Dell Inspiron 11 3147 2-in-1 Issues/Questions/Concerns

Hi koreysimmons,

I would suggest you to try flashing the BIOS on the system. Please enter your service tag # on the link below, select the operating system, and then download the BIOS from the BIOS section onto the system and install it.

Also, please clean the air vents using the can of compressed air and and then run the diagnostics on the computer by following the steps mentioned in the video below and check if there is any issue with the hardware on your system.

Please let me know the findings.

I have the A02 BIOS (updated once I received the computer)

Seems like everything runs as it should. 

I was looking more for a user/owner response to the heat. Just curious if this is an issue or everyone else goes through the same thing. Also any suggestions on the bottom panel?

I have two Inspiron 11-3147's purchased in mid November 2014, with a Windows 8.1 image with most software in "Programs and Features" said to be installed on Oct 28, 2014.  Both have a problem that frequently causes the CPU to run 100% utilization, all four cores running 100% at max turbo clock speed, when they don't need to be.  This causes the machine to run hot, the fan to blow, and the battery life to be much shorter than it should be.  The problem shows up the most when playing a video, either in web browser or with a media player, but can show up other times.  Changing the Power Profile (Control Panel - Power Options) from "Dell" to "Balanced" often, but not always, causes the CPU utilization and clock speed to drop down to a normal rate, such as about 10% and about 1GHz.  This is not a solution to the problem because I've found it still occurs with a variety of triggering events even when the Balanced power profile is in use..  I have yet to find a solution to this problem.  Can you please check to see if your Task Manager is showing a similar problem in your machine?

  OB Ron

On my pair of Inspiron 11-3147 notebooks, I found that uninstalling the RealTek audio driver, and just letting the generic Windows audio driver install solves the problem.  Alternatively, reverting to the older A00 driver also seems to solve the problem, but that driver is said to have other problems.  I tried a newer driver directly from the RealTek web site, but that one also caused the CPU utilization problem.  (There may be something newer yet available now.)  Dell did not know about this RealTek driver problem until I reported it to them.  Dell has since told me they are working with RealTek to resolve the problem. 

Please report back if removing the A01 version of the RealTek audio driver solves the problem on your unit.

I had the same issue when I installed the same memory.  The problem with the cover near the power switch was that I used the screw hole for the cover to secure the battery inside the case in error, preventing the cover from lodging properly.  Once I repositioned it to the correct location, the cover sealed correctly.  My PC was also running hot near the vent below the top of the keyboard which subsided once I properly sealed the cover back by that vent.   From what I read, the temperatures you are getting are normal for the CPU.

hi, after uninstalling the realtek audio driver the speakers dont work, microphone works but speakers dont how do you install the generic windows audio driver so that speakers work??

I uninstalled the Realtek driver in the "Programs and Features" Control Panel, then rebooted the system.  Windows 8.1 should revert to the default Windows drivers for the device.  If that doesn't work, you might try running Windows Update to see if it will install a driver, or check the Device Manager control panel to see if a driver is installed for it.  In my Device Manager, under Sound, video and game controllers, there is an entry for High Definition Audio Driver.  The Properties for it show a Microsoft driver dated 8/22/2013.  Sound works basically okay -- you just don't have all the fancy features that comes with the Realtek drivers.

Note:  It appears now that this problem, and many other erratic behavior problems with the Inspiron 3147, might be hardware malfunction caused.  I am getting an Inspiron 3148 that has a newer Intel CPU/SOC to see if it resolves the many reliability problems.  I will post the results soon.

I have this problem as well.  Uninstalling the audio drive did NOT help.  I am still left with a fan running full blast, and 100 percent utilization, all the time.  Even just sitting there, no applications running.  Further, it is reducing the battery life significantly. 

OK, after some more research, elsewhere, I know how to make my problem go away.  I changed the power plan.  The plan was set to "balanced"  I changed it to "power saver" and the processor instantly went to 30%, then settled down to the normal levels of inactivity.  So far no further issues.  The funny thing is that it also stays lower if I go to "high performance".  I would think that high performance would spike the cpu usage, but apparently there is some specific setting, in the balanced mode that is causing this.  I dug into details, but can't figure out what setting.  I changed a few and no difference.  So for me, now it is set to power saver.  Hopefully this helps someone else out. 

Thank you!  This worked for me too.

Excellent, it fixed my 100% CPU Usage problem.  I was using the Dell power plan.  Choosing the Power Saver plan fixed it.

Later I reset the Dell plan to the Default settings and now it behaves normally.  I had made some minor changes like Display Off, Sleep and Hibernate. The Processor Power Management settings at min (5%) and max (100%) were untouched but I’ll guess they somehow got corrupted.

BTW - If the CPU was really running at 100% of full capacity the fan would have been on and loud.  It wasn’t.

THANKS DCMALIMK

However, I went back to the Dell plan and restored the defaults.  Now the Dell works correctly.

In my case I head BIOS A05 and upgrading it to A07 solved the problem.  My problem had shown up ever since I upgraded to Windows 10 my Inspiron 11.  CPU was always 100%.   It must be some incompatibliity between Windows 10 process management and the older BIOS firmware.

Thanks for the suggestion.