W370ET Fan Issues

So I got this laptop about 3 months ago, been okay so far, but over the holidays the fan started making a weird noise. I guess the fins got clogged up quickly, although I can't imagine why, so the fan would be running more often and louder/higher rpm. Now when I play any kind of game it really goes into overdrive, and it's annoying the hell out of me but I think something is wrong. It doesn't just go into super high rpm which I can tune out, it goes into super high rpm for like 3 seconds, spins down for a second, then cranks up again for 3 seconds, so it's this constant whirring noise. I opened it up, cleaned the fan & heat sink fin area as best as I could, it ran a lot quieter for a few days but then started doing the high rpm spin up/down whirring every few seconds, As for my temps, while gaming they're only about 145F/62C for the processor,125F/50C for the GPU, which to me seems sort of cool by laptop standards so I'm not sure why the fan just goes into overdrive as if the thing was melting and the weird spin up/down issue.

If anyone has run into this before, and found a fix or even temporary solution, would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

Not sure what GPU you have, but 50C is very cool. 90C and above are dangerous, and you should start paying close attention if it gets into the 80C range

If it's only 3 months old, you should contact your reseller as you are still covered by at least a 1 year warranty (assuming you bought it new)

depending on the model, you may be able to set fan speeds via the BIOS, Fn + ___ key combo, or even via a program like msi afterburner.

Since your temps are still within safe range, it may just be that you're sensitive to the fan noise now, and nothing is actually wrong. I hope that is the case, and if not, maybe one of the three things i mentioned may help. Good luck!

 

It's definitely a new level of noise. Initially the laptop was super quiet when just web browsing and stuff, and it still is. When gaming though, it used to be a low, steady whoosh, which I could hear but I was fine with. Now the RPM is noticeably higher, and it tries to spin down then spin up again to this really high rpm every 3 seconds, which is the really annoying part. And I figured the temps were really low, so I don't understand why the fan is running so high. I didn't see an FN combo key for fan control either, but I might try MSI Afterburner and see what it offers.

 

Might be a faulty fan controller on the board. Not sure exactly how loud it is from your description, but if you deem it excessive, I agree with Ajfountains; try giving your reseller/manufacturer a call and have them take a look.

 

Well I opened it up and reseated the heat sinks, cleaned the fins, and oiled the fan. It runs hotter than I would like under load, and louder, but the rpm is consistent. It's not trying to spin down and up every 3 seconds making this weird as wheezing noise.

 

Can you report your temps? And what did you use to oil the fan? Also, did you happen to repaste while you were at it?

 

Yes, I did repaste. I didn't order it with any special thermal paste, and I repasted with some generic stuff I got from staples so I'm not expecting anything grand, just keeping the interface smooth. The oil was just lightweight gear oil I had laying around, inside the inner ring between the magnets, on the spindle. Couldn't actually take it apart. As for temps, it seems to idle higher, which is weird, but it sits around 115F idle for cpu/gpu. I don't remember the temps previously but I believe they were around 105F. Under load they're also both warmer than before which isn't what I really wanted or expected. Under heavy load the CPU & GPU both max out around 150F. Little warmer for the CPU, A LOT warmer for the GPU, but looking at the way the unified heat sink is set up, I wouldn't really expect them to be drastically different temperatues since they're both touching the same piece of copper, so I don't know how my GPU was 125 and CPU 145F before at the same time.

 

Both temps are still well under safety limits I believe though

 

W370ET runs incredibly cool. I own one and play games on it. REALLY cool temps. Under heavy load, it reaches max 60'C. Average is 56'C for the GPU.

No idea what sounds you are getting from the fan, but please make a video or record them! Then we can judge whether its normal or not.

Overall, remember this - if you are getting around 60'C on the GPU while gaming, then your laptop is EXTREMELY COOL and thats a definitive plus.
W370ET surely delivers on that note

 

Haha I'm pretty sure I know exactly what you used then (Antec Formula 6/7? )

While you are under safe temps, any sporadic revving could be the controller for the fan, and not the fan itself. I'm not sure what you used to oil the bearing, but as a rule of thumb, WD-40 or any cheap lubricant is not ideal.