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New laptop fan cycling driving me mad...
General Zod
Posts: 392 Forum Member
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Hiya,
Got a brand new Acer Aspire 5733Z for Xmas. Specs are:
http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/notebook/2011/Acer/Aspire/Aspire5733Z/Aspire5733Zsp2.shtml
The constant on / off nature of the fan however, is driving me mental. It seems to be that when one or both of the cores reaches 50C, the fan will kick in for approx 5 seconds, then turn off, then come back on again 10 seconds later to bring the temperature back down to below 50C. Repeat ad nauseum.
Is this a common "feature" of laptops? The past couple Ive had have just had the fan on at a low speed constantly, only speeding up when you decide to do something that canes the processor a bit more - I`d far prefer this, as the fan on this laptop is actually pretty quiet, its just the constant on/off sound that gets really irritating.
So, my question. Is there any way to alter the fans behaviour so, for example, its on all the time? Ive installed a program called Speedfan, which was recommended, but apparently it only works on a handful of laptops, so thats no use. Ive also updated the BIOS to the latest version. Still no luck.
Thanks.
Got a brand new Acer Aspire 5733Z for Xmas. Specs are:
http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/notebook/2011/Acer/Aspire/Aspire5733Z/Aspire5733Zsp2.shtml
The constant on / off nature of the fan however, is driving me mental. It seems to be that when one or both of the cores reaches 50C, the fan will kick in for approx 5 seconds, then turn off, then come back on again 10 seconds later to bring the temperature back down to below 50C. Repeat ad nauseum.
Is this a common "feature" of laptops? The past couple Ive had have just had the fan on at a low speed constantly, only speeding up when you decide to do something that canes the processor a bit more - I`d far prefer this, as the fan on this laptop is actually pretty quiet, its just the constant on/off sound that gets really irritating.
So, my question. Is there any way to alter the fans behaviour so, for example, its on all the time? Ive installed a program called Speedfan, which was recommended, but apparently it only works on a handful of laptops, so thats no use. Ive also updated the BIOS to the latest version. Still no luck.
Thanks.
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In "Performance" mode the computer processors will be running at full power and the fans will probably be on most of the time.
In "Balanced" mode the computer will make use of Speedstep technology to throttle back the processors until you really need all the power and the fans will only kick in once in a while.
In "Quiet" mode the computer will throttle the processors whenever things get hot and only ever use the fans if they become absolutely neccesary.
Seems like you might want to alter the BIOS settings (by pressing Del, F1 or F2 usually) so the laptop is in "Quiet" mode.
If you notice a reduction in performance which becomes a nuisance, go back into the BIOS and change it back to "Balanced" or "Performance".
*EDIT*
Maybe worth saying, if you google for "CPU-ID" you should find your way to a website that offers a variety of freeware app's for all sorts of things.
At least one of the app's they have there will allow you to monkey around with stuff like fan speeds AND CPU throttling manually so that you can control how hot things get and, thus, how often the fans need to kick in.
However, be aware that (IMO, at least) stuff like that shouldn't really be neccesary cos you should be able to trust your PC to sort itself out when it comes to stuff like this.
Be particularly aware that if you, for example, decide to throttle your CPUs to 50% duty they WILL stay that way until the next time you use the software to twiddle with it all.
It's easy to throttle back your CPUs, forget about doing it and then wonder why the hell your computer is running so sluggishly.
"passive cooling means the computer slows the processor down before it increases the fan speed, so that the temperature of the processor remains within the operational limits.
Active cooling means the computer increases the fan speed to try and keep the temperature down, but if it starts to exceed the operational limits,it slows the processor down"
@SiCrewe Unfortunately the BIOS menu in this is pretty basic. No options for power modes. As for the freeware apps stuff, I have come across a program called AA1FanControl using my Google-Fu this afternoon. Its meant for the Acer Aspire One series, which as far as I can tell, is an oldish netbook, but using the default settings it seems to put the fan on at a low speed all the time, which is preferable to the on/off dilemma I talked about.
@alias alias Thanks. I tried all that, but the laptop keeps cycling the fan, no matter what setting I put it on.