Fans not speeding up when hot

[JohnBarleycorn]

Hi there, Im new to pc gaming and recently purchased the Optimus XI Pro, it works great but theres one thing bugging me,
temperatures when playing games have gotten as high as 94 degrees. I expect it to get hot but the fans don't increase with the heat. I have to manually boost the fan using control centerU to cool it down. is this normal?

thank you

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi there, Im new to pc gaming and recently purchased the Optimus XI Pro, it works great but theres one thing bugging me,
temperatures when playing games have gotten as high as 94 degrees. I expect it to get hot but the fans don't increase with the heat. I have to manually boost the fan using control centerU to cool it down. is this normal?

thank you

Yeah, this has been raised a couple of times on the same chassis. I would contact PCS directly by phone tomorrow if you're able to. It does seem to be an issue with that particular chassis. Hopefully a BIOS update would sort it, but either way you'll need to contact them.

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

Thank you for such a rapid response, thought that may be the case. I will give them a call tomorrow. I'll post here should I get a resolve. thanks again

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thank you for such a rapid response, thought that may be the case. I will give them a call tomorrow. I'll post here should I get a resolve. thanks again

That would be great if you can keep us informed, would love to know if it's fixeable by BIOS or if it needs returning.

Either way, they'll sort it, they won't leave you hanging.

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

Right so after 3 or 4 calls to PC specialist, one where the guy took control remotely to check the system etc, the laptop was bench tested using some software he recommended and the feedback was that its performing well and as expected. The fans still didn't pick up even at temps of 94 degrees. An hour or so after the calls I received this email:

Hi …….,

Thanks for getting in touch. This particular model is designed to run between 90-100 degrees. The fans will always sit at 50%, even under load. This is done to ensure maximum performance while preventing thermal throttling.
The fan boost button simply causes the fans to spin at 100%, there isn't any way to change this. This is by design.

If you have any other enquiries do not hesitate to contact us

This has given me some peace of mind however I still need to manually boost the fans if I want to keep the temp under control. the guy on the phone suggested I boost the fans as standard practice as a fail safe. my minds more at ease now although it wasn't what I expected to be told. I am quite new to pc gaming and laptops in general.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Right so after 3 or 4 calls to PC specialist, one where the guy took control remotely to check the system etc, the laptop was bench tested using some software he recommended and the feedback was that its performing well and as expected. The fans still didn't pick up even at temps of 94 degrees. An hour or so after the calls I received this email:

Hi …….,

Thanks for getting in touch. This particular model is designed to run between 90-100 degrees. The fans will always sit at 50%, even under load. This is done to ensure maximum performance while preventing thermal throttling.
The fan boost button simply causes the fans to spin at 100%, there isn't any way to change this. This is by design.

If you have any other enquiries do not hesitate to contact us

This has given me some peace of mind however I still need to manually boost the fans if I want to keep the temp under control. the guy on the phone suggested I boost the fans as standard practice as a fail safe. my minds more at ease now although it wasn't what I expected to be told. I am quite new to pc gaming and laptops in general.

Hmmm, I wouldn’t be happy with that personally.

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

I will keep on at them via email, ive dealt with 4 different people today. one even suggested installing a program that he has no experience or knowledge of. Alarm bells started ringing at that point. since your reply to my last I have emailed challenging the whole "its designed for it". I don't know much but im pretty sure fans should be spinning up faster at those temps. Ive ordered one of those cooling pads to try and help.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I will keep on at them via email, ive dealt with 4 different people today. one even suggested installing a program that he has no experience or knowledge of. Alarm bells started ringing at that point. since your reply to my last I have emailed challenging the whole "its designed for it". I don't know much but im pretty sure fans should be spinning up faster at those temps. Ive ordered one of those cooling pads to try and help.

You can install speedfan for now to manually adjust the fan curve, but I'd still be on to PCS, IF that chassis cooling capacity is that effective and it's keeping it at mid 90's under high load, that's extremely good, but just because it CAN run at those fan speeds, doesn't mean it should. IMHO for longevity of the system and stability, there should be an option to set alternative fan profiles, like on most laptops you can set "power", "silent" etc. One of those options should have much more aggressive fans ramping automatically rather than having to manually hit the boost button. IMHO, this needs to be further optimised by the manufacturer and an updated BIOS released.

Speedfan is here, it's free:

Download SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

 

[SpyderTracks]

Further addition... the controls in speedfan are a little dated now, you can also use MSI Afterburner if you prefer it, perhaps a little easier to work with.

Afterburner

MSI Afterburner is the world’s most recognized and widely used graphics card overclocking utility. It provides detailed overview of your hardware and comes with some additional features like customizing fan profiles, benchmarking and video recording.

www.msi.com

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

You can install speedfan for now to manually adjust the fan curve, but I'd still be on to PCS, IF that chassis cooling capacity is that effective and it's keeping it at mid 90's under high load, that's extremely good, but just because it CAN run at those fan speeds, doesn't mean it should. IMHO for longevity of the system and stability, there should be an option to set alternative fan profiles, like on most laptops you can set "power", "silent" etc. One of those options should have much more aggressive fans ramping automatically rather than having to manually hit the boost button. IMHO, this needs to be further optimised by the manufacturer and an updated BIOS released.

Speedfan is here, it's free:

Download SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

Thank you, I will give speed fan a try. oddly I gave afterburner a go but the options to adjust the fans was greyed out. I'll post if this works.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thank you, I will give speed fan a try. oddly I gave afterburner a go but the options to adjust the fans was greyed out. I'll post if this works.

Interesting, yeah, let us know how you get on.

With speedfan, rather than setting a curve, you set a temperature you'd like it to peak at. Try 85c for starters and see how it gets on.

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

Thank you, I will give speed fan a try. oddly I gave afterburner a go but the options to adjust the fans was greyed out. I'll post if this works.

ok, when setting the temp, is that the desired I want to set to 85 or the warning? sorry if that's a dumb question

 

[SpyderTracks]

So on the first window that opens, you click the configure button to the right, that should take you here.

When you highlight one (rather than just selecting the tick box) it will show the desired and warning temps in the bottom left, there you can set what you'd like. You want to adjust each of the core values to your optimum "desired" and make sure the warning is higher than the desired (I would set warning around 95c).

May be worth initially ticking the "show in tray" option so you can monitor it easily for a little while. Personally, I would also tick the log as that may be useful to give to PCS for further evidence of the benfit of more agressive fan profiles.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I'm going to email the site admins just to highlight this issue as it does appear to be the case on this laptop generally and I'm fairly convinced it needs addressing.

 

[MrHolmes]

Hi, I too am having the exact same issues with this laptop. The fans should be kicking in with a custom curve, the bios shouldn't be overwriting these instructions even if the cooling is sufficient enough...

My laptop wont go above 85c for both the gpu and cpu but in order to bring it down I have to manually activate fan boost which puts them at 100%. Whats the point of having a "custom curve" if it doesn't even work?

In terms of what I've done, reinstalled windows, reinstalled everything from scratch, I spoke to PCS today and the gent on the phone was not happy with how the laptop is performing so asked me to RMA as they appear to be getting a lot of these complaints with the Optimus XI Pro. Nothing appears to be being throttled so in terms of gaming performance, its doing pretty good but in terms of cooling, its not ideal.

 

[raypat]

I'm going to email the site admins just to highlight this issue as it does appear to be the case on this laptop generally and I'm fairly convinced it needs addressing.

Thanks Spyder, I'm really not happy with the response they have given. Multiple people have been asking about this on the forum, my laptop has been RMA'd to them for this fan issue, but now they are saying it's "by design"? Weird! Nor should they be asking people to manually turn on the fan boost.

I wonder if the Vyper chassis is the same design. Will wait and see for those reviews, otherwise I got about 7 days before the return for refund ability runs out.

 

[raypat]

IF that chassis cooling capacity is that effective and it's keeping it at mid 90's under high load, that's extremely good, but just because it CAN run at those fan speeds, doesn't mean it should.

Truth be told, from the tests I did, 100% cpu load was reaching 94 degrees, turbo fan on they reached 80 degrees. Video games on 50% fan at 90 degrees went to 68 degrees on full load, so with a custom fan curve I imagine it's a well cooled machine.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Truth be told, from the tests I did, 100% cpu load was reaching 94 degrees, turbo fan on they reached 80 degrees. Video games on 50% fan at 90 degrees went to 68 degrees on full load, so with a custom fan curve I imagine it's a well cooled machine.

That’s how it looks, the cooling ability looks quite astoundingly good for such a thin laptop. Just needs a more aggressive profile applying by default and then the ability to set custom profiles in the management driver.
The current profile, while “adequate”, should certainly not be the default profile, it’s a “quiet running” profile that would be a secondary option.

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

today I will apply the settings in speedFan you suggested and see how it performs. After questioning their response about it being a design feature, the once again confirmed it this chassis is built for those temps. Last night I played a graphically demanding game for an hour or so without boosting the fans, after 10 mins it had reached 94 degrees, it didn't go above that at any time on the standard 50% fan speed. The fact they have put in writing that it will not damage the components is at least something, although it doesn't sound right? I agree there should be a more aggressive profile as you said. I'd be interested to see how many others with this chassis get on with PCS when raising any queries. As MR HOLMES said, I'm not getting any throttling effects.

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

Just for reference, this was the last email I received, the second to say that its safe and wont damage the laptop:

Hello J....,

Sure my colleague has already checked with the relevant team and I have also doubled checked with relevant team and they confirmed that it’s normal for that particular laptop to run 90-100 degree and won’t harm your laptop.

If there is anything else I can assist with, please do not hesitate to ask,

Kind Regards,

Dana Azizi PCS Support Team Unit 12 Jubilee Way, Grange Moor, Wakefield, WF4 4TD Tel: 0333 011 7000 | Email: [email protected]