laptop fan too loud

[crashburn]

Hi, i have this customer who bought a brand new HP laptop. the problem he is having is that the fan is too loud. i was able to control by going to the bios but still fan comes on once in a while. it sounds like a cdrom reading a cd. the computer is brand new so i dont think nothing is defective. he asked me how i can reduce the noise or possible to replace with quieter fan.

any comments on this?

 

[PcTestCard.com]

Yes, some new laptops got a noisy fan, no one will doubt the fan is faulty or dust jammed the fan and cause the noise since it is a new laptop.


try to put a pencil under the rear part of the laptop and make more room under the laptop from the fan winodw to the desk surface, this can lower the fan noise.

the best way is to replace the whole heatsink and the fan.
If the laptop is still under new warranty, may consult the dealer for more info as well. but I believed replace noise fan for a new laptop is quiet difficult and may not under warranty. But worth a try.

 

[focuz]

As far as a more quieter performance type fan, laptops use proprietary equipment. So only one fan will fit in the laptop and that's the one it came with. Its most likely a faulty as the laptop is brand new.

 

[pauln375]

fan control

You could try this program
http://www.almico.com/speedfan435.exe
it does not work on all laptops but if it does work then you could see how manny fans are in the laptop and also control there speed turn the noisy one down and others up and make sure temps are ok see if you can get a balance of cooling and noise .If the fan is to noisy I would side with others on sending it in for warranty repair also there is this fan control made mostly for dell but has worked on others
http://www.diefer.de/software/i8kfangui31.exe
The links I posted are direct download links however for info on the progs the top one is speed fan you can google that it will be in the top 3 hits
the other one is I8k also in the top 3 hits in search hope this helps some

 

[Skyhooker]

Without hearing it, I'd guess that the fan is not defective, it's just meeting the cooling demands of the CPU and video chip. My Toshiba's fan runs at full-blast when I'm playing a game, for instance. If he's more concerned about the noise than the performance he should adjust the performance settings down (often an icon in the system tray).

I installed a program called Notebook Hardware Control on my Toshiba a couple years ago, and it's helped quite a bit. It throttles the CPU based on load, and consequently my laptop runs at a lower average temperature than before, so the fan tends to run quieter - link below:


Notebook Hardware Control

It requires Microsoft .NET 2.0 or higher. My only problems with it have been when coming out of hibernation, which I seldom use, but a reboot clears it up. No guarantees, but maybe worth a try. Again, a heavy CPU or graphics load will still require more cooling, thus more fan noise.

Last, see my ugly solution posted here to prevent dust buildup and thus more heat and noise in the future:

Laptop dust filter

 

[ithinkyou5.0]

what are the specs for the laptop? diferent cpus and gpus need diferent temps to run safely if its running to hot the fan will be going full ball to cool it i'd suggest trying other options before going out and replacing the fan/replacement threw warrenty where is the fan situated on the laptop also? if its at the bottom usualy the laptop gets suffocated quickly. speedfan or rivatuner can be used to control fan speeds but keep the temps monitored with everest if they get to hot (around 30 to 50 is where most stock parts sit) then turn the fans up again i would personaly rather a noisy laptop than a fried one

 

[Skyhooker]

i would personaly rather a noisy laptop than a fried one

Absolutely!

One more thing you might want to talk to your customer about, and that is the term "laptop." One of the best ways to overheat them is to use them in your lap, since the cooling intake fans are on the bottom. Always place it on a hard, flat surface, and if you really want to surf with it in your lap, use a board or big coffee table book or something. It took a while to train my nephews about this

 

[lawson_jl]

Have you been able to compare the nosie level of his laptop to other laptops of the same model? It could just be a loud fan.

 

[crashburn]

thank you all for the replies. The computer is a HP.
i compared this laptop with DELL. dell laptops are very quiet even when it needs to cool down. this HP laptop sounds like an airplane taking off. it has the same sound as when reading a cd/dvd. not sure where the fan is located but there is ventilation window at the bottom of laptop compared to dell which has it on the left side. customer wants to know if it is possible to replace it with quieter one by calling manufacture or getting it from somewhere (like a website that sells parts for specific laptop brand)

here are specs for those who asked.
- HP Pavilion dv4t Entertainment Notebook
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T5800 (2.0GHz)
- 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
- 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- HP Imprint Finish (Mesh) + Microphone + Webcam
- HP Color Matching Keyboard
- Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
- No Integrated WWAN
- No Modem
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
- No TV Tuner w/remote control
- 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

 

[NWPhotog]

customer wants to know if it is possible to replace it with quieter one by calling manufacture or getting it from somewhere (like a website that sells parts for specific laptop brand)

Laptop fans/heatsinks are model specific so replacing with a different manufacture is out. From what you describe there is faulty hw or a bios/sw issue. I think you need to do more troubleshooting.

 

[Skyhooker]

I did a search for reviews of that model and found this - worth showing to your friend:

Heat and Fan Noise

The Pavilion dv4t does get hotter than I would have expected. Granted, this configuration has a very fast processor and dedicated Nvidia graphics, which contribute to heat buildup, but the bottom side becomes uncomfortably after you do any intensive processor work or leave the laptop on for a long period of time. When simply idling the Core temperature rested at 33 degrees Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) and the graphics card at 44C (111F). After running a benchmark application on the dv4t the processor temperature went up to 40 degrees Celsius (103 Fahrenheit) and the graphics card went to 51C (103F).

When things get hot the fan really kicks in hard to try and cool things down. The fan blows hot air out of the back of the notebook, and at its highest setting it is annoyingly loud. Even when the fan is spinning at its medium setting it will be rather loud, enough to easily be heard throughout a quiet classroom. Strangely, I found that whenever you put the dv4t into sleep mode and wake it up the fan will constantly run at its loud medium setting, even if the laptop is cool. However, bootup or bring it back from hibernate and the fan will only spin at a low setting. There’s obviously something odd in the bios settings that control the fan.

Overall, the amount of heat and fan noise the dv4t generates is disappointing.

It's from this page:

HP Pavilion dv4t review


Sounds like he's just going to have to live with it.

 

[ithinkyou5.0]

are there any bios revisions for this model?