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Latitude E5430 - Problems with fan control
Hi, I just bought a Latitude E5430 expecting to get some Dell Business notebook Quality. I am using Windows 8 x64 (in UEFI-mode) with BIOS A09 and the latest Drivers available from dell.com.
The issue that I am encountering is that as soon as the fan turns on, it does not turn off for a long time (blowing out cool air), even though there is no high system load (just Internet Explorer opened) and the temperature is below 50C.
Basically, the fan starts at some temperature threshold, cools down the CPU to 38-40C, and even though the running fan does not cause the CPU to cool down more, it keeps running for a long time (10 minutes and counting) (while the CPU temperature constantly stays at 38-40C). :-(
Please forward this issue to the BIOS development department so that they can provide an update which improves fan control.
Everyone also having this issue, please have a look at this post from Dell-Terry B:
http:/en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19480918.aspx?PageIndex=3#20294684
where he is requesting more information from users affected.
CurbedLarry
130 Posts
0
December 18th, 2014 03:00
Thanks, I've sent Terry a message with the results of my testing in the hope he can get the engineering people to reconsider their cooling strategy.
See below, even under a light load over 6 hours the fan was running 62% of the time. This wouldn't be so bad but the minimum fan speed is a noisy 3,000 rpm.
Contrast this with rival manufacturers who keep the fan spinning at low speeds to stop temperatures building up in the first place and only ramp up in smaller steps when required. Dell's on/off fan control is incredibly simplistic and I can't even override it with SpeedFan!
pirast_
40 Posts
0
December 30th, 2014 07:00
Over christmas I visited my cousin having the E5430 with the fan problem I was writing about. She has Windows 8.1 x64 with the latest updates, and I was always updating her BIOS remotely.
I checked when I was in front of the device, and the problems seems to be gone. But can't tell you what fixed it.
CurbedLarry
130 Posts
0
December 31st, 2014 04:00
Thanks for that update, maybe one of the BIOS updates adjusted the threshold for switching off the fan. No new BIOS for my E5440 since July but hopefully if I keep complaining they'll look at it.
In the last week I've found when encoding a movie with my CPU flat-out at 1.9GHz (TurboBoost off) the fan stays at the same constant 3,000rpm. If this fan speed is enough to keep the machine cool under that load why does it need to be on 2/3rds of the time under a light load?
Briefly used a Toshiba a couple of weeks ago (similar spec i5 machine) and the fan speed matched load, only coming in slowly/quietly and spinning up when required for short periods. How hard can it be for Dell to do the same?
Have also found DcomLaunch services spike my CPU every 10 seconds even in Safe Mode, but that's another issue I need to raise...
Hans2015
2 Posts
0
June 19th, 2015 04:00
jlian
1 Message
0
October 9th, 2015 01:00
Is there any way to have the modified bios for E5430 that adjust the fan control? Three years now and up to bios A16 the problem persists.
Joedunn1996
1 Message
0
June 10th, 2016 15:00
Hello My Dell Latitude E5520 has a fan problem it stays running for hours at a time
Blowing Cool air in a air conditioned home. when on light work ie Excel or Internet Explorer.
CurbedLarry
130 Posts
0
June 12th, 2016 11:00
I gave up chasing Dell to improve their BIOS, they're not interest in customers having a pleasant experience with their products.
Removed my heatsink and found too much thermal paste that was not helping so I applied new thermal paste. I also applied tape to cover most of the air inlet and outlet to reduce the noise. Now the fan runs continuously but the noise is less annoying.
I have 25+ years experience of taking consumer electronic devices apart and my E5440 has the worst industrial design I've ever seen. Overly complex with little thought to cooling. The older HP it replaced is far better, you can get to all components in minutes and it's almost silent.