thoughts on samsung silent mode

I always look for fanless.. But it can be rather difficult.

I own a samsung series 5, with a silent button. so-called "silent mode".

I don't recall precisely.. but I am not sure that it's a mode even though they call it a mode. And even though it flashes up "silent mode on". or "silent mode off". If the fan is running, it turns it off immediately, but it will still go on again sometimes perhaps not necessarily long after (understandable if it's warm). I think if the fan goes on and you push it, it says "silent mode off", if then the fan goes off again and you push it, it says "silent mode off". So it seems like it's just a toggle to turn the fan off. Or, that when the fan goes on, it turns silent mode off. Such that any time the fan goes on and you push silent mode, it says "silent mode off". Anyhow, point is, as I said, I want fanless. You seem to suggest that you don't know of any. Just as I was typing this post, the fan went on, I turned it off. It might've gone on twice. It's not unbearable, but i'd be much happier if (like my old but pricey toughbook), it didn't have a fan. An annoying things is I can't see CPU temp and if i'm playing the game of trying to keep a fan from running for silence then I really want to know the CPU temp so I can see when it rises and when the fan would go off, I like to know what's going on temp-wise, and the samsung doesn't show it.

While writing this, the fan has gone on about 3 times(update- FOUR) times I pushed the silent button each time. It's not unbearable, and it's better than nothing, but it's far from a silent mode. It's mostly silent, apart from when the fan is running! Silent "mode" (not really a mode) more like a toggle to turn the fan off this time, will tell it that if the fan is running now, turn the fan off this time. The weather is not warm and it's on a wooden desk.. so, quite far from being a "silent mode"..

If only a samsung arm-based chromebook type machine (which is fanless) could run windows.

Or if only samsung and google or whoever, can learn from panasonic toughbooks(many are fanless) and make a fanless machine that is decent. (toughbooks are so expensive though)..

update- soon after typing this it went on again (so 5th time). And the 4th time I didn't push silent immediately, so I let it cool. The laptop itself is not warm. So clearly it doesn't emit much heat itself.

(a friend of mine had a laptop where the fan hardly went on, but it'd run quite warm. Unfortunately idiot users complain when laptops run warm. like emitting heat from the metal of it. Perhaps if this laptop was able to run warmer then it could be cooler and the fan wouldn't go on so much) Toughbooks are nicely designed with the air coming up through the keyboard..
Fing fan has gone on again. So 6th time now. The idea of it being a "silent mode" is a sham.

 

First a question: What CPU / GPU in your Series 5 (and which model).

Most Samsung notebook users discover that Silent Mode locks their CPU down to minimum speed. You can check this by running HWiNFO (which has a useful animated graphic of CPU speed) and then running a benchmark program such as wPrime. As a further check open the Sensors tab in HWiNFO and watch the CPU temperature.

I have just done this test on my NP900X4C with Silent Mode enabled. The CPU speed stayed at 800MHz, the temperature didn't get above 56C and the fan stayed off. And wPrime took 70 seconds - more than three times longer than with the CPU at normal speed (when the temperature reached 69C with the fan running). The X4C uses a low power 17W CPU. HWiNFO showed the CPU power consumption as about 4W, which is down in the Atom range (and a 1500MHz Atom uses about the same power to complete wPrime in the same time).

It is possible that your Series 5 still gets over 60C with the CPU running at minimum speed. Do the test and report back.

John

 

Re the series, my mistake. It's series 3 rather than 5. But it's an i5 processor.

Model is 350V5C-A02

Series3 350V5C-A02 Ci5-3210M 6GB 500GB W7HP 15.6" LED HD $ (I upgraded the RAM, not that that's relevant)

there is variability in cpu speed shown by hwinfo but i'm not sure how it relates to "silent mode"
there are brief moments when the cpu speed is low, but it soon goes up.

imgur: the simple image sharer
imgur: the simple image sharer

TDP is a bit high though, 35W.

Temp
http://i.imgur.com/eqEZiBa.png

looks like 44C-55C averaging 50C

temp went to 55C for a moment then about 53, then fan went on, took the temp to about 45C which quickly reached 50C in seconds.

clock often reads 800Mhz=8*99
then for a brief moment goes to like 120MHz=8*15

The fan has gone on a number of times, and my max temp is shown by HWinfo and is 55C.

I tried silent mode off.. it sitll dipped clock.. e.g. to
37Mhz =8*4
for a moment.
sometimes 400Mhx instead of 800Mhz.

so it's clear both silent mode on or off, often or mostly use 800mhz clock speed, and the fan turns on quite a bit.

 

Thanks for the additional info.

I have to wonder whether the fan rules are very conservative and are triggering a burst of fan activity once the temperature reaches 55C which happens even when the CPU is running at only 800MHz.

You can check if there is a firmware (BIOS) update which might have also updated the fan rules. I see your BIOS is August 2012. Run the Firmware update program to check if there is something newer.

It's possible that the effect you are seeing is a side-effect of the Series 3 being largely plastic with reduced ability to dissipate heat by conduction compared with the metal used in some of the more expensive models. Having a 35W CPU can't help although the power consumption indicated by HWiNFO is only around 4 to 5W.

If any BIOS update doesn't fix the problem then I suggest you contact Samsung support. They may agree that the fan should not come on when silent mode is enabled (that's the purpose of Silent Mode!) and arrange for the computer to be looked at in a service centre. There's also a small chance that they could improve the thermal performance by reseating the heat sink using good thermal compound.

Let us know how you get on.

Unfortunately, no one has figured out how to make the equivalent of TPFanControl (for Thinkpads) that works with Samsung notebooks.

John

 

I understand that the fan doesn't or almost never goes on in silent mode, for many people.

Could any of those people post screenshots from HWInfo or tell me.
A)The average or current wattage. (assuming both are similar)
B)The typical temperature range.
C)Are there samsung series 3/5/n laptops plastic or metal.

My one is about 3-4W, goes from 45C-55C It quickly rises to 55C then the fan cools it to 45C. Just with my browser open. (though granted I have a lot open. Task manager performance tab shows 8%-14% CPU usage.

I'm interested in info from people whose silent mode works well. ;cos I want to know what the data looks like where it works well such that the fan doesn't turn on or almost never turns on.

 

@ralphzak: There are also several discussions of this in various other threads. Easiest way to find them is with a Google search like site:notebookreview.com samsung silent mode. I think you will find answers to some of the questions you have posted in this and your other threads.

I personally find that Silent Mode works as intended on my NP700Z3A: It throttles the CPU to keep temps down AND it switches to the Power Saver profile which uses Passive System cooling policy: ie it reduces CPU speed before increasing fan speed. Only if temps are still too high after throttling the CPU, does it start the fan or raise the fan speed.

My CPU generally stays at 800MHz in Silent Mode. Power Consumption at idle is approx 9.3W (on lowest display setting) versus approx 10.9W in normal mode (displayed in [Easy] Settings). HwInfo also shows TDP of 35W on mine, but I've never seen actual power consumption that high.

Edit: Of course you can tweak those power profiles and select Active or Passive system cooling as you like. If you change the Samsung Optimized power profile (the default profile on these Sammies) to use Passive System cooling policy and set a reduced Max processor state you can configure a kind of default silent mode yourself -- with YOU controlling the CPU throttling. BUt I don't think there is a way to prevent the fan from coming on if temps get too high,

 

Presumably as with me you don't hear anything from a fan, or anything else clouding anything (i'm using an SSD) . Then after a certain temp I hear a fan.

But what temperature is your fan going on?

and once your fan has gone on, what temp does your fan go down to?

and how long does it take to climb up? or if you're writing a post how often will it go on?

For example,
My one is about 3-4W, goes from 45C-55C It quickly rises to 55C then the fan cools it to 45C. Just using my browser in this thread. (though granted I have a lot of programs open. Task manager performance tab shows 8%-14% CPU usage.
The fan came on a few times while writing the first post of this thread and once writing this post.

Clicking the battery icon in the system tray, I can see it is in Power Saver mode.

Within 1 minute it has gone from about 46C to 51C.
After 2 minutes it is flicking from 51C to 52C.
After 3 minutes it is now flicking from 52 to 53. And now 53-54 and 52-53.

I think if it gets to 55C the fan will go on but you see it is close already.

After 5.5min from it being at 46C, it reached 55C, and the fan has gone on. .

Clicking the battery icon again, in the system tray, I can see it is in Power Saver mode.


What temps does yours have?

 

have you removed autorun entries? had that fan issue myself, dunno excatly what fixed it.

 

I don't know the exact temps where the fan comes on and off. My PC (NP700Z3A) is almost always quiet, even when not in Silent Mode. The fan is very faint when on. The only times the fan becomes audible is when my wife is playing games on the PC.

Below is the HwInfo screenshots you requested in your other thread. Both are idle CPU, LCD brightness at lowest, Silent Mode on.

Update: Ambient temp is 23C.

You're welcome

 

@Dannemand

It looks like your figures are similar to mine..
http://i.imgur.com/15g4Jxy.png

Like your max of 54 or 55 is same as my max.

It may be that I just hear the fan when it gets to that temp and you don't.

At the bottom of that table is a button that says "Reset values".

Could you try using your computer as you do, for 10min, e.g. no wife-game, and see how it goes?

I'd guess you may get similar figures.

You can also right click an entry and click "Add to tray".

If your temperature ever drops from like 53 to 48 then likely the fan has just gone on, and perhaps you just didn't notice. I get approx identical min and max as you.. But I hear the fan go on dropping it from 55 or near 55, to about 48.

Sometimes I don't see it hitting 55, I think it has to be there for more than a moment, but I see it touch 55 go down to perhaps 53 then i'm doing what i'm doing.. then I hear a fan goes on and I see the temp in the tray and I see it drops to 48 even as low as 44 for a moment, but quickly climbs up. So just staring at the screen doing nothing and it has climbed up to 51 after maybe a minute and a half. For the next 2min, so up to total of 3.5min, it goes up and down between 51 and 54. So, it wouldn't take much to set the fan off.

Funnily enough as I write this, it hasn't hit 55 or if it has then only for a moment, and the fan hasn't gone off, but it's really on the verge of doing so. We both have a max of 55C. It has just gone off at 53C though it had reached 55C not long before. So, 6min after the fan last went off ,it has gone off again. Now cpu temphas dropped as low as 43 for a moment.

I ask that you reset your sensors..and check again after 10min of doing what you're doing.

You could add the temp to the tray.

I should add. I changed the hard drive for an SSD. I have sensitive hearing, and I think the hard drive might've been louder than the fan. Once I got rid of the spinning disk drive, then I could hear the silence of the laptop and the fan when it goes off or becomes audible(related to the 55C max). Maybe you have a spinning disk drive and cannot hear that or your fan!

Please let me know how that goes with the 10min test. And if you ever see in your tray it has gone from 53+ to 48 then I guess you could suspect a fan has gone off even if you haven't heard it!

Maybe when your wife plays a game and you hear it, then you are hearing the fan at an even louder RPM and your CPU is perhaps passing 55C. maybe. Though I haven't ever surpassed 55C and your sensor readings don't show 55C surpassed either, since you started hwinfo/last reset hwinfo sensor readings.

Thanks