Laptop fan sounds terrible

[Antoine]

I can hear two sounds from m laptop, one that is clearly the fan and it sounds normal although fast and another sound that wouldnt like a motor or vibrating. So far my laptop hasnt shutdown from overheating but even still this sound has me worried. Ive cleaned all the dust from the vents so its not dust build up, and the temps dont look good on speedfan (but Ive been told speedfan isnt very accurate and it uses the "fire" icon for anything over 70C when 70c isnt really all that dangerous). Now Im 100% used to hearing this sound when Im gaming as the games I play on the laptop are heavy and the fan gets loud. But I havent gamed on this laptop in months and only use it for browsing the internet now so theres no good reason why it should sound like this (heck browsing the internet should barely spin the fan at all). Could the fact that the laptop is 4 years old and NEVER gets shut down have something to do with it? (i figure its perfectly safe to leave a PC on even with it being in rest mode for years and nothing happens to it so a laptpop would be no different right)?


So is there a program I can use that isnt speedfan in which I can show you guys my temps and you can tell me if theyre in normal operating range and if not how to possibly fix them (if thats even possible on a laptop as unlike a pc physical tampering on a laptop is much more difficult if not impossible)

 

[phillpower2]

Hello Antoine,

and another sound that wouldnt like a motor or vibrating

Too soon to say but it could either be the bearings on the cooling fan or the hard drive, if you place your hand underneath the notebook when it is running does it feel like something is vibrating, if yes, try and pinpoint what item of hardware is in the area where the vibrating is most noticeable.

Fact is with brand name computers programs such as Speedfan can only provide readings from any sensors that may be on the MB, high end MBs have more sensors than the budget boards used by the likes of Dell and HP etc + the brand names often modify the BIOS and you will quite often get almost zero or hinky readings from any third party monitoring programs run on them.

We could do with some hardware and other info, see below;

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s.

Download then run HWMonitor and post a screenshot so that we have a comparison to the Speedfan results, details from here

To capture and post a screenshot;

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... Click on the Upload a File tab then after typing in any response you have... click on Post Reply like you normally would.

Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.

 

[Antoine]

well Ill get onto those programs after work as for the vibrating I felt around the laptop and the only place with any noticeable vibration (though its not very bad vibration.. i.e it sounds worse than it feels) is if had the laptop closed and was looking it it from the top down a sits sitting on you desk the vibration on the bottom is coming from the back left corner on the bottom of the laptop

 

[phillpower2]

Program info acknowledged

had the laptop closed and was looking it it from the top down a sits sitting on you desk the vibration on the bottom is coming from the back left corner on the bottom of the laptop

Can you post the brand and model name or number of the notebook so we can do some research on what is in that area of the notebook, just so you know, the cooling fans tend to be at the back of the notebook and the hard drive quite often in the area to which you mention.

 

[Antoine]

heres the speccy link http://speccy.piriform.com/results/8vcb5fdSaDDrVcDYy33b40q

heres the speedfan and hwmonitor screenshot

If the temps look bad its because of the programs open.. tempscreen1 is the temps with HWmonitor, speedfan and paint open at the same time. Tempscreen2 is just a speedfan temp with only paint open but speedfan and hwmonitor closed (notice ow much different the dropoff is with hwmonitot/speedfan closed... HWmonitor must really do a number on your components).

 

[phillpower2]

Can you post the brand and model name or number of the notebook so we can do some research on what is in that area of the notebook,

From certain info we can get from Speccy it may suggest that this is a Clevo notebook, if yes, can you tell us the exact model name or number so we as said we can do some research.

At the moment it is looking like you may need to replace the CPU cooling fan, depending on the spec there may also be a second internal cooling fan to check out as well.

Notice that you have your Windows Power Plan set to High Performance, would suggest that you change it to Balanced as High Performance is form of overclocking that can cause system instability and overheating.

HWmonitor must really do a number on your components).

The impact of running HWMonitor or Speedfan will be negligible and in no way responsible for those high temps, CPU fan failure or over voltage are two most likely causes, your CPU is almost at the max TDP and will shut down should it reach 100°C.

Your HDD is also borderline at 51°C.

Do you know how to get into the BIOS, if yes, go there and check your temps and any voltage readings that may be there, if no, try tapping the F2 key on next boot then navigate through the BIOS to check for any readings then post them in your next reply.

Hard drives
TOSHIBA MQ01ABD100
Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
Heads: 16
Cylinders: 121,601
Tracks: 31,008,255
Sectors: 1,953,520,065
SATA type: SATA-II 3.0Gb/s
Device type: Fixed
ATA Standard: ATA8-ACS
Serial Number: 73Q6CTXYT
Firmware Version Number: AX001A
LBA Size: 48-bit LBA
Power On Count: 1523 times
Power On Time: 1160.8 days
Speed: 5400 RPM
Features: S.M.A.R.T., APM, NCQ
Max. Transfer Mode: SATA II 3.0Gb/s
Used Transfer Mode: SATA II 3.0Gb/s
Interface: SATA
Capacity: 931 GB
Real size: 1,000,204,886,016 bytes
RAID Type: None
S.M.A.R.T
Status: Good
Temperature: 51 °C
Temperature Range: Warning (50 °C to 55 °C)

 

[Antoine]

heres the notebook info
Sager NP8275-S (Clevo P170SM)

 

[Antoine]

changes from high performance to balance but nothing has seemed to have slowed down

 

[phillpower2]

changes from high performance to balance but nothing has seemed to have slowed down

If there is a hardware problem going on then no software will fix it but using the Balanced option lightens the load by reducing the voltage to the CPU and other components such as the RAM and graphics chip.

Have you checked the readings in the BIOS.

Just reading the user manual and it says that the battery is located in the bottom left hand corner with the primary hard drive next to it in the centre, with the computer shut down, try removing the battery, powering up using the AC adaptor and then checking to see if the vibrating is any more noticeable in the centre of the notebook.

Edit to add: Your notebook does have two cooling fans, one for the CPU and one for the graphics chip, your video chip temps are a not too bad so it fan failure is the cause of the overheating the CPU fan is the most likely culprit.

 

[Antoine]

would it make any difference if I said the laptop is always plugged up in in use despite the battery being plugged in (i never use it portably) so the ac adapter is the one powering it at all times though the battery is in it?

 

[phillpower2]

No, all that does is cause the battery to be of no use before it should, if you tried disconnecting the AC adaptor and running on battery only you will most likely find that the computer turns off in a couple of minutes or sooner.

The idea of removing the battery is only to try and better determine where the vibration and noise is coming from.

 

[Antoine]

At work now so cant. But yeah i have noticed the few time the power cord was accidently unplugged or power outage the batter does drain superhumanly fast lol

 

[phillpower2]

No problem, get back to us when you are ready

 

[Antoine]

Btw where would i find that info on my bios also will it even be there because my bios isnt called bios its called IMEI or something like that and it doesnt even allow me to change basic things like what my pc boots from first thus you guys couldn't help me with another issue i was having as it required my pc to boot linux from a flash drive but it would leep booting windows on my hard drive and ignore the flash drive lol

 

[Antoine]

Ok so update after taking the battery out and starting up(the battery is located on the front left side of the laptop, the vibrating/motor sound is coming from the back left as i said earlier). The fan is still loud but its in a different location than the vibrating. Sooo lets say the vibrating motor sound IS the HDD and it gets replaced. That still wont fix the loud and fast fan and the heating issue right? Also there is nothing in the BIOS/UEFI about temps and voltage. Heres a screenshot... (and yes i checked the "advanced" "security" and other tabs at the top too

 

[phillpower2]

the vibration on the bottom is coming from the back left corner on the bottom of the laptop

Got to hold my hands up here, I misread the above as bottom left corner, sorry

If you look at the attachment below you can see that in the area that you describe the noise and vibration coming from there is a cooling fan and what I suspect needs replacing, not a task that should be undertaken by someone that is not experienced with dismantling notebooks and definitely not by someone that does not have the means to repair or replace the notebook should they make a mess of the repair.

Thanks for the BIOS info, not of much help to you when it comes to finding your system temps but not sure why you would have had problems booting from a USB device tbh.

 

[Antoine]

Well maybe theres so much dust inside that the fans are actually fine and a simple opening it up and just air canning the inside would solve the problem?

If not i notice screws in each section of the laptop where the pic shows the fans are as if unlike most laptops, its built to have anyone do something as basic as replace the hard drive or fans? I mean no i have so experience with doing that on a laptop but it seems to be designed in a way that "layman" were meant to be able to do it right? (Otherwise why not make it a little harder to get too or why have removable sections for each area that may need repkacement)? I do have experience doing this kinda stuff with a pc sooo does that count?

Lastly have we ruled out the hdd being a problem then?

 

[phillpower2]

Dusty fans don`t normally make a vibrating noise or cause a computer to actually vibrate, worn bearings on the other hand do both and along with causing overheating.

I mean no i have so experience with doing that on a laptop but it seems to be designed in a way that "layman" were meant to be able to do it right?

For our part it has been emphasised that opening up a notebook is not a task best undertaken by someone inexperienced in such matters, that said it is your notebook and your decision to make so we need to leave the final decision up to you, take a good look at the disassembly guide here and see if you still consider the task within your remit.

Resolve the overheating problem and the temps of the HDD should also drop to within a safe limit.

 

[Antoine]

ok so this is odd. Here are my new temps despite me not doing ANYTHING at all to the laptop. Those temps looks much more acceptable. However why the change if I didnt do anything? However the fan is still way louder than it should be for what Im using the PC for

 

[phillpower2]

Still to hot for a computer not under any load, watch a video or do some gaming and watch the temps climb.