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The z70va is noisy because the fan is always on...how do you control the fan speed? - Page 5

post #81 of 102
9/16/05 at 11:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pinktri
I know the feeling. Does your GPU fan run constantly at a consistant rate?
If the fans are not blowing out hot air then your system isn't cooling itself correctly. Some of you exepct too much out of a already awesome notebook. You want a high end GPU in a simi-thin notebook but then want it to be completely silent and no heat radiating out. If you ask me that is plain craziness.
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post #82 of 102
9/17/05 at 12:12am
Pinktri, my initial impression was wrong. The super loud fan on the right side turned off once I installed Windows. Anyway, now that's been replaced by the steady whine of the rear, left fan.

While its not altogether loud, the pitch is somewhat uncomfortable, and constant. This noise is definitely quieter than the HP ze5185 which this notebook replaces. But my wife looks so smug with her meek little Dell 600m, costing so little, doing everything she needs, and making zero noise.

Going to try some of the routes Vancomycin tried, ie, everest, speedfan, centrino h/w controls, etc. Will report back on the benefits / results.
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post #83 of 102
9/17/05 at 12:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by g2p07
Wow
This is scary. I am out of here, some of you guys are just plain nutty
For once I'm with you here. I've had my Z70Va for about a week now and its easily the quietest laptop I've ever used. I can't even tell a fan is on during normal use unless I stick my head next to the vent. Granted, the GPU fan does spin up when I'm play games, but DUH - That's what it's supposed to do. And even when it does spin up, it's still as quiet a fan as I've heard - especially considering it's cooling a fairly powerful GPU.

Just for the record, my config is:
PM 1.86
1gig Ram
80gig Seagate 5400 Rpm HD
WinXP Pro SP2
CHC 1.9 B2

I haven't undervolted the system, and am running all stock drivers. Typically, on AC power the system idles at between 58-60C, and under load it gets almost up to 70C tops. On battery, it idles at around 50C, and heats up under load to about 60C tops. The HD usually idles between 44-48C, and under load hits about 51C.

And for the record, this thing rocks
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post #84 of 102
9/17/05 at 1:54am
K I just got my z70va yesterday. At first, because of all this " the fan is loud" talk before I got it I was looking for the fan to be tremendously loud. I got it and noticed the fan, and at first I thought it might be loud, but then I realized I was stupid and it wasn't bad at all. I think people are just picky.
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post #85 of 102
9/17/05 at 2:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by csully23
K I just got my z70va yesterday. At first, because of all this " the fan is loud" talk before I got it I was looking for the fan to be tremendously loud. I got it and noticed the fan, and at first I thought it might be loud, but then I realized I was stupid and it wasn't bad at all. I think people are just picky.
You said it. If you're gonnna have a powerhouse of a computer in such a slim (yet sturdy) casing, you're gonna heat up- so you'll need the fans to rev up and spit it all out. How does this not make sense?
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post #86 of 102
9/17/05 at 11:58am
Thank you very much its good to know I am not insane, this notebook by far is the quitest notebook I ve seen out of the mobile powerhouse lineup. It doesn't matter what setup you have they all sound and work the same, if you don't have a z70v this topic will only scare the bagesus out of you for no good reason and if you do have one you will find every reason not to like it. Threads like this make my job really hard, it promots paranoiya from an already picky audience. This is not a defect this is user preference, if you don't like it stop making it to be a bad thing. Your only option is to return it to your dealer for a refund or exchange. Undervolting a speedcontrolling will not work I ve already been through this.
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post #87 of 102
9/17/05 at 12:34pm
Thread Starter 
First off, let me make things a bit clearer.

When I make a topic of the noise that comes out from the left upper hand corner, my intention is not to decrease sales of the z70va. Although I can see that people reading such topic may be worried and may either delay or try to for other laptops that are more quiet. This is a forum so I am allowed to tell people what I think of the noise, whether it is because I got a defective z70va or because I am an individual that is more sensitive to noise than others. Wise consumers would not just read one or two posts and become panic but they should take some time to read more posts or even PM some of the people with the z70va and ask them personally to see if they have the same problem. Since everyone knows that no computers are 100% identical once out of the assembly line, there is always a possibility that certain one is more defective than others.
By telling some people are "crazy" because they are complaining about the fan's noise is not very nice, especially when that person DOES NOT have that particular "noisy" laptop in front of him to make a more correct judgement.

I have heard that some people was able to decrease the fan noise by undervolting, adjusting the powerplay/power4gear, etc...but that does nothing for me.

The best way to know whether the noisy fan is due to a defective unit or because it is due to the owner being "picky" is just wait for Pinktri to get his asus z70va back from ISTNC (whether from it being fixed or from replacemnet with a new unit) and see if there is any improvement in the fan noise. If there is an improvement, then the original machine is more likely to be defective. If it comes back with the same noise level, then perhaps Pinktri's level of noise tolerance (more sensitive) is different from others.
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post #88 of 102
9/17/05 at 2:44pm
Couldn't agree with you more Van! And when did the Z70va become a powerhouse? Did I also mention that I've owned an Acer Ferrari before the refresh? I specifically returned it because I couldn't deal with it's flashiness and looks. But I definitely did not have an issue with the noise level it produced. Not even close! And both laptops had about the same specs minus a gig of RAM in the ferrari. Anyway to each his own, if you guys want to rationalize the noise by saying it's suppose to do this or that, great. Van I'll be sure to keep the rest of my comments via PM. I'll let you know what happens with mine.
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post #89 of 102
9/17/05 at 4:16pm
Van
I was not reffering to you in the least, ur not the nutty one. Only thing you should mention is that you are overly picky or more sensetive and have every right to be that way. I have nothing against your personal prefference. I respect it but as you can see some people are completely freaked out by one or a few peoples complaint which has no basis other then your personal opinion which does not resonate with an overwhelming majortity of z70 users. I am being very honest when I say there is nothing wrong with you z70v. It really is just your sences but I will not rule out the posibility of a bad fan. Long story short for anyone interested I ll stake my rep (which is not that great on these parts) on the fact that the z70v and va is the more quiter notebook out of most if not all its counterparts IN THE Same CLASS. Almost everyone will agree. By the way its suposed to get loudER if gaming. Wear headphones if it bothers you.
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post #90 of 102
9/17/05 at 4:32pm
Some more observations.

Running CHC, Everest, Speedfan, and Power4Gear. With speedfan, am able to dial down the GPU fan to 2,000 RPM and its tolerable. Big difference between 2k rpm and 2.5k rpm. That's with p4g set to Email/Office mode. That's off battery power, that option isn't available on AC. GPU region reports 52C with these settings.

Different story on AC. Hopefully I can figure out a way to lower the power consumption while on AC. Haven't undervolted yet. Any recommendations on undervolting this system?

BTW... I'm just writing my observations re. this system positive or negative, trying to stay objective. I waited 3+ weeks like a lot of others, and was excited to get it, then disappointed when it was blowing like crazy. I just finished re-building my FX-55 main computer to whisper silence as I'm sensitive to sound. At this point I'm on the fence re. whether I'd recommend the z70va. If I can get it quiet without constant tweaking then I'll strongly recommend it.
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post #91 of 102
9/17/05 at 4:50pm
There has to be someone out there who can give a quantative description of the noise this bad boy is making. Maybe one of the resellers can get a dB meter and give some comparisions of the noise in relation to other notebooks. Or someone grab their handycam and get some vids.
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post #92 of 102
9/17/05 at 4:51pm
Thread Starter 
Why is that a lot of people keep emphasizing that the fan is suppose to be louder when using intensive work such as playing games? Of course the fan is suppose to be loud when playing games. No one in his or her right mind will want to dispute this fact.

On the opposite spectrum....why is that people keep emphasizing that the z70va is quiet when it is on battery power? Of course the fan is suppose to be more quiet when it is on battery power. No one in his or her right mind will want to dispute this fact.

Again, the whole point of this thread is that...to me, the fan is noisy because:

1. The fan on the upper left hand corner is CONSTANTLY on and at a CONSTANT speed after 3-5 minutes from a fresh cool start. I never complain about the fan on the right hand side. For me, this loud fan can be heard 10 feet away from the laptop in a quiet room.

2. I have tried Everest/Speed Fan, undervolt with CHC, adjust the setting of PowerPlay and Power4Gear without any noticeable decrease in the left upper fan noise.

....and again, it may because I (and a minority of others) have a defective unit such as a bad fan, etc....or because we are more sensitive to noise. Give it some time for corrections and we can be more certain which is the true source of "fan noise."
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post #93 of 102
9/17/05 at 5:02pm
Van, have you been unable to reduce the fan RPM via speedfan? As I'm writing, using AC power, Speed02 is set to 40% (using the manual config mode described earlier in this thread), Fan2 reports 2039 rpm and GPU region temp is 63-64C. P4G is set to Presentation. While not quiet, the system is tolerable. Though its a hassle to have to do all that tweaking.

If there was a way to change the brightness level on the panel while in AC power, some of that tweaking may be unnecessary.
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post #94 of 102
9/17/05 at 5:18pm
Hot off the press:

Go into Display Properties | Advanced
Click PowerPlay tab | PowerPlay Settings
Toggle "Plugged In" to Balanced | Apply

GPU region temp dropped from 64C to 61C

Don't hit Ok yet
While still in Advanced ATI Mobility Radeon X700 properties

Click Troubleshoot tab
Toggle "Hardware acceleration" from Full to 2 notches left of Full

GPU region temp dropped from 61C to 55C
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post #95 of 102
9/17/05 at 6:36pm
Anyone know of a way to undervolt the GPU?

I know that this is possible in desktop computers, but if we can undervolt the gpu in a laptop, that could solve a lot of heat issues.
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post #96 of 102
9/17/05 at 6:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffnt326
Anyone know of a way to undervolt the GPU?

I know that this is possible in desktop computers, but if we can undervolt the gpu in a laptop, that could solve a lot of heat issues.
I use Omega to underclock my x600. Basically, I just looked to see what Powerplay clocked it down to, and then used those settings (102/120). You have to make sure to uncheck the overclock limits box in the general options menu, otherwise, you can only underclock it 20%. I find that if I do this, it takes like twice as long for the fan to come on, and the GPU runs about 4-5 degrees cooler (52-56 degrees, depending on what I'm doing). I just set up three different profiles in Omega, one for just browsing the web or if I'm on battery, one that has the normal clock settings, and then an overclocked profile for games. It's much easier than trying to mess with powerplay and all that crap.
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post #97 of 102
9/17/05 at 7:35pm
Yeah, I underclock mine as well to 35/80 using ATI Tool. It somewhat helps a bit, but being able to undervolt the gpu will really lower temps even further.
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post #98 of 102
9/18/05 at 5:49am
35/80!? Good lord....I tried that just for kicks...needless to say, I had to reboot as my screen apparently became possessed by Satan....
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post #99 of 102
9/18/05 at 5:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DownByFive
35/80!? Good lord....I tried that just for kicks...needless to say, I had to reboot as my screen apparently became possessed by Satan....
Really, just make sure you dont hire the guy who worked on Emily Rose, you're laptop might just die since "there's no injection for the devil..."
By the way, that movie stunk!
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post #100 of 102
9/18/05 at 11:04am
i'm experiencing a similar situation with mine, and i have a canadian unit, so it's not as if we were spared

On battery, as was mentioned, the fan would run once the aux temp (everest) would hit ~59 degrees, and it would run until it drops to ~51. On AC, it runs when it hits 59, but just never drops. Heat despension looks odd, as i can't feel any air being blown out of the vents; the vents themselves are kinda warm, but that's about it. (although i haven't run it for particularly long instances off AC. i'll report later today once it ran some more)

As for the noise.. it's not very noisy, but it's there when it shouldn't. Eddie would freak out, but i've seen notebooks, and i know that under normal use, this isn't justifiable. It's not nearly as loud as, say, a PC fan, but it can be heard from across a VERY quiet room, or during a quiet lecture, but the guys immidiately next to you. i wish there was a more accurate way to relay the sound level to you, but i don't have a professional db meter.

overall, i think the Ferrari 4000 should be a valid comparisont unit - if it also has the gpu fan running under normal usage, we don't have a case.

and i'll note as i've noted elsewhere.. this is the only beef i have with the lappy so far. It's been great in every other aspect (in the short time period that i had it)
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