[SOLVED] Out of control laptop fans

[L3wis]

Specs: ASUS ROG GL704GW. https://rog.asus.com/laptops/rog-strix/rog-strix-scar-ii-gl704-series/spec (one on the right)

Ok so this is a bit of a read just to warn you. I have tried many, many fixes but have had no luck and so I am asking the community for help to finally solve this.
I bought this laptop just after its release 2 years ago and have had an issue with the fans ever since. (Which I thought I could solve).


The issue I am facing is that the fan comes on for no reason at all and is on all the time, for example sitting on desktop with 0% GPU usage and 1-3% CPU usage (CPU temps 32-34°) (GPU temps 29°).
The fan for theGPU is stuck at max all of the time for no apparent reason and it is now far past warranty period so returns aren't an option at this point .

Additional: It is on all time however will occasionally stop for a moment before immediately spinning back to max. It's always at max never another speed.
If I shut the lid the fans turn off but will sometimes spin back up even when the PC is in sleep mode. I touch the case to see if its hot but is cool to the touch. (Also the
case when idle at desktop).
The system is stable and I have not had any freezes or crashes as far as I can think of since owning. For this reason including the fact that temperatures are so low at idle
I have not tried undervolting as I don't think it will help, however would be grateful if anyone has more input regarding this.
Not sure if related but, If you unplug the laptop the battery goes straight down to almost zero and within a minute or so shuts off so is always plugged in.



What I am trying to achieve is where the fans/fan will come on as necessary and die down when not needed as they should be doing. I can't even write this post without it
being at absolute max.

What I have tried so far to fix:

Re-paste - the original was done well and I saw only maybe 1 -2 degree difference after this in Intel extreme tuning utility.
BIOS update - I updated the BIOS to the latest version.
Nvidia drivers - I use the Nvidia G-force experience to keep these up to date as soon as a new driver is released.
Windows power settings - I have tried the different options Balanced, High power, Power saving. - No difference noted.
OS - I have run Linux off of a USB to see if Windows was the potential cause but the issue persisted regardless.
BIOS - No options to control fans and the issue is present while in here too.
Forums - I have scoured every forum I can find and can see no fix that has worked as of yet.
Fan controlling software - I have tried Speed fan (Could not recognise any fans (followed YT tutorials) ) Notebook fan controller (Doesn't support my model).
Hitting with hammer - Haven't tried this yet but getting close!
Laptop cooling pad - No difference made. But it did look cool.
Asus armoury crate and other Asus specific software - Will not work for me tried every fix from every forum. (Noticed other users having issues too) Asus software is useless.
Wearing headphones - Fans are that loud that they still can be heard.

One more thing I saw in one forum that this may be a motherboard issue however I know no way of checking this to be sure and if it is so then fair enough that is the end of the line
but I want to try every possible fix before I say that's it there's nothing more that can be done.

If you are able to solve this I will be, 1 amazed, 2 very very grateful, 3 very happy indeed! 4 singing your praises all day.

Thanks for reading this and taking the time to try and help me in advance.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Do the fans run full time even in the BIOS environment, or does it happen only in the Windows environment?

Have you tried going into the advanced power settings section of the selected power profile and changing the "Cooling policy" setting under "Processor power management" to passive rather than active?

The fact that the problem is happening with BOTH fans tells me that it's not likely a thermal issue, nor is it likely to be simply a faulty thermal sensor or fan controller since the CPU and GPU have independent controls.

 

[L3wis]

Thanks for the reply, yep the fans run full time even in the BIOS.
I tried changing the cooling policy as you mentioned then did a restart and a full shutdown but unfortunately
the fan is still going crazy.
I realised I mentioned fans in the above it is just the fan on the right the GPU fan that is the issue.
(I have updated the post to correct this)
I don't even know if the CPU fan is running as the GPU one is so loud!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Have you tried using MSI Afterburner to control the fan speed? If not, that would be my next step.

 

[L3wis]

Thanks again for your reply.
I downloaded Msi afterburner which had the fan control options greyed out. I found a potential fix
downloading a beta version of the software but this also didn't work unfortunately.
I also tried uninstalling and re installing the drivers but this didn't change anything either.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, unfortunately, in my opinion I'd say it's pretty likely that you have a faulty graphics card thermal sensor or fan controller. Certainly those aren't the only possibilities, but since it's been like this since day one, it's probable and usually on desktop graphics cards when the fan control options are grayed out or the fans run full speed and nothing else seems to work, it's almost always a faulty graphics adapter.

 

[L3wis]

Looks like I will have to get some ANC headphones .
Thanks for helping me troubleshoot!

 

[Darkbreeze]

And man, if you find that there IS another solution that is NOT the graphics card/adapter, we DO want to know about it because maybe it will help the next guy. Anyhow, man, I hope you have luck and wish the best to you.