Alienware Sentia m3450 (Review Soon) - Page 5

hi guys,
I just got my sentia m3450.
everything worked fine.
but after that machine ran for about 10 minutes the fan became really loud.
it's just as if it would run at full speed. I think its just as the same problem chris3896 has.
I just called alienware and they told me that this was just a bios problem, which sounds logical to me. but then I wondered why you guys don't have such problems. the alienware customer support told me they would release a new bios version but they didn't know when?!
could one of you please check his version and tell me which one you have?
mine is 1.00.02AL normaly this should be shown on the POST screen at startup.
Plz help me!
THX

yeah. i'm still running mine and its really loud. it sucks because even when i first turn on the laptop form a cold start, and all i am using is like a webpage or even a word document, the fan spools and goes bonkers. i dont know. i'm still trying to find about 4 hours to spare so i can call alienware.

hey chris can you look up your bios version?
wiccan or guerilla can you plz look up your bios version?

it would interest me to know if it's really a bios problem.
thx guys

do you all have microsoft xp home edition? or did one of you order the professional edition?

maybe this problem is due to a software malfunction in windows xp home edition. wiccan or guerilla let us know, as you are the only 2 persons with sentias that work correctly.

I mean all the other specs are nearly the same, I ordered my sentia with the 2 Ghz core 2 duo, along with 2 gig of DDR2 RAM. all other specs aren't of any importance for heat creation an thus RPM of the fan.
as I read wiccan and guerilla have the same prozessor as I have, the only diffenrence is that I have more RAM. chris how are your specs. maybe we have something in common that the others don't have.

My BIOS version is 1.00.01AL. The newest version available for the Phoenix BIOS is 1.00.02AL, the version you have.

I ordered my Sentia with XP Home edition and then used XP's update feature and installed XP Pro. After installing the upgrade the behavior of my fans may have seemed to have changed a small bit, but unless I'm playing a game they never get very loud.

My CPU temp will starts out at about 35c and escalates to 38-41 during normal operation. When I play F.E.A.R. the temp hits 49c and the fans kick on.

There are programs out there you can search for like SpeedFan or GetThermal that allow you to play with fan speeds. There's a thread about this on here somewhere. GetThermal (if you can find it) is meant for Overclocking, but allows you to manually set at what temps what fans kick on and for how long. You coul set the fans to kick on for X seconds when it hits, say, 40c to keep your CPU cool and control the fans.

According to Alienware doing that doesn't void any warranty. However, I would not send back your laptop to Alienware with GetThermal installed in case the technician believes you overclocked your processor voiding your warranty.

The Notebook Hardware Control bars in the taskbar represent the CPU work load. When you hover over the work load bar(s) it displays the CPU Speed, work load % and the temps.

My BIOS version according to System Information is:

Phoenix Technologies NAPA0001.86C.0049.D.06062910270000
06/29/06

POST shows:
Phoenix Technologies 1.00.01AL

Same as Wiccan's.

thanks a lot for those usefull informations.
I already have tried to regulate the fan RPM with software, that didn't work correctly, but I think I found the issue:

yesterday night I monitored (once again) cpu frequency, temperature and the time the system was runnning since I turned it on. and I waited for the fan to kick in. I thought maybe I would find out they kick in at a special time or something like that. but I wondered, the fan just didn't do anything.
I waited for half an hour (precisely 34 min) and then the fans turned on. they stayed on for exactly 4 min, then they returned to the normal status.
I also know why the fan turned on, because the cpu temperature went above the 40°C. as long as it stays under the 40°C the notebook is silent.

after this I asked myself why the notebook worked now and didn't before, because at the beginning the fan nearly turned on since startup. I looked a bit around in windows an then I remembered, I changed the power scheme.
YES this is the solution (I'm so stupid why didn't I think of that before). you have to select the power scheme laptop/portable or max battery. my default scheme was "always on" wich isn't the best to choose.
so chris try to change your power scheme I'm sure it is the solution to our problem, I didn't have the time to really test it, because I went to sleep, but it surely will help. as you change the scheme the os will lower the cpu frequency dynamically, so your notebook won't produce too much heat. try it and tell us. I'll make a few tests more today but I'm quite confident.

you're right i did change the profile, although i changed it to laptop/mobile in the very beginning. it has never been on always on. i am going to try the max battery scheme and see how it goes. also, just for further reference, here is my bios:

BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies NAPA0001.86C.0049.D.06071020320000 07/10/06, 7/10/2006

i changed my profile to max battery and the fan still spools up. i have no idea why. i thought it stopped it for awhile but i'm not really sure. i'll check some of the other profile options and get back to you.

hi,
so I called alienware again, because after testing my system again for several hours I remarked, that the fan just startet running at max without any reason.
the point is at the beginning (the first time the cpu temperature raises over the 40°C limit) the fan runs high for about 4 min, then he stops. The second time the temperature raises over the limit the fan starts again but then he stays on for an undefined amount of time, even if the temperature is again far away from the limit.
so as I said before, I called alienware this morning. I had luck, because I could speak directly to a technician. I explained the problem again, and I told him the only explanation I had was the fact that I had the newer bios version. wiccan and guerilla have the old 1.00.01AL and they don't have any problems, but me and chris we have the newer 1.00.02.AL. for me this is the only hint. everything else can't be the source of the problem. I told this to the alienware guy, I even told him about you guys ^^. now he said to me he would contact his technical supervisor and within 2 days I would get an answer. he said they would try to find that older bios version and would test everything. and if this is the solution to the problem I would get the older version. in any case now they are doing something and I hope they'll find a solution.

now another question to you guerilla or wiccan.
could you please describe exactly how your fan is doing.
as I understood your fan is running all the time but at low rpm, and rarely has to turn up high? is that correct?

because mine is off. and as the temperature passes the limit it runs at full speed. wich is a really stupid system. it is much more intelligent to let the fan run all the time at low rpm. whatever, chris have you made the same observations? is your fan off and then turns on?
plz guys give me more information. :-)

I love my system but this fan is just killing me. everything worked superb. I had the laptop within 10 days. everything works fast, the design, the handling everything is marvelous. only that fan is destroying everything. :-(

My fan runs so silently under general use it's hard to say if they're always on
But ya, the fans only kick on high when I'm playing F.E.A.R. or laying in bed watching a movie on it and the fan intake is sometimes covered by a blanket or my lap.

When mine hits 40/41c I can hear a little whirring sound of the fan for a little bit and ten it goes off. Otherwise I never notice it since I have the sound cranked up. Hard to hear a little fan over shotguns firing and grenades

interesting!
this is definetly different on my system.
I can really hear the fan, even when I hear music.
we'll see, I hope the alienware technician can help me out of this mess.

btw. does anyone of you use NHC?
if yes, I'd like to knwo if he/her uses the cpu voltage control. it would be interesting to see wich voltages he/her chose.
mine has the following settings:

Multiplier 6 ---> 0.9500v
Multiplier 7 ---> 1.0000v
Multiplier 8 ---> 1.0500v
Multiplier 9 ---> 1.1000v
Multiplier 10 --> 1.1500v
Multiplier 11 --> 1.2000v
Multiplier 12 --> 1.2500v
Multiplier 12 --> 1.2500v

untill now the system worked stable with those voltages.
maybe one of you has more experience with voltage settings?
any help is welcome! ;-)

well i found something else out today. i tried to take my laptop to class again. and everything was fine...for the first 15 minutes or so. i was monitoring the stats and everything, with only a word processor running. i had max battery scheme running for the power. i was watching the temperature and after it first booted up, the temperature was at about 33C. Then slowly it rose to about 45C after 15 minutes. at this point, the dreaded fan kicked in. it was back to its normal loud self. from what i noticed beforehand, it seems like the fan wasn't even on at all before 45C. i might be wrong, since the only thing i have to confirm this is that i put my hand to see if i could feel any air being sucked in or blown out, and i didn't feel anything. later on when i have more time, i'll try and take the cover off and see if i can physically see the fan running. but from what i have concluded, it takes about 15 minutes for the fan to kick in, at about 45C (although i have noticed before that the fan has kicked in sporadically at random times).

my fan is loud enough to hear through headphones when i'm listening to music. its scary.

definitely let me know when (or IF) alienware calls you back and let me know what they say. i might give them a shout today sometime if i have a spare hour. i am currently searching for another laptop and possibly putting this up for sale if i can't solve this. i cant take it to class and thats one of the reason i bought this little bugger. i love the design, the solid feel, and everything, but this fan just makes it feel unstable. i sure hope its nothing serious.

by the way, how long is the warranty on the sentia's? i'm just curious to see how long it is before i run out.

The warranty depends on what you bought. If you don't know, then you probably have the default 1 year.

I do use NHC and I watched the temp while I did some work (not on the laptop) and it slowly climbed to 45c and the little whirring sound of the fan came on, but only after I opened Firefox to check my e-mail. But it was never loud, just that little "whirrrr" any fan makes. It gets loud when I play games, but never so loud to hear over the speakers.

As for my voltages, I don't have any set in NHC. I never screw with that kind of stuff, it voids the warranty. I don't know that for sure, but since overclocking voids the warranty and changing voltages can cause your system to become unstable I steer clear of that.

My CPU Voltage monitoring is actually disabled. Probably because I have the free version. However, if you changed those voltages that's probably why if it isn't the BIOS version.

Just went to NHC's website and saw they just released a patch for NHC this week that corrects a "problem" with CPU voltages and the Core 2 Duo. This could be why my CPU Voltage monitoring is disabled and/or what might be screwing with your fans. Just released this week October 1st.

Edit: Ok, patched NHC and here we are:

Multi. 6 --- 0.9500v
Multi. 7 --- 1.0000v
Multi. 8 --- 1.0500v
Multi. 9 --- 1.1000v
Multi. 10 -- 1.1500v
Multi. 11 -- 1.2000v
Multi. 12 -- 1.2500v

I also just thought of something. The Core 2 Duo is already set to maximize battery life with its Dynmaic Switching control over voltage and CPU speed. Altering these voltages presents 2 problems:
A) The voltages may have already been as low as they should be (Did you run Prime95?)
B) Voltages fluctuate adding and subtracting about 10% from whatever it's set to. Or the motherboard may not tune exactly to where you have it set, so it goes for the closest setting it can tune to which may be too low.

Since you set the voltages lower this probably isn't your fan issue, but food for thought. I'd worry about your warranty.

I haven't really screwed with the voltages. My fan made funky noises before i installed speedfan and NHC. I just use the programs to monitor the stats and what not. I'm not so sure about lands, but i think my warranty should be intact.

i've also noticed that my laptop, when i first turn it on (before anything comes on the screen) is just now starting to emit this loud beeping noise. it definitely was not there before (started probably about a week or so ago). is this normal?