Are there updated drivers for the E-Series port replicator/docking station?

Wondering if they came up with anything new for these fan issues or if there are even drivers for a replicator...

 

I contacted Dell support about the fan problems. They were able to reproduce the problem with the fan not going to slow speed immediately when the temperature of the laptop decreased. They didn't have an immediate solution to the problem but said that things like fan speed control is constantly worked on and that there might be an update to bios/drivers next year that will fix it.

But I wonder if we have the same problem. Mine problem is not very big at all, even in the docking station. I have now been running my E6400 in the docking station with lid closed for a couple of days. This causes the laptop to get a few degrees warmer than with the lid open and with light use (web surfing, idling, playing music etc) the chipset/GPU/memory temperature reaches ~46C after a while. At this temperature the fan is running at slow speed, 3000 RPM and I can't complain about the noise.

From my previous tests I know that once chipset/GPU/memory reaches 50C, the fan will go to high speed, 4800 RPM. This hasn't happened so far while using the laptop for normal tasks like web surfing but I still think 4800 RPM is way to high speed for 50C. I told this to Dell support and asked them to rethink if it is really necessary to use such an high fan speed at that temperature. The answer I got to this was the "there is constantly development going on" answer.

But I understand that the fan in your laptop is running at higher speed than mine? If you have the nVidia graphics it is probably the reason for it. I would expect Dell to be very cautious about letting the nVidia chip get too hot since it might break easily. Do you really need the nVidia graphics? Otherwise you can try to change it to Intel graphics.

Örjan

 

I have just installed latest BIOS (v. A11) and it doesn't seem to have changed the fan behaviour except for maybe that the fan slows down a bit faster after the laptop has cooled down.

Otherwise it is the same: As soon as GPU/memory/chipset reaches 50C, the fan goes to high speed, 4800 RPM, most often directly from 3000 RPM.

Sometimes the fan will run at 3600 RPM. I think it does this when the CPU is hot (~70C) but the rest of the laptop isn't. Earlier I thought the 3600 RPM mode only got active when the laptop was not in the docking station but it is not correct.

I really hope Dell changes the fan programming so tht the laptop first tries to use the 3600 RPM fan mode to cool down the laptop before going to full speed at 4800 RPM. 3600 RPM is quite ok from a noise perspective but 4800 RPM is really noisy.

Örjan

 

How do you monitor the fan speed?
I8kfanGUI doesn't show it on my setup, but can enforce the highest speed level - which I guess is 4800 RPM and pretty loud.
With some light work I end up with the medium level fan speed/noise and cpu below 50C. GPU though heats up quickly to >60C (NVS 160M).

 

I just checked "Read speed of first fan" and "Read status of first fan" in the I8kfanGUI settings (Options->Status reading).

I have version 3.1 of I8kfanGUI.

Örjan

 

Thanks for the tip, it worked .
3k RPM here, a little loud. Usually at this level, even when revved up a bit it calms down in a short while.

 

I can't complain on the fan noise at 3000 RPM, I think my E6400 is pretty quiet at this speed.

For comparison, my old Latitude D610 seems to use the fan speeds 2150 RPM, 3150 RPM and 3900 RPM. 2150 is very quiet. 3150 is a little bit more noisy than 3000 RPM on E6400. 3900 RPM is noisy, but not as bad as the 4800 RPM mode on E6400. Unfortunately my D610 uses 3900 RPM a lot, even when idling. It seems to use this mode as soon as the GPU (Integrated Intel) reaches 55 C and this happens quite often even when just doing light web surfing.

So I am happy that my E6400 is using 3000 RPM most of the time. It is a big improvement for me that is used to the more noisy 3150 and 3900 modes on my D610.

akwit, what did Dell support say about your problems with the fan in the docking station?

Örjan

 

Orjan-sorry for the delayed response and thanks for your info.

heres the issue with me:
I have TWO external monitors; one that sits above my docking station and another to the left. There is no doubt in my mind this is whats causing the fan to go straight to 4800 and stay there. Mind you though, my temp rarely goes above 50.
The fan noise at 4800 for extended periods of time is unbearable to me, especially if you are trying to work/concentrate.
Alos, my fan goes on AND DOES NOT TURN OFF.
It will go all day and, will stay on for at least 30 minutes after I put my computer to sleep. Last night I put it to sleep for the night, the fan finally shut down about 30 minutes later, but came back on about an hour after that while sleeping!
I know there isnt a problem with my particular laptop as this is the second one i have-being that I got a replacement for the first one I owned (that I returned to DELL w/in 30 days of buying).
This is a systems issue.
The docking station should be able to (and is advertised as) being able to handle multiple monitors. I have spoken to DELL numerous times and they just annoy me b/c they are consistently ignorant over the phone and rarely admit any wrong-doing, its always me that is doing something wrong.
They want me to send it in to them so they can do all sorts of tests, but to be honest, I dont have the time to be their guinea pig. Although I like the laptop I would return it and go with another brand if I could. Im unhappy with this issue and i'm not too impressed with the performance.
With the DC Intels at 9600, a 7400RPM/250GB HD, 4 gigs of ram and a nVidia card, I expected to be blown away by the performance and frankly I am disappointed.

What does the A11 Bios supposedly fix?

Im thinking about either dropping to XP or selling this laptop if I cant come to some sort of acceptable resolution soon.

Sorry for the rant...

 

Check your sleep/hibernation setting. It might wake up from sleep to hibernate.
Mine did it by default and since there was a pre-boot passwords it stayed on asking for it!

 

I just tried connecting two external monitors to my E6400 docking station and i doesn't seem to change the temperature and/or fan noise compared to just one monitor. My configuration:
E6400 with Intel graphics
E Port Plus
Monitor 1: 19" 1280x1024 connected to DVI 1 on docking station.
Monitor 2: 15" 1024x768 (really old TFT monitor) connected to VGA on docking station.

akwit, I think it would be helpful if you could run I8kfanGUI and read temperatures for memory, chipset and GPU with this tool. I don't think it is the GPU alone that is causing the problem because then you would have problem outside of the docking station also. I could be that you are very close to 50C on chipset and memory temperature when using one monitor and the second monitor pushes you up above 50C.

Örjan