Precision 5550 fan issue

Same problems in Dell Precision 5540. Dell Precision 5530 was better in area of noise level due to larger chassis/cooling (more mass to dissipate heat). Possibly the same story with Dell Precision 5510 you mentioned. Currently I am typing from Dell Precision M3800 - it is noisy but fan is active all the time (this is the best cooling strategy because you can use lower fan speed). I also had Dell Latitude 5500 and it was much better product (of course different CPU and integrated GPU so less thermal stress but overall experience was good). However when I compare Dell with Apple Macbook Pro models it is obvious that Dell cannot compete at all in area of fan noise level and audio speakers. Also in terms of quality - my keyboard in 5540 was replaced after about month/ 2 months of typing. M3800 has much better keyboard quality and reliability. Also fantastic 4K panel with natural warm white.

I noticed that CPU frequency was near 5GHz all the time. After some investigation, I found Windows power plan was set to "High Performance" by default. After I changed the power plan to "Balanced", the fan issue immediately became much better. I don't know why Windows power plan was set to "High Performance" by default, which is unusual for a laptop. But this seems fix my problem.

I also have High Performance profie set in Windows 10  but I did not change it. I am using Dell Power Manager so everything should be set right out of the box. If this profile is not correct it should be changed automatically or skipped by Dell Power Manager.

Hi there,

I have the same problem with my precision 5550.

The fans alter every some seconds between a 100% (high pitch noise) and 0%.

Dell Power Manger is already set to "quiet" and Windows' power options are set to "Balanced".

This product is such a fail. It literally starts to hurt my ears.

Try DellFanCmd command line tool or HWinfo (Sensors -> Fan -> Manual -> set slider to 50% (in my current Dell use generally three fixed fan speeds: 0 rpm, 2400 rpm and 4800 rpm) or just use Quiet mode in Dell Power Manager but then laptop performance is significantly reduced or have serious problems eg. when battery level is below 20% then Dell cuts performance about a half; also on battery performance is higher than when is powered on using 130W power adapter (these things are in Precision 5540).

Chance that Dell solve a "problem" is rather small from several reasons:

1. Compal (ODM - Original Design Manufacturer) design Dell (OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer) laptops so even if Dell send some bug or feature request it will take months and it can always be rejected by ODM. Dell have some engineering services on Taiwan and in Texas but they might just control overall job of ODM, prepare initial product requirements, validate production units etc.

2. In case of thermal request decreasing fan speed might be impossible and limited by hardware design itself. Please also note that it is much safer and profitable for Dell to sell products that have lower temperatures even if they are noisy. Noise is subjective (perceptual thing) and Dell can always say that product operate within specification (decibel limit).

Now for example why Apple build better products compared to Dell?

1. Apple as company design laptops (hardware and software) so they can have much better control and can release fix (if possible) much faster than Dell or any other brand. Of course all changes need to released to ODM companies like Foxconn or Pegatron but they are just manufacturers. Next step is validation of manufactured devices - if engineers who design use Apple products use it in a campus they can catch such problems like noise easily (especially when CEO use it). I will not be surpised if Michael Dell is using MacBook Pro or iPad together with iPhone for a daily business work.

2. When I have a problem with my Apple product I can send an e-mail with my concerns to Tim Cook or to product feedback team. Try it at Dell. Good luck!

Dell media are in India, Bangalore? L2, L3 "technical" support across world. Most of these people even do not have any engineering knowledge and they even have not read any Intel specification ever but they want to help you. Really?

3. When I sent my complaints to Apple no-one claim that bug is a feature or send me irratonal answers to corporate customers to do not use Windows Enterprise version because OS might be source of your problem (it really happened!).

Now for example why Apple has better thermal management than Dell?

1. Apple do not use three fixed fan speeds. Fans work permanently and fan(s) speed(s) is dependent on load and thermal sensors readings (also from unibody enclosure - top, sides, bottom temperature is measured to prevent overheating and skin burning).

2. Apple use similar strategy like Dell - they also push components to the limits to get best performance but... please keep in mind that:

a) Apple use(d) Intel CPUs that are designed for Apple (to be precised this is almost the same CPU but made from best silicon batches and tuned to Apple requirements eg. lower TDP). This change a lot together with Apple thermal management that let be honest is more suitable to typical office/business/home use than all Dell laptops I know. Dell use typical Intel parts (due to price and availablity) with much higher TDP so overall performance is good only on paper or like I mentioned during one benchmark loop (characteristics shall be flat).

b) Mac OS has much better power management in Idle and during light load than Windows OS so power draw is lower

c) In Apple laptops bottom aluminium enclosure was/is in fact part of cooling (except previous gen of MacBook Air)

So to conclude: Apple may to push components to the max limit while in case of Dell laptops under Windows it is risky so Dell need to handle it using very aggressive thermal strategy (throttling, increased fan speeds (noise), gore etc). I understand that some users may prefer some aggressive settings but it is not important how fast you are during one run but during long-term run (eg. how fast you render a video or compile during several hour). And hey if Dell avertise Power Manager as great tool why these aggressive setting cannot be set in High Performance mode?

But other companies also use fixed fan speeds so what is happening in most Dell laptops?

1. Statistically in all notebook reviews through many years Dell push CPU/GPU performance to the maximum level (looks great in one loop benchmark) so CPU/GPU temperatures are close to maximum level. If you compare it to eg. Lenovo or HP (just for example) they have much lower fan noise level (fan speed) and do not push components so hard which is better even if Dell thermal engineers claim something opposite.

2. Other companies use much more fan levels. A month ago I compared my Precision 5540 side by side mobile MSI GS66 mobile workstation with monster CPU i9-10980HK and NVIDIA 2080 mobile GPU. It was dead silent under light/medium load (web browsing, video preview) - about 300 grams more is not a big difference.

today I tried to check, if dust could be a problem.

But Dell designed the laptop "so well" that I took a deep cut at my thumb, when I opened the bottom case.
For some reason, Dell placed razor sharp blades along the front side (where You have to open the housing).

I really regret buying anything from Dell. Just a bunch of lousy (and harmful) products!

This is not a problem of clogged fans or thermal paste. Please try:

1. Reinstall OS using the latest build (ISO image) of Windows 10 (H2) from MSDN without installing Dell drivers.

Check fan noise level (Power Plan: Balanced, Power Mode: Battery Saver).

Check if right GPU used in IDLE.

2. Download and install latest Dell Command Update - check driver updates and then install.

Check fan noise level (Power Plan: Balanced, Power Mode: Battery Saver).

Check if right GPU used in IDLE.

3. Download and install latest Dell Power Manager - set Quiet mode in Thermal Management.

Check fan noise level (Power Plan: Balanced, Power Mode: Battery Saver).

Check if right GPU used in IDLE.

4. Disable Turbo Boost in BIOS (if option exist) or in ThrottleStop (use it to monitor CPU frequency).

Check fan noise level (Power Plan: Balanced, Power Mode: Battery Saver).

5. Install HWinfo64 - check Sensors Only during startup -> Fan icon -> FanControl -> Set Manual  or Custom Auto selecting right temperature sensors.

I had this exact issue and changing the Power Plan to Balanced did the trick, thank you!

Two things to fix it:

1. Run Dell Power Manager,
   Select Thermal Management,
   pick Optimized or Ultra Performance
   (DO NOT choose Quiet Mode)
   
   
2. Click on Control Panel link on top of the Thermal Management dialog and
   choose Balanced
   
   

If this does not work, double check you have Intel Speed Step (R) enabled in BIOS

1. Restart computer and when keyboard lights up,
   press F12 once a second until the message "Preparing one time Boot Menu" shows at top-right
2. Select Performance and
   enable Intel Speed Step (R)
3. Click Apply
4. Click Exit

After the reboot completes, your laptop will be quiet as possible.

Bonus:

You can load HWINFO64 tool to see clock speed and CPU core temperatures.

Hi

I have got a DELL precision 5550 brand new and I am experiencing the same issue.

Description:

>> I turn my pc to sleep mode using the power button

>> wait few second looking ta it, I make sure my PC if OFF sleeping

>> I make sure no device can wake it up (no mouse attached etc.)

>> I close the lid, having previously disabled any lid action in parameters windows power settings

>> FAN if OFF, which is good so far

>> I Put my PC in my bad, close the bad go back home

>> Opening the bag 30 minutes later, the FAN is turning like crazy, PC is absolutely extremely hot

>> I open the lid, have got blue screen saying that "diagnostic has been run and no issue where found"

>> I press continue, the PC restart

>> All work done before going to sleep mode has been lost, and pc is hot like crazy

This is really really bad situation as PC could probably get in fire at some point, could we get this issue solved at some point ? Or should I wait for my house to get in fire ?

Happy to make any testing proposal.

Thanks for helping please.

Regards

Update:

Because of an "enhancement" by an update, the fans on this machine just start going crazy.

"Tornado mode" as soon as I log in (no matter what setting is used), even though the system reports temperature of cpu & gpu well below 50°C.
This product is absolutely nuts.