Elitebook 1040 G9 noisy fan in low CPU load

[paccc]

"I have used the original nbfc and this later version successfully, but mostly with older models that already had configs available. I always set my fan to 0rpms until cpu reaches 60 degrees C, and I can't for the life of me understand why HP insists on having the fans blowing on cold semiconductors 😉"

I tried nbfc but it could not override the bios fan control.

It did clearly show the bios behavior of keeping the fan at 50% or higher whines while the cpu was barely at 35 degrees and kept under 15W power.

This laptop is useless but I guess any HP laptop has the same locked down bios.

[TzortzisG]

On Windows 11 you have to disable a bunch of stuff for programs (even official HP control programs like the ones on HP Gaming Rigs) to be able to actually write on those registers. HP has official posts with a guide what to disable for its own programs. Nbfc, throttlestop, software like that goes into Read-only mode otherwise.

Did you disable a bunch of stuff?

[paccc]

"Did you disable a bunch of stuff?"

I'm running Ubuntu so there's no real processes in the background to consider,

I've made sure that 'secure boot' is disabled in BIOS but the issue is really 

that noone actually got NBFC to work after elitebook G7 either on windows or linux

- I was using the last working elitebook config but it neither manages to write to the ec or stop bios updating fan speed.

I would consider installing windows instead but this will not make NBFC work,

however there was talk about some other HP system software from some other

consumer product line that might possibly still work 

(given you turn off secure boot windows virtualization) 

Do you know what software that was, because I only found it mentioned once in one of these forums...

Throttlestop or the linux equivalent undervolt is a dead end since it is locked down by

yet another intel security breach, there is not undervolting on any 12th gen intel laptop cpu any more.

It can set the P2 and P1 watt limits for throttling, but that is essentially using the power profiles

already available in the OS which are probably better at keeping the cpu at below 1GHz where it can be handled.

Anyway I found that the annoying whining from the fan at the lowest possible speed (around 50%) 

goes into a somewhat more tolerable whoosh if you use the laptop in tablet mode.

Someone also mentioned that windows would go into a very agressive low power mode in tablet mode,

is this true?

[TzortzisG]

 There was obviously no way for me to know that you were talking about the nbfc linux port, Paccc.  I've never worked with it, and can't say if it actually works or not.... The other software mentioned is this one https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-Notebooks/HP-G9-Firefly-LOUD-FAN-almost-always-running/m-p/84..., however the chances are not good that it will actually do anything. Can't hurt to try though.

 Throttlestop is definitely not dead, however 11th and 12th gen intels only have limited support for voltage and frequency tweaking, and that's in their very very top tier models. This has nothing to do with the Plundervolt issue, affecting 6th to 10th gen intels. This is completely a corporate decision by Intel for other (money) reasons. Unclewebb actually has a profile here, and if you ask him https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5183340 he'll say the same thing.

 User Avicenne13 did some excellent testing on the whole "CoolSense" phenomenon. It's on the first page of this thread. You should ask him directly. No official documentation on this -yet.

[FeBoo]

Same issue here.

Brand new HP Elitebook 1040 G9 with Intel i7.

The fan is constantly blowing at speeds that are too high and too noisy. I usually use the notebook plugged in when at work, and keeping it near to me is almost unbearable.

I verified with some free hardware monitor that PC struggles, in any possible case, to keep the CPU below 40°C.

This means, with some light load, fan constantly at 4500 rpm to keep CPU in the range 40-45°C (VERY noisy, compared my previous Probook 440 G6 was dead silent).

I was expecting a step up from my previous HP, I am very disappointed instead.

Just to give you some context:

- Windows 10, updated to latest version and drivers (as of today)

- everything HP updated to latest version (BIOS included), as of today

- HP Coolsense disabled in BIOS

- Windows power profile set to HP Optimized (tried Balanced, even tried capping maximum CPU performance to 60-70%, but no luck).

This is definitely a combination of bad control logic for fan speed in HP's BIOS, and bad hardware design with very noisy fan exhaust. And no, as of today, no one managed to bring nbfc compatibility to use a custom fan control profile - and this could possibly invalidate warranty, not very desirable.

And well, if i7 12th gen has to run that at that low temperature to be reliable over time, I guess that a lot of people will turn back to other CPUs, or other manufacturers.

I hope that HP sees this and gives feedback.

[TzortzisG]

Hi! In case anyone missed it, the NEW (week old) firmware revision promises an even better fan algorithm.

INFO softpaq: sp144581 date: February 14, 2023 

HP EliteBook 1040 14 inch G9 Notebook PC
HP Elite x360 1040 14 inch G9 Notebook PC

- Updates the thermal management algorithm to improve fan noise.
- Improves Pre-OS thermal stability.

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp144501-145000/sp144581.exe

[avicenne13]

Unfortunately it did not help.  I did upgrade Day 1, but it is more or less the same.

The only thing that I have managed to make it a little less disturbing is to change the overall battery settings to 'Best Battery Life' in Windows 11 settings.

[avicenne13]

I don't know specifically how and why, but after the latest BIOS update, coupled with the power setting 'Best Battery Life', I think the notebook is more or less noise manageable on my lap IF the notebook is not connected to a power source.  I guess it is the best as it gets.

For HP's defence, my old 1030 G2 is more silent, but it does run warmer on my lap.  I am using that at the moment, and I wanted to write this, since the temperature difference is obvious.