Fan always running (i9100)

Question

I just got my i9100 today and one of the fans is always running. Its actually kind of loud. I can see that my machine was shipped with a Prescott P4 processor. I'm wondering if that is a cause as other people have started that there i9100 fans barely come on. Prescotts run hotter than Northwood processors.

I wasn't able to turn off this fan with i8kfangui. My cpu averages 50C and hd 37k and fan speeds at 61-63k. The fan is at the top right of the system.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do?

Watson416 · Answer

I pray to the god of laptops mine does not come with a Prescot processor. From what I here they are slower and run hotter. Correct me if I am wrong anyone, but the Northwood is better at this point. Sorry to rain on your parade Falkar 1.

INSPIRON 9100, P4 2.8GHZ, 15.4-IN. WSXGA+
40GB ULTRA ATA HD,I9100
128MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700
512MB DDR 400MHZ,INSP
496 WHR 12 CELL PRIMARY BATT W/SUBWOOFER
4X CD/DVD BURNER (DVD+RW/+R)

Will be delivered Monday

WolfJe63 · Answer

The 3.0Ghz in my i9100 is a Northwood version.

The fan is always running too, but in a very low pase. With i8kfangui I also cannot change the fanspeed. I think it is not ready for the i9100 yet (the program is called i8, not i9 anyway).
My CPU averages at about 35-37 degrees celsius. Fan speeds are about 71500rpm and 64500rpm. According to i8fangui this is 'slow'. They only come up to fast when I do some heavy duty aritmatic jobs. I.e. repairing par2 files when setting par2 in high priority, winzip or winrar compressing or Excel spreadsheets with about 30.000 calculations . On playing FarCry the fans stay 'slow' and the CPU goes up to about 40 degrees celcius.

Also when the fans are going to a higher pase and I have the i9100 on my lap, I get very cool legs . The amount of cool air that gets in there is huge!

When using a desktop processor in a laptop I think there is no way to let the fans stay off. The cpu is too hot not to have fans run. In a desktop the fan of the CPU is allways on too (mine is).
If someone would like to have a real laptop, please consider the i8600, the i9100 is a desktop replacement and is an inbetween to a desktop and a laptop. Thus having some drawbacks if you thought of it as a real laptop (low noise, low weight etc.).

WolfJe

Message Edited by WolfJe63 on 04-13-2004 05:21 PM

Falkar1 · Answer

My CPU averages 20C higher than yours.  I've seen it jump up to 60 during medium activity.   I haven't done anything intensive yet.  I can tell that some of the other fans are on, but no way near as loud as this one.  Quite a few people have said there i9100/XPS is very quiet.  Only a death man would call this quiet. Dell Desktops are quieter than this.

Camulus · Answer

@Watson416 wrote:

I pray to the god of laptops mine does not come with a Prescot processor. From what I here they are slower and run hotter. Correct me if I am wrong anyone, but the Northwood is better at this point. Sorry to rain on your parade Falkar 1.

It depends greatly on what you are going to use the computer for. The "Prescot" CPU has the SSE3 instruction set to improve 3D graphics, video compression and multitasking, and 31 pipeline stages to improve streaming media apps. It's obviously optimized for media/graphics intensive applications.

However the Northwood is "faster" at business applications like word processing and spreadsheets. The processors are tools, and you just need to pick the appropriate one for the job. ie: using a hammer to drive a screw.

Message Edited by Camulus on 04-10-2004 06:55 PM

Watson416 · Answer

Are you saying that the Prescot may be better for games?

CatoftheNight · Answer

Once the SSE3 instruction set becomes more mainstream, the Prescott will rock the Northwood's socks off! On top of that, Dell isn't selling true Prescotts yet, they are selling the Socket 478 Prescotts, but once the true socket 775 Prescotts come out, the heat and power consumption will be well worth it. As for laptops, Prescotts just aren't designed for em. See if you can get a new processor in it, since you'll just end up with a hot, noisey computer.

Powerstroke rac · Answer

I am having the same problem, all 3 fans run on high continuosly.I understand the need to keep things cool but the loudness is unacceptable.Spent 2 hours on the phone with tech support to no avail.Any ideas before I return this unit?

CatoftheNight · Answer

I'd say send it back. It does have to stay cool, and with tight space, unfortunatly that means small fans have to run really fast to move enough air, and that speed comes with the price of noise. So if a little bit of noise bothers you, send it back and buy yourself a Dimension 8300 (Desktop) it's silent, and plenty powerful.

Watson416 · Answer

I do not beleive it is normal for all the fans to run at full speed all the time. Mine are running on slow most all the time. I was just playing Farcry and they did not speed up once.

INSPIRON 9100, P4 2.8GHZ, 15.4-IN. WSXGA+
40GB ULTRA ATA HD,I9100
128MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700
512MB DDR 400MHZ,INSP
496 WHR 12 CELL PRIMARY BATT W/SUBWOOFER
4X CD/DVD BURNER (DVD+RW/+R)

Powerstroke rac · Answer

I agree the fans should not be on all the time.When doing the diagnostics,checking one fan at a time all 3 would slow down then speed up reguardless of which fan I was checking.What exactly controls the fans?

cathedra · Answer

Falkar, this may be a little off topic, but how did you find out your laptop has a Prescott processor as opposed to a Northwood? Thanks.

Falkar1 · Answer

I used CPUSpy to detect the type of processor.

cathedra · Answer

Many thanks.

Watson416 · Answer

I do have the Prescott processor in my machine. Yet I am having no problem with heat. The fans do run all the time, but they are on low. The only fan I can realy here during normal use is the defective one with the rattle. Dell is shipping me a new fan. Otherwise this is a very quiet machine.

As far as the fans kicki9ng into high speed, This is rare. I could be in a game or other intensive app and they will only kick into high if it is loading something. Then it goes back down.

Visit my dedicated XPS/9100 Forum
www.xps.stephenswebdesign.net

INSPIRON 9100, P4 2.8GHZ, 15.4-IN. WSXGA+
40GB ULTRA ATA HD,I9100
128MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700
512MB DDR 400MHZ,INSP
496 WHR 12 CELL PRIMARY BATT W/SUBWOOFER
4X CD/DVD BURNER (DVD+RW/+R)

Watson416 · Answer

My cpu temp runs around 47-49 normal usage. I exited Raven Shield last night and the cpu was at 59.

If anyone knows the danger levels of the cpu or gpu could you post them?

Visit my dedicated XPS/9100 Forum
www.xps.stephenswebdesign.net

INSPIRON 9100, P4 2.8GHZ, 15.4-IN. WSXGA+
40GB ULTRA ATA HD,I9100
128MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700
512MB DDR 400MHZ,INSP
496 WHR 12 CELL PRIMARY BATT W/SUBWOOFER
4X CD/DVD BURNER (DVD+RW/+R)

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Fan always running (i9100)

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