XPS 1645 using BIOS flash fan speeds?

My specs, not that they actually matter, are as follows:
dell studio xps 1645 core i7 720qm 1.6ghz, 4gb ram, hd 4670

I've been using this notebook for about 2 years now I guess and there are a couple of things I came to realize:
buying this notebook was a mistake
dell is unable to supply (good) solutions to the obvious flaws of the device
and trying to solve the heat issue on a software level is impossible

I also realized that my under stress (gpu 95°c, cpu 91°c) my fan does not spin as fast as it can (used to?).

To get to the point, I was wondering if there was any conceivable way of getting the fan of this device to spin at the speed it does when flashing the system bios - without actually flashing it, of course. I am sure anyone who has flashed his/her notebook's bios knows what I'm talking about.

I would be very interested and thankful in a response as to whether this is possible or not and for what reasons (details).

Thank you and have a nice day.

 

If you complain hard enough, there is a good chance Dell will send you an XPS 15. I would warn against flashing bios and messing with fan speeds, it can have less than desired results.

If you want to flash, check out the bios modding section @ MyDigitalLife. I can't link as I think it is host to some more nefarious activity, however they know their stuff their regards modding bios!

 

Have you, or do you ever clean out the air intake and exhaust ports?

This is the number one reason why older (>1 year) laptops overheat. Fluff, dust and hair will not only clog the intake, usually underneath the laptop, but it will accumulate on the radiator/heat sink normally located in the exhaust output. This will act as an insulator.

So not only will airflow become more restricted over time, but your heatsink will transfer heat less effectively.

I know this is kind of a no-brainer, but a lot of people don't maintain their cooling systems. All you need is a can of compressed air and a vacuum. Don't be afraid to stick the vacuum right up next to the ports (assuming it's not an industrial high suction vacuum - and no, I won't take responsibility on the off chance something bad does happen...).

If that fails, and you are out of warranty, open up your laptop and do a more thorough cleaning. For all you know your laptop has built itself a nest of toejam inside keeping it nice and warm.

You could probably knit a scarf with all the stuff I've sucked out of my 5 year old Toshiba.

 

Somehow I doubt they would replace my ~2 year old laptop.

I believe I haven't made myself clear, so let me give it another shot:
I have tried very hard getting access to and changing Fan speeds - without any success. SpeedFan, i8kfangui and rivatuner seem to be the most appropriate tools to try and none of them worked - not even a correct read for fan speed.
All the modded bios allows you to do in terms of fan control is change certain "trip-points" which trigger faster fan speeds - it does not actually change the speed the is going to spin at. For example my fan is stuck at say 50% of the speed it can actually achieve. Using the modded bios I can change when at which temperature the 50% fan speed is engaged. it does not allow me to change the fan speed to say 80%.

Actually yes, I am trying to clean my vents/grid on a regular basis and I know what you're talking about. Nonetheless, my notebook overheats when playing moderately hardware taxing games.
Although I am planning on replacing thermal paste and if that isn't enough also get a notebook cooler, I think a software solution to the heat problem would be a godsend for many owners. Some application that enables "bios-flashing fast" fan speeds might be just that and make hardware modifications or similar techniques redundant - if it can be done in a way that does not conflict with any other bios fan control mumbo-jumbo or whatever.


What really interests me is how WinPhlash64, as software mind you, can
1.) change the fan speed - something modders have been unable to do afaik (driver - pm55 chipset incompatibilities, lack of interest?)
2.) change the fan speed to a specific one, higher than any fan speed that is used during "normal" usage of the notebook

I believe the question which I am interested in is how does winphlash64 change the fan speed and is there any way of doing it ourselves.
Just a thought

 

Are you having any issues with throttling from the heat? If not, it seems like most people would consider your situation desirable: higher temperatures but none of that annoying fan noise that kicks in at the higher temperatures.

Why not call Dell and tell them "I am having problems with my laptop fan. (I cleaned it and went through all the troubleshooting steps). Please send me a new one for me to install." It's really easy to install on this laptop- it's as easy to access as RAM but there's 2 screws, a connector plug, and a piece of tape.

Anyway, I'm sure what your taking about is possible, but I'm not sure if anyone has done it yet.

 

I am definitely having issues with throttling. For example I'm playing test drive unlimited at 640x480, vsync (60 fps max) and lowest details - it still overheats and throttles. The gpu load doesn't reach more than 50-60% something it was able to handle before which is why I believe it's that fan's "fault" for not spinning fast enough.

I just got off the phone with a dell "technician" - told me they couldn't send me one to replace myself because it would void my warranty and I don't necessarily want to send them my notebook for repair because it would take ~2 weeks and it wouldn't be the first time it'd come back with a new issue..

Flashing to another bios version doesn't help, could a windows reinstall do the trick in any conceivable way?

 

Interesting that they would say that replacing the fan voids the warranty- for this very same system Dell's representative said on these forums that changing the thermal paste won't void the warranty- a procedure that involves removal of the fan .

I don't think that a re-install of Windows would help since the BIOS controls the fan, but it looks like you're the 1st person to post about this problem, so who knows. But if you are thinking about re-installing, you might want to try a Linux Live CD first, since the fan should (and is supposed to) have the same trip points in Linux as Windows since it is controlled by the BIOS. If it behaves the same way then you will know its a hardware problem, the only 'issue' would be finding something to heat up the system.

 

Well that's weird... maybe because it's the European Dell Support I've spoken to.

Good call with the Linux Live CD! I installed live ubuntu on a thumb drive and after hours of installing drivers and a benchmark (phoronix test suite), I recorded fan noises of both benchmarking in windows and in ubuntu. The result: no difference. Still, I can only make out a difference in fan-noise when flashing the bios. Why is it that such a fan speed is only used on such a special occasion? The mind boggles...

Oh well, any suggestions where I should take it from here?