The fan on my HP 8510w Notebook seemed to constantly run as fast as possible at all times. When I'm running Windows Vista, I simply ignored the fan knowing that Vista's excessive CPU usage was probably the cause of my fan speed/noise problem. However, when I booted into Linux I noticed the fan was still rev'ing out of control, even though gkrellm reported that my CPU usage was hovering between 0 and 1%. Additionally, gkrellm told me there was little or no disk activity at the time. So, there was really no reason for the fan to spin at full-speed. I dug into it a little more and discovered a "Fan always on while on AC Power" option in the BIOS settings (as shown in the screen shot). On my 8510w, this option was set to "Enable". Therefore, anytime my laptop was plugged into a docking station or A/C power adapter, the fan would constantly spin at full-speed. I disabled this setting, and the fan noise from my notebook is now more acceptable.
I don't know if this BIOS setting exists on notebooks other than the HP 8510w, but you can check.
I don't know if this BIOS setting exists on notebooks other than the HP 8510w, but you can check.
If you have an HP 8510w Notebook, and the fan seems to constantly run at full speed, you may want to check the "Fan always on while on AC power" BIOS setting ...
FOLLOWUP 2/5/09
I found that leaving the 8510w open while docked in the docking station also reduces the fan speed and helps keep the unit cool. When the lid is closed, it tends to trap heat between the chassis and display; leaving it open (as shown below) when docked in a docking station will help reduce the fan speed.
- Reboot the notebook, and press F10 when the "HP logo" appears at the BIOS.
- Select System Configuration from the main BIOS menu.
- Select Device Configurations from the drop-down.
- Verify that the "Fan always on while on AC power" setting is set to Disable.
- Press F10 to save. Reboot.
FOLLOWUP 2/5/09
I found that leaving the 8510w open while docked in the docking station also reduces the fan speed and helps keep the unit cool. When the lid is closed, it tends to trap heat between the chassis and display; leaving it open (as shown below) when docked in a docking station will help reduce the fan speed.
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