Any tips to reduce or prevent the fan from starting up
- Thread starter Edo0003
- Start date
ctitanic
Well-Known Member
I'm guessing you have the i5/i7 version. I dont know anything that will prevent it, but to minimize it you could try undervolting. But there is something more direct you can try by lowering the CPU's frequency. MS removed power settings that allow you to force the CPU to run at lower frequencies. But that is 'easily' remedied.
On a side note, you can enable the power profiles that microsoft removed doing similar things. But here's what you want to do. Supposing 'Balanced' is your power profile, open a command prompt with admin privileges (I dont remember if necessary, but I always do this by default). Type in with enters after each bulleted command
But you're not done yet. You need to reset the power profile. Type in
The text in red is the ID of the power profile. Copy it (right click->mark->highlight text->press enter).
Finally type
Now your CPU will throttle only up to half its max. I'm not sure how it will work alongside turboboost but feel free to experiment.
On a side note, you can enable the power profiles that microsoft removed doing similar things. But here's what you want to do. Supposing 'Balanced' is your power profile, open a command prompt with admin privileges (I dont remember if necessary, but I always do this by default). Type in with enters after each bulleted command
- powercfg /setdcvalueindex SCHEME_BALANCED SUB_PROCESSOR PROCTHROTTLEMAX 50
- powercfg /setacvalueindex SCHEME_BALANCED SUB_PROCESSOR PROCTHROTTLEMAX 50
But you're not done yet. You need to reset the power profile. Type in
- powercfg /l
Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e (Balanced)
The text in red is the ID of the power profile. Copy it (right click->mark->highlight text->press enter).
Finally type
- powercfg /setactive 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e
Now your CPU will throttle only up to half its max. I'm not sure how it will work alongside turboboost but feel free to experiment.
ctitanic
Well-Known Member
A really good piece of information!
I can't be certain as I don't know how much of an impact this has on heat, nor how it works along with turboboost. I suppose it may at the very least lessen the effect, possibly remove it if the settings are chosen extreme enough.
Zog1971
Active Member
Thanks for this, Frank. I had read somewhere about changing the indexing options but didn't know what to change or where to go. However, when I click modify I'm confused. I cant find an IE temp folder. I do have a check on the Users folder on the C drive. Is that what you mean to uncheck? Thanks for any additional info or clarification you can offer. Also, what does unchecking these DO exactly?
ctitanic
Well-Known Member
When you unchek you are removing the folder from being indexed. You can add it back by checking it.Thanks for this, Frank. I had read somewhere about changing the indexing options but didn't know what to change or where to go. However, when I click modify I'm confused. I cant find an IE temp folder. I do have a check on the Users folder on the C drive. Is that what you mean to uncheck? Thanks for any additional info or clarification you can offer. Also, what does unchecking these DO exactly?
The Temp folder should appear listed. Anyway, you can unclick everything and just add the Music, Video and Documents libraries. That's enough.
Zog1971
Active Member
Ultimately, this is what you need to do. Monitor what processes are causing the CPU to ramp up, which leads to heat, which leads to the fan. I did this and found that Windows Defender was doing crazy things when my system was idle to make the fan blow. In the task manager, under the processes tab, I could see the WD AntiMalware Service peaking the cpu at 35% just when sitting idle. Turning WD off and installing a free AV software solved that issue for me. You may be different, but pinpointing what processes are causing the CPU to run hot is the key to figuring out why your fan is blowing.
Zog1971
Active Member
I encountered an issue today again where the fan randomly came on when the computer was just sitting idle. Looking at task manager showed the CPU going to 90-100%cpu and 100% disk usage. After again monitoring processes, discovered that the system was defragmenting my disk. Turns out that this is a weekly process that runs and from what most say, it is not a good idea to defrag SSD's. The Surface Pro's are all set to defrag weekly so I went and turned that setting off. But just adding that to the list of "Things that make our fans BLOW".
