Hi @poltergeistx,

Did you set up a particular temperature on a sensor?

If you set a maximum temperature, when the system reaches this temperature the fan will rise to 100%.

Also, make sure the BIOS is up to date.

Is this an (circa 2010) Area51-R1?

What version of Windows are you running?

Did you try shut-down, power-off, unplug from wall, and pressing power button a few times to dissipate flea-power. Restart.

Is this an (circa 2010) Area51-R1?  No, this is an R2

What version of Windows are you running? 10

Did you try shut-down, power-off, unplug from wall, and pressing power button a few times to dissipate flea-power. Restart.  Yes, this issue has been persistent for weeks now.

Did you set up a particular temperature on a sensor?  

If you set a maximum temperature, when the system reaches this temperature the fan will rise to 100%.

It is at the automatic setting currently (the default).  I tried playing with the sensor settings but even if I intentionally set it to 0% it still runs at full speed.

Also, make sure the BIOS is up to date.

I have updated it previously once but this issue happened without an update being involved (that I know of)

Try uninstalling Alienware Command Center and Reboot.

Do that Power Dissipation procedure.

Clean install latest version of AW-CC specified for your machine at http://support.dell.com

Just installed newest BIOS and also reinstalling the Command Center, etc.  Still no luck.  The PCI fan responds well to anything I set up but the TOP fan is still at full speed all the time.

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@poltergeistxwrote:

Just installed newest BIOS and also reinstalling the Command Center, etc.  Still no luck.  The PCI fan responds well to anything I set up but the TOP fan is still at full speed all the time.

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On my Auroras, I always setup as Manual and then (a reasonable) Curve. That's for the front/PCIe fan and the HDD fan.

I've never seen a radiator-fan that I could control manually. It runs as needed to keep cpu under 75c. Usually, if your rad-fan is running fast, it thinks it needs to be (due to senor-ed heat) or there is a hardware-failure somewhere in the cooling system.

Are you sure it's not over-heating? CPU-ID/HW-Monitor is good. Min can be Idle, and Max can be running a game or benchmark.

I am sure, I haven't used it for gaming for a while, just browsing.  The sensors look ok, all of them are giving similar (low) temperatures.  The PCI fan is also working (right now it is running at 3%/800RPM on the Auto Control) while the Top Fan is changing erratically from 2500 to 4000 to 800 and so forth as I am writing this (and it is "Idle"  all the time).  When you say hardware issue... the only inconsistent thing I see behaving is the fan, do you think changing it could solve it?

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@poltergeistxwrote:

1. When you say hardware issue... the only inconsistent thing I see behaving is the fan,

2. do you think changing it could solve it?

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1. Pretty sure I already explained how it works. The Command-Center software and the (now mostly virtual) MIO-Board hardware is a fairly complicated system. Hardware can be hard to diagnose, well, because something is physically broken. :Smile:

2. Possibly. They can go bad. They might be Dell-proprietary (special custom part).

I would also take a close look at the sensors.

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@poltergeistxwrote:

I am sure, I haven't used it for gaming for a while, just browsing.  The sensors look ok, all of them are giving similar (low) temperatures.  The PCI fan is also working (right now it is running at 3%/800RPM on the Auto Control) while the Top Fan is changing erratically from 2500 to 4000 to 800 and so forth as I am writing this (and it is "Idle"  all the time).  When you say hardware issue... the only inconsistent thing I see behaving is the fan, do you think changing it could solve it?

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Well, I guess I can't help since I don't have an Area51-R2.

For one, I don't know if this "Top Fan" is a user-controlled fan or the Radiator fan. Your responses are not helping there either.

Also, I have suggested you use Manual but you are dead-set on using Automatic. Manual is the same as Auto except that YOU get to define the actual Curve used. You also get to specify what sensor each user-controlled fan follows.