How can I control my fan speed?

[bartNL]

Hi all,

I'm searching for software which can be used to (quickly) change your CPU/fan speed.
I regularly use my laptop for gaming, causing it to become really hot, mostly around temps of 90-100C. I don't think these are desirably temps..
I know AMD cpu's are known to run on hight temps but this is just too hot for me, I don't want to get my hands and cpu burned while gaming..

I'm using my HP Pavilion 17 e072nr laptop for about 3 months now so dust couldn't be really the problem. The things I've already done:

-I've already set the 'Fan always on' option enabled in BIOS, but I want it to always run on full speed, noise doesn't matter. Other options like fan-voltage control are not available in my BIOS.

-Speedfan doesn't recognize my fans so this option doesn't apply.

-I've set up optimal power plans in control panel, 100%cpu and cooling for 'Performance' and 60%cpu and 100%cooling for 'Recommended' scheme. I'm switching to recommended when I stop gaming but this only causes te cpu to drop a few degrees, like to 82C.

My specs are:
2.1Ghz quad AMD A8 accelerated to 3Ghz max. w/ 8GB ram.
Graphics card etc. is running just right around 45-50C

Many thanks in advance for any help, let me know if you need more info/specs

 

[vagrantsoul]

probably going to need to go into your bios.

from lifehacker:

Tweak Your BIOS Settings

Control Your Computer's Fan Speeds for Better Performance When You Need It, Silence When You Don't
Many motherboards have fan control built-in to the BIOS settings these days, though they don't always give you as much control as something like SpeedFan does. But, if your computer isn't supported by SpeedFan, this is a good plan B. Open up your motherboard's BIOS settings (usually by holding a key like Delete when you boot your computer), and search for the fan settings. They're called all sorts of different things (for example, Asus has "Q-Fan Control", while Gigabyte has "Smart Fan Control"), but generally you should be able to find it under one of the BIOS menus. Enable this feature, and tweak any settings it gives you to your liking. Some machines may only let you set it to conservative or liberal mode, while others will let you individually set temperature thresholds like SpeedFan.

It'll also offer you a choice between two regulation methods: voltage and PWM. The voltage mode adjusts the voltage of the fan, while PWM mode sends calculated voltage pulses to the fan to make it run a bit slower. For the most part, this depends on how your fans are plugged into the motherboard. Fans connected with a 4-pin connector should use PWM, while fans connected with a 3-pin connector should use voltage. Voltage is slightly less efficient, and you can't get speeds quite as low as with PWM, but PWM can be finicky sometimes too. If you find PWM is giving you problems, you can always switch to voltage. And, if you can't connect your fans to the headers on your motherboard (that is, if you're using the large, 4-pin Molex connectors), you'll need to use method 3 below. Again, your motherboard will only support this kind of fan control for a few fans, too (usually your CPU fan and a system fan). If you want to control them all, check out method three below.

http://lifehacker.com/5866009/control-your-computers-fan-speeds-for-better-performance-when-you-need-it-silence-when-you-dont

 

[bartNL]

@vagrantsoul: Thanks, but I don't have any of those additional options, I only have the 'Fan always on' option, which is already enabled.. Fan voltage and RPM aren't available.

 

[vagrantsoul]

going to look for more options, but HP locks down their stuff rather tightly... there's also a chance that something could be wrong with the hardware if it's getting this hot... general use? or are you taxing the machine? HP kind of has a bad rep for this, have a friend's dv-3000 something I am trying to rebuild right now, it overheated and won't turn on now - charges, but can't get it to turn on.

 

[bartNL]

@vagrantsoul: I don't have much experience with working with BIOSes and UEFI and stuff, so loading another BIOS or tampering with it, is kind of my last option. Are such things real complicated?

As said, I regularly use it for gaming, but even when I barely use the thing it's temp is around 70C. I'm not experiencing problems like crashing and lagging (yet), but I'd rather prevent those problems.
If there's any way to take over the control of the fan I'd really like to hear it.

As I can see, there's nothing wrong with the hardware(yet).

 

[vagrantsoul]

Couldn't really find a workaround in my searching, i really would contact who you bought it from... those temps are seemingly way too high for the chip and may lead to damage. you might have a defective cooling system, chip, or god knows what... you're close to overheating the chip...

 

[bartNL]

@vagrantsoul: Thanks for you efforts. I'm beginning to suspect more and more that my CPU sensor is broken. My motherboard, videocard, hdd etc are just around 40C so I think my CPU temp sensor is just not properly calibrated.
Anyways, I've 1,5 years of warranty to go so if anything goed wrong, there's not a problem I think.

 

[SteelScyther]

Hey, I know this thread is months old now but I thought I'd post an answer for anyone trying to solve a similar problem who stumbled across this page (like I did).

I've recently bought a HP Envy 15 (j151-sa, running an AMD A10 in dual graphics with a Radeon HD 8650M) and the temperatures were running ridiculously hot on it according to HW Monitor and Speccy (around 80 just after boot, 130 while gaming), but it turns out that those programs were just reporting the wrong temperature. So you were definitely on to something when you said you thought your sensors were broken.

In any case, I used speed fan to detect the temps and it turned out to be more like 40C just after booting and 90C during intensive gaming/stress testing, which is still a little on the toasty side, but not too bad considering I was stressing it out by playing skyrim with 2x AA at 1080p.

By the way, if anyone does have this laptop, games don't work well in full screen for some reason. I thought my CPU was too hot and getting massively throttled, but it turns out that this particular laptop only works well with windowed games, so run games in a borderless window if possible!

To answer your original question about the fans - as someone else has already stated, HP (as well as many other OEMs) do lock down their settings quite a bit and the BIOS isn't exactly extensive... Unfortunately, this means that 3rd party applications, such as speed fan, aren't able to control the fans either.

So I guess this is good news and bad news in a way - on the one hand, you don't have control over the fans, but on the other, they probably don't need to be controlled. HP probably took the option away to stop people from lowering fan activity and damaging the chip.

Hope this helps the OP or anyone stumbling on this thread!

 

[vagrantsoul]

Well Put Steel

 

[ArtKix]

Ahhhh, this (wrong temp reported) might be what's going on with my Envy.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2983877/expected-operating-temperature-range-amd-a10-8750.html

SpeedFan doesn't work on my PC. I'm using HWinfo64 to get my temperature readings. How can I be sure I'm getting the right temp?

 

[vagrantsoul]

what about trying nzxt's cam software, getting usually more accurate temps with that, plus far more stats about the components.

 

[ArtKix]

what about trying nzxt's cam software, getting usually more accurate temps with that, plus far more stats about the components.

Wow, that's a good looking program but it has the same issues with goofy temps as the others.

 

[vagrantsoul]

what about trying nzxt's cam software, getting usually more accurate temps with that, plus far more stats about the components.

Wow, that's a good looking program but it has the same issues with goofy temps as the others.

was worth a shot, sorry it didn't work out... just tried on a random asrock a68 chipset and seeing the same random temps as you were i think... (cpu was actually at 34c, showing as 68-72c in CAM... ugh)