, 17" was fun, but I'm over it and want 15".

 

Ding ding ding.

I don't give a flying **** about how loud the computer is while gaming or under duress of any sort. I do have a large problem with the fans going at an audible level while IDLING. This is total nonsense.

This coupled with the facts that a) some keys on the keyboard of my 9150 are unresponsive and b) the multitouch sucks are making me want to return it

 

It sure sounds like we have completely different fan profiles.

My 150em idles around 54C and the fan is off. Under full tilt, the fans are not louder than the ones in my 2010 MBP in the same circumstances. I am not saying its whisper quiet, but its not a leaf blower in any case.

 

Bios version? Reseller?

 

1.00.04 and mySN

 

Actually, if someone has, or will get, a P170 with a 670M, we can compare Apples to Apples, instead of trying to guess which one has a better cooling.

 

That fan noise is nothing compared to this.

[HD] Alienware M14X - Nebula Red with Soft Touch Finish - 3Dmark Vantage (Stock).wmv - YouTube

Around 7:17 of the video


You will appreciate how quiet this laptop is compared to that video i just linked. Check it out for yourself.

 

M14X is not in the same weight class. It cools both the GPU and CPU with a single fan, so it would be understandable if it were a bit louder.

You can almost hear the bearings grinding and thrashing away at top speed, there's more to that noise than just rushing/whistling air.

The M14X has pretty much the same cheap fan desing (if not the same) as the CPU fan in Clevos.

At idle, in that video, you can only hear microphone static though...

 

When my Macbook idles it is completely silent, yet under load around 6krpm, it measures about 55-57db. It's pretty noticeable to anyone in the room, unless there's music or TV on.

I just put a desk fan pointed at my laptop and that helps alleviate that high-pitched whine of the fans and masks the sound so it doesn't bother anybody else in the room.

 

Honestly, if someone wants a 15" machine with a top end mobile GPU, the P150/NP9150 is the only option. Does anyone really expect a 15" < 7 lb machine with a 7970M or 680M to be silent at full load?

 

I would wager to say full load isn't the problem for most of us. It's the idle speed. If a macbook can be practically silent at idle in that tiny unibody, why can't a machine with a larger fan, larger heatsink and better ventilation? GPUs are turned off at idle in both machines, and they use the same processors...

I too have a 15" macbook pro (2011) and it is SILENT at idle. This is the only real gripe I have about my P150EM...(and enduro, but it's manageable)

 

As it is stated on the notebookchek review of the Schenker XMG P502 PRO (Clevo P150EM): "Consequently, the GPU's fan should theoretically stay disabled without load, considering that the integrated graphics solution is located directly on the CPU unit and is thus cooled at the same time. However, we usually notice two active fans even without load during practical use", I have the same issue with Clevo P150EM.

I have read that users here dont have this issue and on office use their laptops are very quiet.

Well, my laptop on office use is not that quiet, and by that i mean that most of the times i have two active fans, which is not that good.

So I'm a little confused: is this laptop quiet on office use and i have a problem with my rig, or the GPU fan is working with the GPU off even for you guys?

thanks!

 

The word "very" is not quite appropriate. I would use the word "ultra" instead. As in: when you are sitting between a vaccuum cleaner and this lapotp, you can't hear the laptop at all, therefore the laptop is "ultra" quiet.

Yes, there is a problem with your rig. It is defective "by design" as far as fan noise and EC management is concerned.

This laptop, which seems to behave and sound the same as P1x0HMs, is not "silent" during office use. There is always at least a fan spinning (unless you have impractically low ambient temperatures, and you down-clock performance), and those fans are not "quiet" in even their lowest rpm (in my opinion of course), and especially compared to any other laptop I have used or heard in the past in an office-use setting.

 

I got the P150EM just because I use my own laptop at work and this thing has been as quiet as any Ultra notebook I've seen for doing the work I've been doing. I also find for gaming, this doesn't kick into full fans anymore either. So it is quieter than I expected.

I am unsure what all the complaints are about the noise at idle. I can't here it over any of the conversations or the central climate control etc.