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Resolved Question

Laptop w/ good specs has fan constantly on?

by Apr 7, 2018 12:48PM PDT

I bought a Lenovo Flex 5 about a month ago, and I've found that the fan seems to be on quite often, along with it being pretty loud even though I'm not running anything too demanding. It's been like this since I purchased the laptop. The fan usually kicks on whenever I'm browsing chrome or viewing pdfs in Adobe and other pretty simple stuff. Task manager shows around 5% CPU usage and 40% memory usage.

I've heard that other users of the Flex 5 also have fan noise issues, so I wonder if its just not fixable? My laptop has some decent specs so I didn't think the fan would be this prevalent. It's usually just a constant loud whirr, with some louder spikes at random moments.

Windows 10
16 GB RAM
Intel Core i7-8550U CPU
Nvidia GeForce 940mx GPU
The laptop is the 15.6 inch version with 1 TB HDD and 256 GB SSD, along with 4k touchscreen if that's any help

It's just a little annoying when I'm in a quiet study space with others and the fans start having a moment. It's also concerning to me that its been like this since the start, so its probably not a dust issue (yet, haha). Any help would be appreciated!

Discussion is locked

punchbot has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
4 Posts
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Best Answer

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Switched to default Nvidia settings, saw some improvement
by Apr 7, 2018 7:04PM PDT

R. Proffitt mentioned that the GPU is outdated so I took a look:
I had previously messed around with the Nvidia control panel while playing games and I had set my global default graphics processor as the Nvidia card instead of integrated graphics, along with switching around some more detailed settings.
I reverted back to all default settings a couple hours ago, and the fans do not come on as often. I am running a few chrome windows at the moment and it is silent.
I guess the Nvidia card was backfiring in regular use? Not really sure but i'll take the quieter fans!

Post was last edited on April 7, 2018 7:09 PM PDT

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Answer
This is not a model I'd expect the fan to stay low or off.
by Forum moderator Apr 7, 2018 1:06PM PDT

You have a dated GPU and even if it was current the heat must be moved out.

What is making this complaint worse now is many get the SSD and this means the most noisy part will be the fan.

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Are there any options?
by punchbot Apr 7, 2018 1:21PM PDT

Are there any ways to work around the GPU? Or really anything I could do at this point? To make it quieter, come on less often, etc.

Post was last edited on April 7, 2018 1:23 PM PDT

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Sorry no.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Apr 7, 2018 1:40PM PDT

You could try a cooling pad. I just put another one of the AmazonBasics passive cooling stand in on my wife's new i7-8xxx and 1050 GPU laptop. That's a very nice laptop but the fan does run. Since it's SSD of course the fan is the loudest thing. Turn on the radio and you can't hear the fan.

Ask the maker if they have a feature to run the fan at a constant speed. HP did that years ago as machines got quieter and consumers complained about dynamic fan speeds.

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