New Sager - fans running all the time..

Hi, I just set up my new Sager (Metabox here in Oz) M57RU with 8800GTX. I've only just installed Windows XP and even then I go back to "Classic Desktop" as I like a clean, no-fancy gfx desktop.

But the fans (yep two of them) come on all the time, yet only seem to blow cool air, like they don't need to be on. One fan, the queter one, is on almost all the time, stopping for only a 10-second break every couple of minutes. But even so, a second (and noisier) fan kicks in for about half the time overall.

This constant on-off fan stuff is terrible! Not to mention worrying as this is while the laptop is idle, just sitting on the desktop. There's no bloatware, just XP and basic drivers, zero CPU usage in Task Manager, perfectly clean OS install. It's like the heatsinks aren't doing their job, or the fans are bring tripped off by mistake.

Is this the experience of any other M57RU owners? I don't mind the fans blowing when playing a game or perhaps Photoshop (but even then...), but not when I'm not doing anything, and the unit isn't even warm. It blows cool air, not warm air.

Is there any way of controlling when the fans kick in? Or is there something wrong here?

Any advice appreciated!

 

my fans do an occasional blowout every few minutes, but thats to be expected considering the components in there even when "idle" which is never going to be silent.

there is another thread on here that discusses a newer bios released by Clevo, contact your reseller to see if they will let you apply it, etc. and if they have experienced any issues, may quiet fan is on all the time too, only really noticed it yesterday for some reason, but they both blow high speed every 5 - 10 mins or so I think.

although my compaq desktop at work winds the fan up everytime I open a new window!!!!

 

hmm it just seems wrong, as it's only blowing cool air, and they're not very quiet these fans. I'll check out the bios release notes, and take it up with my reseller. As I mostly use it for work, I'd rather get a lower spec machine than have fans on all the time. Otherwise I would have bought a PC.

 

did you try the fn+1 and fn+3 options? fn+1 would be full bore or not depending on the firmware installed, fn+3 would be much quieter than fn+!

 

New Sager and the fans are always on? well yes, it`s what they`re supose to do.We had a whole Sager 579x firmware update thread which eventually got to the point that the newest firmware that keeps the fans on is the best on. No ramping , no disturbing noise,and perfectly usable in libraries for example.

 

That's cool, I managed to find that thread and been looking through it.. quite a read! I found that my firmware must be the one prior to 'h', as the default mode yo-yo's up and down. But I do have the Fn+3 mid-speed mode.

But the confusing thing is, when I turn on this laptop, a single fan comes on and stays on. I don't mind that, it's very quiet, hardly noticable. But the one that yo-yo's is a *second* fan, a very noisy one. And the problem is, that's the fan which stays on when I press Fn+3.

So basically the "always mid-speed on" mode runs *two* fans, not just the normal quiet one. The second fan unfortunately is just as loud as having a PC sitting on my desk, and it's not a nice sound - it's like an old fan which needs dusting, you know that high-pitched grainy sound.

Not sure if I want a laptop which does that, as I'll use it for work more much than games. Question is, will the 'h' version improve on that - ie. get rid of that second fan only unless it's necessary? It would be totally fine if only that first quiet fan stays on during normal "office" use.

 

You should prolly update the fan firmware and check it out yourself.... we have clearly come to the conclusion(in the fan firmware thread) that the sound the fan makes is very subjective... some can bear it, others cant...

 

Yeah I can imagine.. it's not the volume so much as the high-pitched buzz aspect, like you get with old fans that have accumulated too much dust. Some people don't mind nails on a blackboard either.

 

I dont get the high pitched dirty fan grinding noise on mine.
it seems that your fan may be noisier than is intended.

I see this a lot with desktop fans too, some are a lot noisier than they should be but of course unless you buy a "quiet" fan there is no guarantee that it wont have a slight wobble that causes noise.

I dont think you can escape the two fan situation as one (probably the quieter one) is on the processor, and the other one is on the GPU

when I get the modding itch , I think I will look around for quieter fans that fit. there is a market for them,

 

If you find one that fits, I'll be a customer.

 

Have you tried the new firmware yet?

I believe the sound that you are reporting(the grainy sound) was also an issue a few firmware before and it went away with the newer firmware ...

 

Yep, will give it a go, just have to source it from my reseller here in Oz.. don't want to void anything I shouldn't be voiding.

 

The fans in my 570 are all good, but I can hear a very faint high pitched ring in the background, but then again they sound 130% better than my old zd8000 fans so I am very satisfied. When it comes to quieter fans, I'd say in the future, maybe, but do you think Sager is going to sell a 3,500 dollar machine and put in crap fans? MOVING PARTS WILL ALWAYS MAKE SOUND (just wait until solid state fans come out and maybe you wont have this problem ever again.)

 

while the machine is very expensive, they are still using standard style notebook fans
just a quick looks at products from sharkoon , antec, coolermaster etc and you see fans that are made of light metals which also conduct heat.
differing blade angles and designs that increase the CFM air throughput.

I reckon there should be some great internal cooling solutions on the horizon

 

Maybe on the 5794, who knows.