Zbook 15 G3 Fan Activity

[NS8]

I have heard the Zbook Studio G3 and similar slimmer HP laptops have fan noise issues as well as the fan turning on and off too often.  I have the Zbook 15 G3, which appears better at regulating the fans.  I have noticed that the fan profile is a bit aggressive in turning on for very little activity.  I ran CPUID HWMonitor and when the CPU hits around 65 deg C (just reloading a HP forum webpage for example), the fans turn on to a noticeably louder level.  The GPU does not exceed 40 deg C in most general activities.  My older laptops seemed to hold back the fan until it was absolutely necessary.  I'm trying to rule out improper heatsink installation on the CPU side, it is likely an HP configuration choice.

A few questions:
1) Has anyone else noticed this fan profile or is my CPU just heating up too easily (or not able to dump the heat)?
2) Is there a way to set thresholds or adjust how much of the fan percentage should turn on at a given temperature?  Windows has power options for the processor, but those are very coarse.  This forum points to a fan control program on github that may help, but I am hoping that will not be necessary:
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-Notebooks/HP-Probook-650-G2-Fan-is-constantly-ramping-up-and-d...
3) Is this a BIOS thing?  I know the Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework is not available for the Zbook 15 G3, but is available for the Studio.  I'm not sure the Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework would even help.

[MSLEEE]

I heard that the latest BIOS version 1.11 helps the fan control better but not sure. Need a value to test it.

For #2, I think it's risky to provide that kind of feature. Incorrect settings will fry the components.

For #3, ZBook 15 G3 does not help to install the Intel DPTF driver. In order to support it, the BIOS should be modified. As far as I know, 15 G3 does not need to implement the DPTF feature because no cocnern on the fan or thermal was heard. 

[xuanguang]

I updated my Zbook 15 G3 from BIOS 1.09 to 1.11 just now. The fan noise issue is still there.

As soon as Outlook is started to run, the noise will be much louder, and also, the loud noise exists especially when the dock station is connected.

Wish this will be fixed soon....

[PadraigOCuinn]

I am on the 17 and it seems the same in 1.11 but there is an even newer one that does alot better not half as good as the G2.

[xuanguang]

After using Zbook15 G3 for 5 months, I found the way to avoid the big fan noise in my laptop.

I always use the G3 dock station to output the screen to a external monitor, and the fan always runs fast, with loud noise.

I used all the latest versions of BIOS, it always like this.

And finally I found this way by accident: after Windows boots up (I use Windows 7 64 bits), hibernate it, then start it from hibernation, My computer will not make loud noise any more.

While I'm NOT sure if this is safe for the computer, seems as if the fan will never make loud noise, but not sure if the status is right.

[tom000]

This drove me INSANE.  So when I finally found a solution (crossing my fingers it's a permanent one) I figured I'd post here for anyone else with the same problem.

First off, I realized my BIOS and other drivers were already up to date. So no chance of that fixing the loud fan. I mean, the fan sounds like it's of poor quality to be frank the way it rattles. I'm more than sure HP could have put a better, smoother, quieter fan in the machine. Having owned and built many computers in my lifetime, I know there are better fans out there. But I digress...We are where we are. So.

#1 What I did was created a new energy profile and ensured the max CPU utilization was at 90% ... I imagine 95% is ok too. The CPU is pretty powerful in these machines so I was ok with reducing it's power a little bit. I'm not enitrely sure if this is completely necessary, but I felt it was a good practice for heat management. It will depend on your preferences and what you use the computer for I suppose.

#2 The most critical thing is to control the fan! There are a variety of tools out there for this, but I found this Notebook Fan Control (nbfc) one to be very convenient: https://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc/releases

When you open it, you'll want to choose a profile and there is already one for the Zbook conveniently enough. Seemed to be fine for me. Click the radio button "Enabled" and it should IMMEDIATELY cut the fan and the noise.

You can still hear the fan when it spins, but it's no where near as loud. I imagine it's either a different fan spinning or it's not running at the same speed. This tool will show you how fast the fan is running too (in % not RPMs or anything). 

The other reading this tool provides is the CPU temp and it's in your tray too. Very nice. It's cool - this machine is not running that hot. So there is NO REASON for the fan to be running the way it is. The machine is more than fine on passive cooling. So I assume this is all mostly a software problem...But I do think that even at 100% or even 50% speed, the fan is way too loud. I really do think they could've put a better fan in there...But at least now I don't want to throw this computer off a bridge.

Update: It's been all day and the noise hasn't come back. Also, I noticed when you change the fan speed manually using this utility that you can hear the fan start spinning and even at 95% speed it doesn't make as much noise. There's no rattling. This little utility is like magic for that horrible fan noise.

[MSLEEE]

Please try to install BIOS v1.12 that enahnce the fan control.

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=8693774&swItemId=ob_177890_1&swEnvOid=419...

I work for HP. All opinions and comments are my own.

[vilvo]

Great, xuanguang thanks for sharing this:

"And finally I found this way by accident: after Windows boots up (I use Windows 7 64 bits), hibernate it, then start it from hibernation, My computer will not make loud noise any more."

Works also on newer Windows.

[xuanguang]

This way can always work well in my Windows 7 64bit machine (HP Zbook 15 G3), but CANNOT work when I update the OS to Windows 10 64 bit.

Finally I used the way Tom000 offered, download "NotebookFanCtrl" then tried. At first it cannot work, but finally after I restarted my computer, it can work, I don't know the reason why it cannot work at first.

About the configurature file, I have created one, uploaded it to GitHub,

https://github.com/xuanguang/Software/tree/master/Fan/NotebookFanCtrl/config

[xuanguang]

I created a config file for NotebookFanCtrl HP Zbook 15 G3, it has been worked well for more than 2 weeks, very silent. But I cannot find the way to upload the file here. So I shared it in Github,

https://github.com/xuanguang/Software/tree/master/Fan/NotebookFanCtrl/config