SP3 i7 Fan runs most of the time

[Donald]

RE: i7 512 SP3: Is it normal for the fan to run most of the time? It comes on whenever there is substantial disk activity - such as a data file sync to a NAS.

I can hear the fan quite distinctly. The MS store person told me that their fans never run - and even if they do they are silent.

I also notice that when the fan is running, that the battery time for the machine from 100% is only about 1:40 til shutdown (8%) at 50% screen bright, wi-fi hot spot connection to iPhone, and with the MS blue tooth mouse running. This is only using IE browser, NAV (background), Adobe 11 Pro, Word 365, and Outlook 365. This seems very poor for battery time.

Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[GreyFox7]

Firstly what we hear depends by individual... my Dad wanted to give me an old clock that he worked on and fixed up and brought on a visit. I couldn't stand it and told him to give it to my brother because the ticking was driving me nuts.

Syncing a file? how big... never mind you said substantial disk activity. I'd say yep, normal. when you download Windows updates there's substantial disk activity... the fan comes on.
Some fans make more noise than others as well. in my case it generates about 35 decibels measured with a DB meter. That's listed as whisper quiet. The ambient noise in the room is about 25db. by comparison an ultrabook computer I wont name generates 75db when watching a few YouTube videos.

I really don't know what the rest of that is saying.

Perhaps I should mention that the 35db (whisper quiet) reading was taken with the sensor as close to the loudest point along the top edge I could find as if you were holding it up to your ear.

 

[mtalinm]

crud. just when I was getting up the courage to get an i7.

and intel finally formally unveiled the Core M chip, which makes a fanless SP a possibility. decisions...

 

[ctitanic]

crud. just when I was getting up the courage to get an i7.

and intel finally formally unveiled the Core M chip, which makes a fanless SP a possibility. decisions...

Here is the thing, around 2006 Intel unvieled Atom, a chip that was going be cooler and with a very long battery life. And they delivered a very hot chip with a battery life that was the same as in the Pentium M which was the one that the Atom was supposed to replace. The Atom processor achieved what was promised in 2006 around 2013.

 

[bluegrass]

Fan noise has to be very subjective. I have never heard my fan. It must be as quiet as my SSD being accessed.

 

[sleith001]

crud. just when I was getting up the courage to get an i7.

and intel finally formally unveiled the Core M chip, which makes a fanless SP a possibility. decisions...

Is it import being fanless? Without fan, the device maybe a little thinner, but it is already super thin. Noise, I believe 99% users won't hear anything. I have an old laptop, big fan, I never really am conscious of fan noise. and SP3 fan noise? that's something we should about maybe 10 years ago. Actually the vent holes make it look better than a plain slab. Compare SP3 and Surface 2, I like how SP3 looks.

 

[ivan99]

Is it import being fanless? Without fan, the device maybe a little thinner, but it is already super thin. Noise, I believe 99% users won't hear anything. I have an old laptop, big fan, I never really am conscious of fan noise. and SP3 fan noise? that's something we should about maybe 10 years ago. Actually the vent holes make it look better than a plain slab. Compare SP3 and Surface 2, I like how SP3 looks.

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dude
i know it might be rude to say it but i could not understand any logic in what you are stating! Sorry my apologies for this rude critique!

 

[ivan99]

crud. just when I was getting up the courage to get an i7.

and intel finally formally unveiled the Core M chip, which makes a fanless SP a possibility. decisions...

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Technology is changing every 6-8 mos!! Are we goingto have to fork $$$ every time a new tech comes in? What about a trade-in program? MS takes your "old" SP3 in March or so 2015 and lets you have a SP4 for a small fee that you have paid already paid upfront when you purchased the SP3. This "arrangement" can be for 2 years max? MS can always resell your "outdated" SP3 in overseas markets or to College or Schools or donate to charity?

 

[megatronium]

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Technology is changing every 6-8 mos!! Are we goingto have to fork $$$ every time a new tech comes in? What about a trade-in program? MS takes your "old" SP3 in March or so 2015 and lets you have a SP4 for a small fee that you have paid already paid upfront when you purchased the SP3. This "arrangement" can be for 2 years max? MS can always resell your "outdated" SP3 in overseas markets or to College or Schools or donate to charity?

There is an arrangement - It's called Microsoft Complete.

 

[sleith001]

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dude
i know it might be rude to say it but i could not understand any logic in what you are stating! Sorry my apologies for this rude critique!

When you find something that you don't understand, you don't think that can be your fault? Anyway, let me explain: there is a obvious typo: import should be important. I guess you would understand that, right? I said a few things to make a point that fanless or not is not important to SP3.

1. without fan, SP3 can be thinner, but SP3 is already thin.
2. some say fan make noises. I said for 99% users, you will never hear it.
3. I find the vent holes on the edge, which are dedicated for the fan, make SP3 look better than without it.

I can only help this much.

 

[Calbenzo]

Well after the 8/12 firmware update, my fan runs much more frequently than prior to the update, just when I am only browsing. The fan is fairly quiet, except when I am surfing at night and it is quiet, then it is noticeable even at the fans lowest level. When the fan is running at the highest level, it is fairly noisy, and eats the battery fairly quickly.

This happens for about 10-15 minutes and then dies down. The core temp then drops from the low 60's C to the mid to upper 40's.

In task manager, there is a System process that is running between 25-35% of the CPU, and a System Interrupt that is taking up another 8% or so. Then these go down to less than 1% or so until the cycle happens again. As mentioned, this has been going on since the last update.

My wifi has throughput, however, has improved in the 5Ghz, logging 600 Mbps (although I don't know if this was addressed in this update, and I never experienced the limited connection out of sleep mode).

 

[megatronium]

Well after the 8/12 firmware update, my fan runs much more frequently than prior to the update, just when I am only browsing. The fan is fairly quiet, except when I am surfing at night and it is quiet, then it is noticeable even at the fans lowest level. When the fan is running at the highest level, it is fairly noisy, and eats the battery fairly quickly.

This happens for about 10-15 minutes and then dies down. The core temp then drops from the low 60's C to the mid to upper 40's.

In task manager, there is a System process that is running between 25-35% of the CPU, and a System Interrupt that is taking up another 8% or so. Then these go down to less than 1% or so until the cycle happens again. As mentioned, this has been going on since the last update.

My wifi has throughput, however, has improved in the 5Ghz, logging 600 Mbps (although I don't know if this was addressed in this update, and I never experienced the limited connection out of sleep mode).

I don't think it's a system process. I will agree that something is off after the update. Opening task manager to inspect immediately causes CPU usage to go down which in turn makes the fan die down. Not sure what is happening but the behavior is different after the update.