Fan constantly running with minimal CPU load (zbook 14u g5)

[AndreasK99]

New Zbook 14u G5 ddevice.

When machine has first booted into windows the fan is normally not running but  once some apps have been loaded and the fan has spun up, it never spins down even when there is minimal load on the CPU and temps are stable.

CPU is running around 50c  drawing ~8w and the fan is running at 1380rpm and does not reduce, no matter what i do. 

CPU utlisation in task manager is ~10%

Interestingly, covering the air outlet does NOT result in CPU temps increasing which indicates to me that the fan control is not working properly.

Things I have tried: 

- undervolt CPU + GPU

- disabled discrete AMD graphics

- disabled all unneccessary startup items 

- Update BIOS and drivers to latest version

unfortunatly with most laptop manufactureres these days, the quest to make stuff thinner and thinner, you seem to have gone for form over function. This is a*MOBILE WORKSTATION* device that can't seem to keep itself cool when i'm literally just typing a word document.

[ReVe2301]

HI,

New Zbook 14u G5 owner here with the exact same problem AndreasK99 descripes. A few minutes after the laptop has booted the fan starts and does not stop.

-All temps below 50C (According to SpeedFan)

-Fan running at 1380rmp

-Only when the temps go below 40C the fan slows down. (but this does not happen when working and the laptop is connected to a power source)

So it is running all day. The fan noisehas a high frequency wine and is annoying to the point I work with headphones. 

I tried:

-Updating the Bios to the latest version 01.01.08A 

-Swithced off the fast charging option in the bios to reduce heat coming from the battery charging.

-Different models docking stations (HP USB-C dock G4,  2013 ultra slim docking station)

After contacting HP support the laptop was send to a repair center. Came back with a note stating that an issue was identified with  "Motherboard components"  and that those components have been replaced.

Unfortunatly the repair did not solve the fan noise issue.

Contacted HP support again. Now an appointment has been made to replace the heat sink on-site. 

So far HP support has supportive and trying to resolve the problem. I will keep posting here to update on the progress.

[AndreasK99]

Hi and thanks for the reply. 

I have noticed that if I set the "maximum processor state" in the power plan to 95% this seems to help a lot. I've also used the Intel XTU to undervolt. The fan seems to at least ramp down after some time now but i still think that it's a calibration issue since the CPU never hits 80c under any load

[ReVe2301]

I set the  "maximum processor state" to 95% and under volted by 0.100 as you described, and what a difference this made. The CPU temp stayed below 50c and the fan has been quiet all day since.

Great find Andreas, and thank you for sharing! Work has been a lot more enjoyable without the constant fan noise.

As you I still think there is an issue for HP to resolve, we should not have to resort to these methods to have a laptop that works without running the fan a full speed.

[AndreasK99]

Thought I would just reply to this thread to close it off. 

The fix that I suggested originally also has the unwanted side-effect of disabling all turbo boost.  so, even though you set the max frequency to 95%, that is 95% of the base clock (1.7ghz) which has quite a performance impact. so, frustratingly, you can have a much slower performing laptop or a laptop with the fan constantly running.