N6010 - VERY noisy! How to silence?

I've just got my Fujitsu N6010 from Portable One. It's a great machine, 3.2GHz CPU, with a fantastic screen and keyboard (no flex, btw) but noisy as hell! The fans come on 1 minute after resuming from standby and they don't even stay at one speed; they keep switching between two speeds every 5 seconds or less.

How can one silence down such a beast?

I've already tried SpeedFan (the latest beta), but it didn't detect any fans. Any other fan control software?

Could the CPU be underclocked?

Or maybe overloaded, so the fans will stay on the "high" speed.

How about a sound muffler such as the one from http://www.muffledcomputing.com/foam.html ?

Any idea is greatly appreciated.

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I actually was thinking of trying to do something about it too. I have a few ideas, but unfortunetly I cannot try them before I get mine back. If I manage to do something about the noise I will be posting it here.

But I have to say that all this noise and cooling does a fine job. The air coming out is barely warm, and the chassis remains very cool.

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ETA Unknown: N6010 waiting for screen repair [ ]

 

There was a guy here who psoted several months back about modding his heat sync. He used a new glue and did something else to it that improved its performance dramatically. You might also try a cooling pad. Lastly, make sure things aren't running that don't need to be. The system tray is often full of useless garbage.

Brian

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I'm afraid the problem is really bad. With no noticeable CPU consumption (the "System Idle Process" showing 99% most of the time), the fans still spin as when the CPU is maxed out.

I installed SpeedSwitchXP and set the Force CPU Throttle to 30%, getting an actual speed of around 960MHz and the fans slowed down a bit, but they are still very noisy. So it appears that CPU underclocking won't make the laptop significantly more silent. I haven't tried lowering the FSB, but I guess it will be in vain.

I don't want to listen to music all the time... And I'm tired of returning laptops and waiting for new ones... How about alternative heating solutions for laptops? Peltier elements, water cooling etc? Do any of these work for notebooks?

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When I was talking about ideas I didn't mean downclocking or software! I think it requires some hardware mods. Maybe modifying vents so that air flow causes less noise (i think this is the problem), or maybe changing fans (although i doubt the fans are the problem).
Usually when you have little fans displacing a lot of air you get noise bec of a lot of air flowing thru a small surface area. Or those little fans need to run at high RPM to manage adequate air displacement and hence their motors become noisy.
I should have mine back by tomorrow (FINALLY! ... I hope nothing is wrong with it this time). I'll finish my finals by friday, and then start looking into the issue.
Unfortunetly I believe that any mod I can think of will be a warrenty voider, but I'll try to come up with something not too invasive [ ].
I'll let you know.

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ETA Unknown: N6010 waiting for screen repair [ ]

 

Nine is comming tommorrow from P1 I will give a report on the fan noise and my 2 cents on the unit. I am witing on pins and needles.

 

I am sad to say that is not airflow thru the vents that is the problem [ ]. I did a quick test an nope. Now I am wondering how exchangable are those fans, cause I think they aren't a normal design.

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ETA Unknown: N6010 waiting for screen repair [ ]

 

Yes, the fans are a bit on the noisy side, but you do have to admit they are efficient at keeping it cool. After hours of playing HL2 maxed out graphics she never rose above 60 degrees C.

Fujitsu N6010, 1GB DDR, Mobile P4 3.2Ghz HT, 17" WXGA+, 128MB Mobillity Radeon 9700

 

Ok I did some testing and listening. The fan that generates more noise is the one at the center + it constantly changes speed. It seems to me that it is smaller than the other fan since the vent over it is smaller!
Now by my estimation this is the fan that goes over the graphics core. What I find weird is that it doesn't displace that much air to start with, so why is it reving that much, or does it have to rev that much to displace that little air!
The only none invasive solution I can think of now is trying to downclock the ATI chip since it is useless when just doing office work. I am not so sure about the 9700 generation of ATIs and if they have those features that allow them to clock down and disable sectors of the core when not needed to conserve power and hence generate less heat. If not then the only solution is a manual downclock, and that's what I am gonna try next.

Will keep you posted.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Jeff326

 

I'm using SpeedFan 4.21 to monitor the temperature. It detects only one temperature sensor other than the hard disk: the CPU. Immediately after resuming from standby, SpeedFan indicates 42 deg Celsius and the fans are not spinning. After 1 minute, the fans start, but the CPU temp is still constant, 42 deg. After 15 minutes with CPU load around 30%, same 42 degrees. Only the HD temperature increased from 21 deg to 30 deg Celsius.

BTW, I also noticed the middle fan to be the loudest.

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<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dandv

 

speed fan doesn't seem to work for me. it reports 52 constantly no matter what the load is. I tried MobileMeter, and at no activity it's in the high 40s, load the CPU 100% by benchmarking it and I hit 65.
BTW i think that this CPU throttles down once it hits 66C, I got this number from sisoft sandra lite.

A bit off topic. Did any of you guys try to see what's the maximum memmory bandwidth you can get. I max out at 3200MB/sec, that's quite short of the theoretical 5.2GB/sec, but I am at least sure that my RAM is running in dual channel cause single would be max 2.6GB/sec.

Another off topic. Does SiS provide drivers for chipsets like intel, or do they just relly on XP built in drivers, cause with intel you cannot detect fans without SMbus drivers which are part of chipset drivers. I noticed they only have AGP drivers.

and one final off topic. Do fujitsu ever offer new bioses, cause I was checking different models that have been around for quite some while, but none had a bios upgrade (I was hoping that maybe a bios release can fix the extra fan speed).

Oh BTW. I tried downclocking the ATI card. If I went too low artifacts appeared that forced me to reboot to remove them. And if I downclocked moderately I noticed no difference in noise level. So I guess that is a dead end. I am getting the feeling that mufflers are the only option [ ]

 

And i have tried downclockin video card using atitool...
@ 80 MHZ Core and Memory @ 140 MHZ there were absolutely no artifacts working with office applications and i noticed that fans spinned slowly... Or, probably that was only my imagination But still, as the video card fan is the loudest one, i suppose that something must be done with ATI product, not with Intel's

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by qwester

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Sensei

 

I was curious about the RAMs so I checked SIS's website. Turns out the 655FX chipset is actually a desktop chipset that supports 800 FSB and RAMs upto 400MHz. So I guess if I decide to upgrade my RAM I'll just go for 400MHz and maybe get a couple of % more speed [ ]

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N6010: P4M 3.2G, 512MB Dual 333MHz, 60GB 7200RPM, ATI 9700M, 17" WXGA+
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<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by qwester

 

This comes from the built in numbers in SiSoft Sandra 2005:
SiS 655 2xPC2700 CL2 DDR (Intel Pentium 4-B 512L2): 3411 - 3412MB/s
Me: 3201 - 3224MB/s

So the difference isn't really something big
Unfortunetly no numbers for SiS with PC3200 Rams, but there are for intel:
Intel 865PE 2xPC3200 CL2 DDR (Intel Pentium 4-C 512L2): 4884 - 4888MB/s
But I think intel chipsets are better and specifically the 865PE offered better bandwidth than the competition at the time, so I am not expecting such numbers if I upgrade to PC3200.

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N6010: P4M 3.2G, 512MB Dual 333MHz, 60GB 7200RPM, ATI 9700M, 17" WXGA+
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<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by qwester

 

that's a probable explanation. i missed that. ya mine is 2.5 too!

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N6010: P4M 3.2G, 512MB Dual 333MHz, 60GB 7200RPM, ATI 9700M, 17" WXGA+
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There is hope!

Q1: Has anyone else noticed that while the N6010 is on battery, the fans stay on for only ~20% of the time? Now how do you fool it by software into thinking it's always on battery?

Q2: does SpeedFan work for any of you guys? My SpeedFan always shows the same temperature, 52 degrees Celsius, no matter what, even when I've just resumed from standby.

Q3: can you control any fan speed using SpeedFan? Mine doesn't detect any fans.

Thanks,
Dan

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<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dandv

 

Q1: No clue

Q2: Same thing with speedfan, 52 all the time. I use mobilemeter, nice and small.

Q3: No fan control at all. But if I am not mistaken the fans have 3 wires, I remember seeing a yellow wire! But I could be wrong.

BTW the other day I got the CPU to just short of the max temp according to the data sheets 74C, max is 75C. I think after that the system should hang to protect the CPU, but I don't want to try! I got to that temp because I had a program that went into an endless loop.

I also noticed that the CPU isn't located under one particular fan or sink. it's right in between them (under the silver sink/clamp thingy) and thus both fans are responsible for CPU cooling. So my initial idea that downclocking the GFX should help because I thought the middle fan was for the GFX core is total none sence [ ]

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N6010: P4M 3.2G, 512MB Dual 333MHz, 60GB 7200RPM, ATI 9700M, 17" WXGA+
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The "MAX BATTERY" thing doesn't work. I tried it while running "super pi", the cpu still goes up to 3.2 but not as often. I am not too impressed with intel's mobility solutions for P4 processors.

I tried to test the thermal protection on this CPU. I ran winamp visualization full screen (this is software rendered) and on top of that the "super pi". At 74-76C (i didn't want to even try it anymore the second I hit 76C since the CPU is rated 75 max) the clock speed started to fluctuate but never went down to 1.86 and stayed there for long, the counter just kept jumping between 1.86, 2.13, 3.2. If that's what intel calls throtling down for thermal death protection ... well!!![V] Not sure which version of thermal protection these CPUs have!

Now I am glad that fujitsu played it safe with this cooling system that never really switches off, I just wish they had played it even safer and went with AMD for DTR just for the lower power rating of AMD, since some might argue that AMD cannot better the P4s in every domain!

[EDIT]: use SpeedSwitchXP, found here: http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/ and set it to "max battery" or "battery optimized" (both seem to have the same effect over the P4M) to keep the CPU at 1.86! I think this is as good as it will get without having to do anything physical to this notebook!

*** Could you guys please report your temperatures at idle when clocked at 1.8 and at 3.2, cause I have the feeling that mine are just too high!
3.2G 0% activity: 58C
1.86G 0% activity: 51-52C

I have no thermometer here to check room temp, but the weather outside is 41F rainy and the heater is on, so I am guessing around 75F inside!

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N6010: P4M 3.2G, 512MB Dual 333MHz, 60GB 7200RPM, ATI 9700M, 17" WXGA+
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I just found this yesterday, Seems more useful than the CPU throttlers I have been using before. RMClock.
http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml

at 1.86Ghz ~42-46 degrees
at 3.2Ghz ~ 55-59 degrees depending on load.

 

I couldn't get it to work. Not sure if that is because I have speedswitch installed (I closed speedswitch before running RMClock!), but speedswitch seems to install its drivers cause speed switch appears as an option in windows power management options.

But I really like that with RMClock you the option to go thru all multiplier settings between 14 and 24, not forced to have max or min! But watch out to match the correct voltage with multiplier because if you underpower the CPU it might become unstable under stress.

I guess I will try it later with speedswitch uninstalled.

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N6010: P4M 3.2G, 512MB Dual 333MHz, 60GB 7200RPM, ATI 9700M, 17" WXGA+
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So, cutting to the chase, then, there is no known cure for the noise problem? I don't suppose there would by any possibility that a slower HD would require less fan effort. Pity if there is no solution. The reviewers have remarked upon the irritating on-off whizz and whir of the N6, but the buyer comments have really impressed the problem on my mind.
And just when I thought that the N6 was a better deal than the Qosmio, too. Damn - it's not a price thing so much as I want the best screen, and I really want the security of dealing with Ivan at P1, too.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by bwalter

 

http://www.skytopia.com/project/articles/noisyfan.html

Take a note on a right dark box... SpeedswitchXP helps me to dowclock my 3.2Ghz P4 to 448 MHz

I can not say yet does it become less noisy or not... But there are sooo many options in this proram... I will try them out...

http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/

 

I talked with Timothy from PortableOne about the noise problem and he suggested that the CPU is the culprit, because it generates an enormous amount of heat.
So I thought about changing the CPU. The current CPU that the Fujitsu N6010 has is the SL7DU:
http://processorfinder.intel.com/scripts/details.asp?sSpec=SL7DU&ProcFam=1025&PkgType=6544&SysBusSpd=ALL&CorSpd=ALL

Now I'm not sure what "Thermal Guideline" is but 88.0W seems a lot compared to Pentium M processors such as the SL6LS:
http://processorfinder.intel.com/scripts/details.asp?sSpec=SL6LS&ProcFam=826&PkgType=5882&SysBusSpd=ALL&CorSpd=ALL
(Thermal Guideline 30.0W/20.8W). Also, the "Thermal Spec" of 100C means the Pentium M ca get away with less cooling... (?)

I'm wondering, though, if the two socket types are compatible:
478 pin PPGA for the Pentium 4 and 478 pin PPGA FC-PGA2 for the Pentium M, in the sense of being able to place a Pentium M CPU on Fujitsu's SiS motherboard.

Can someone help?

The bottom line is that I want to pick the Mobile Intel Pentium (4 or M) CPU generating the least amount of heat.

Here is Intel's list of 478 pin PPGA Mobile Intel Pentium 4 CPUs:
http://processorfinder.intel.com/scripts/list.asp?ProcFam=1025&NoNav=NO&PkgType=6544&btnFOS=Filter+on+selections
(the one in the N6010 is the second: )

Here is Intel's list of 478 pin PPGA FC-PGA2 Mobile Intel Pentium M CPUs:
http://processorfinder.intel.com/scripts/list.asp?ProcFam=826&NoNav=NO&PkgType=5882&btnFOS=Filter+on+selections

What CPU should I pick?
Thanks,
Dan

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After seing a Dell Inspiron 1200 running at 75C without ANY cooler noise, I decided to take apart the Fujitsu N6010 and disconnect the coolers.

I put some pics at http://public.fotki.com/harwons/tech/fujitsu_n6010/
(my other pictures are also worth checking out ;-)

No warranty was lost because no seal had to be broken.

Here are the test conditions:

Temperature monitor: Mobile Meter
SpeedSwitch XP: Dynamic Switching, 1856MHz CPU Speed
Approx. room temperature: 22C. Laptop raised on its back foot.

With only one cooler connected:

Startup temperature after logging into Windows XP: 45 ACPI, 24 HDD
Idle for 27 minutes (<3% CPU consumption): CPU 44C steady, HDD up to 38C
After 1h 10min: HDD 42 (stayed at that temp. during the last ~30 minutes), CPU 46C (connected and synchronized the PDA)

AtiTool "Find Max Core" ran 22 minutes until the first screen atifacts took place; CPU temp: 75 C
Exited ATITool, CPU stays at 47-48, HDD 45

OK, here is the interesting part: with coolers plugged out:
69C after 8 minutes of idling since startup!
74C after 13 minutes!!!

So, it seems all hope is pretty much lost, as you cannot afford to leave the 3.2GHz CPU without cooling.

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you cannot use a PM!!!
The only chipsets that support P-M are the i855 and i915 (old & new platforms respectively). The SiS chipset found in the N6010 wont support anything other than a P4 (Check SiS.com ... it's a desktop chipset)

So you are stuck with it. I actually got used to it and no longer complain. And I am not too unhappy that now a P-M option exists, cause it costs a bit more than I paid anyway. Although I have to admit I am not too happy with the SiS chipset ... I am having some issues with none windows operating systems [ ]

If you're too bothered with it, I would suggest selling your N6010, and going with a N6210 ... but I thing you will have to lose some $ over this!

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N6010: P4M 3.2G, 1GB Dual 400MHz, 60GB 7200RPM, ATI 9700M, 17" WXGA+
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Thanks to Ivan from PortableOne, I talked to a Fujitsu USA representative, who after several days, offered me the possibility to exchange my N6010, with a 20% restocking fee ($500; thankfully, I can give up the TV-tuner for $300).

I'm looking to echange my N6010 for a similar configuration, but with LESS NOISE. That's what I've been fighting for since March!

So which one of the N6110's or the N6210's is the least noisy?

Their CPU's are all Pentium M's running @ 1.86GHz so I guess the only difference would be in video card heat:

• N6110 - Mobile Intel® 915GM Express chipset, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 900
• N6210 - ATI™ Mobility™ Radeon® x600 with 128 MB of dedicated video memory

What is the difference in the heat generated by these two video cards? Performance comes second. Any other factors that would influence noise level?

Thanks,
Dan

 

that's cool of them to accept. I say if you have no use for a high end gfx card why pay the price in the first place!

not sure about the heat thou!

 

Well I'd like to be able to play Unreal Tournament 2004 from time to time. How would the Intel handle that?

 

As a new owner of a N6010, I read, with interest, this topic of fan noise on the N6010. I personally don't find the noise too obtrusive unless I'm working late at night when everything is quiet.

However, I am still interested in reducing the noise. I read somewhere that someone applied arctic silver and reduce the temp. of the CPU. Can someone post anything further on this such as how to do it?

 

I tried to do that. but it seems the heatsink is glued on the CPU, I tried to dislodge it but it didn't work. I didn't want to try any harder because I wasn't too sure how the heatsink is exactly fitted.

If you want try it on yours. maybe yours isn't glued on. the cpu is under the silver part of the heatsink right in between the 2 copper heatsinks (4 heat pipes go from the cpu to the heatsinks on the sides.)

 

I'm assuming you have a Pentium 4 model. What do you expect? It's a desktop processor. I heard that the Centrino is more efficient = less fan usage.