Laptop fan noise

Sunny_Saver

Hi

I reset my laptop to factory settings yesterday and since then I feel as if my laptop fan is slightly noisier.

All I am doing is browsing the web, with seven windows open, which is what I used to do anyway.

Any suggestions as to why this might be happening please?

It's a fairly new laptop - maybe two months old. Lenovo Z50.

If you need any other info, please ask and do treat me like an idiot when you ask and ask in very simple forms .

Thanks!

kwikbreaks

More often or louder? More often suggests something running that is chewing cpu and task manager will show if that is the case or alternately that you are using it on a soft surface and causing it to run hotter. Something like Speccy will show temperatures. There are apps to show fan speed too (use google) although that is probably fixed anyway.

Two months doesn't sound long to get the vents blocked but it is probably possible if used in a dusty place.

I really can't see how a factory reset can lead to this unless some crapware that came with it is running now but you got shot of it before.

esuhl

The main things I would check is (as suggested above), whether there's excessive dust/fluff blocking the airflow, causing the laptop to overheat, or if it's being used on a surface that blocks the vents or causes overheating (e.g. having it on the carpet, a duvet or your lap, etc.).

Other than that (as a real longshot), the graphics driver adjusts fan speed. I don't think I've ever heard of different driver versions running fans at different speeds, but maybe it would be worth checking that you have the latest video driver installed...?

You can check for the latest drivers here:
http://support.lenovo.com/gb/en?menu-id=lenovo_products_#

Sunny_Saver

Actually, I am wondering if it is the fan. It's a whirring noise, but when I touch my laptop, it's not hot at all. The noise come and goes. This morning I did a Malwarebytes check with rookit checked and it was noisy then and I did not uncheck the rookit until this afternoon. It seemed to be a bit quieter, but maybe it's my wishful thinking.

I always have my laptop on a Belking laptop cooling stand, although I don't plug it in that often, as even noisier and the laptop doesn't get that hot. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/351642246760?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=122&chn=ps&googleloc=9045999&poi=&campaignid=207297426&device=c&adgroupid=13585920426&rlsatarget=pla-131843264706&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=122&ul_noapp=true

I will check for drivers.

Thanks for your help.

esuhl

Sunny_Saver wrote: »

Actually, I am wondering if it is the fan. It's a whirring noise, but when I touch my laptop, it's not hot at all. The noise come and goes. This morning I did a Malwarebytes check with rookit checked and it was noisy then and I did not uncheck the rookit until this afternoon. It seemed to be a bit quieter, but maybe it's my wishful thinking.

It's possible that the bearings have gone in the fan, but I've never seen that on a laptop that isn't already an antique.

I wonder if the case has been twisted or bent slightly... just enough for some random innards to reverberate a little.

Actually, just another thought. If you've reinstalled Windows, your prefetch cache will have gone, and your drive might have become fragmented. That might result in more disk access, more processor activity, and so noisier fans, as they have to spin faster to cool the laptop down. And maybe the hard drive noise makes it sound like the laptop fan is louder...?

If you have a mechanical hard drive, then it would be a good idea to defragment it to make disk reads more efficient (reducing disk noise and heat). N.B. SSDs and hybrid drives should NOT be defragmented.

The prefetch cache is just a way that Windows learns how to load programs into memory as efficiently as possible for your usage patterns. Just use your computer normally, and these prefetch files will be generated, and just maybe (probably not, but maybe) your computer will get a little more efficient and the fans won't spin up so much or so loudly.

buglawton

I was convinced my Lenovo had a noisy fan. On opening up the laptop casing, fan looked perfect, not blockages either. Turned out I had a dicky hard drive.

Sunny_Saver

Weird thing - no noise today.

grumpycrab

Sunny_Saver wrote: »

Weird thing - no noise today.

Do you know that the hard disk is ok? If not hdsentinel will tell you (via SMART hard disk data).

Sunny_Saver

grumpycrab wrote: »

Do you know that the hard disk is ok? If not hdsentinel will tell you (via SMART hard disk data).

It says performance and health EXCELLENT.

Stuff like this makes me doubt my sanity! Is it my hearing or am I imagining things.

grumpycrab

What's the exact model. Does it have a dedicated graphics chip?
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-P-Y-and-Z-series/lenovo-laptop-z5070-fan-noise/m-p/2085271#M123683

Sunny_Saver

It's a Lenovo Z51-70 Model 80K6. Not sure about the graphics card. I'll do the energy management thing later. Thank you.