Spectre x360 14 HP CC faulty power profiles/fan behavior

[caprylate]

First I'd like to say that this issue is not isolated, I've seen reports of such issues dating as back as 2019, if not 2017, in Spectre models, can't exactly remember. And I followed instructions in the boards the best I could, but I can't fix it.

I discovered this issue over a year ago soon after one of Windows' many compulsory updates. The fan sometimes would not spin with the processor under load, and sometimes it would abruptly stop for no apparent reason(under a constant load, also), only to spin up again a few seconds later, and it almost never spins at max speed(~6000rpm, as I later discovered) anymore. First this only impacted peak performance, for example a relatively light gaming load like Frostpunk, which would previously be playable at ~20fps with the fans at maximum, would lag to unplayable levels. 

I poked around and discovered that the HP CC no longer displayed fan speed vaguely in the form of a colored ring, the ring would stay blank as if the fans were off, but the fans did sometimes spin. And the device temperature gauge was also broken. "HP Smartsense" along with some of the power profiles were broken too, in that it would decrease performance even further when it should increase performance, "balanced" didn't do anything that I noticed, so I thought it was stuck on "balanced". I uninstalled HP CC hoping that it would hand power management back to Windows, and IIRC it did work, at the time, but a minor issue remained: the fans would stop or severely slow, seemingly when I move the laptop around. I later discovered that this should be a "Smartsense" function, but as I said, I already uninstalled HP CC by that time, so this should be unintended behavior. This would of course cause lag, but was manageable as I largely used this PC as a desktop. 

So Windows continued with its compulsory updates breaking things from time to time, and for the past month or so the issue of fans not spinning and lagging returned, far worse than before. In terms of severity, when it's "in the mood", the computer would lag to the extent I can't even watch a movie properly. Every single operation would lag, bringing up the start menu, opening the task manager, etc. this flagship Tiger Lake would lag worse than a Skylake. And while the surface near the processor does get pretty hot, the fans would hardly spin at all. Every single hardware diagnostic would turn up negative, as always. The fans would audibly spin to max speeds during the diagnostic too, just not during regular usage! I downloaded Speedfan and, while unfortunately it can't control fan behavior either, I noticed that fan 2 would never spin. It would spin but the maximum reported speed is 111rpm, so it effectively doesn't. Feeling the air flow from the back vent it's also clear that one side hardly passes any air. I don't clearly remember if this was the case a year ago, but it's very likely fan 2 refusing to spin was correlated with the processor not reaching peak performance. Please do not reply "it's normal for one fan not to spin because the load is blah blah blah", I know that and I'm certain it doesn't apply to this situation. It's not a serious answer. Fan 2 would spin without notable issue in hardware diagnostics, I could hear the noise and feel the air from the corresponding vent, but it 100% does not spin outside of a diagnostic, no matter the load on the application side, or on the processor side. What I mean by that differentiation is I can't get CPU to max out anymore, peak CPU load seems to be around 40-60%, at the cost of lagging, i.e. high application load, low CPU load, when it's worst(as I said, when it's "having a mood", like, for no apparent reason) the CPU load would refuse to rise above 25%, and everything would lag. Curiously sometimes the CPU load would register single digits, on a cold boot, and the PC would immediately start to lag, Speedfan would register <45°C for all cores, like it's not even throttling because of heat. The GPU could max out on demand though, at least the task manager would report 100% GPU activity, I'm not sure if that's accurate. What I read in the boards seemed to suggest that it's because the processor power levels are limited to 15W, but it's too laggy even for 15W, looks even worse than 5W, so I have no idea what caused that. 

Another fix I looked up and tried is to set "fan always on" in BIOS, but it had no effect whatsoever, so what's particularly annoying is whatever solution was implemented to control the fans, it blocks out 3rd party access(Speedfan, Throttlestop), even overrides BIOS, and it's broken. Ofc it goes without say my BIOS is updated.

Next I tried to put HP CC back in control. I found, with considerable effort, the link to the MS Store page that would allow the installation, but it didn’t work at first. Only after installing the HP CC SDK pack did I finally get the PC’s basic functionality back. Now I’m almost back where I started over a year ago. HP CC’s Smartsense still seems broken because it wouldn’t stop the “detecting” animation, and ofc because it doesn’t give me power when needed, but performance appears largely identical to Balanced. Performance mode is 100% broken, characterized by completely turning the fans off the moment I click on the option, so AFAICT it’s just Quiet mode with another name. Balanced mode at least gets me ~50% CPU load, provided the fans do spin, so I could do word processing and web stuff largely without lag. I can watch some videos, but not always HBR ones with advanced codecs like x265. Sometimes they hardly lag, sometimes I get ~15fps, for no apparent reason, despite a cold boot, the fans just more often than not don’t spin up as they should, i.e. fan 1 ~2000-4000rpm when I’m getting stutters, fan 2 still doesn’t spin. Gaming performance is arguably worse. Last year, after I uninstalled HP CC, IIRC at least one fan would be able to spin to max, one can generally tell by the fan noise, now, over 95% of the time I can’t get max fan speed. When I occasionally do get max fan speed(another curious behavior here: sometimes the fan seems to “switch gears” when I idle in the game for a few minutes, just leaving the game on pause with the background effects continuing to render, the fan noise would change, and frame rates would go from playable to unplayable, or vice versa, but this doesn’t come very often, and AFAICT never comes if I don’t idle), I can play Grime at 1080P with near max settings >30fps, but now most of the time I get a steady ~15-20fps at 720P with medium-low settings. Side note, the fan speed display and surface temperature display in HP CC seem normal now, I’m not sure if the temperature is accurate but at least there’s a reading.

So to sum things up:

1. My PC previously lagged severely at startup, after reinstalling HP CC and the SDK pack, still lags under moderate load. It probably had something to do with Windows updates.
2. Currently, only Balanced and Smartsense come close to being usable in HP CC, other options turn the fans completely off AFAIK.
3. In Balanced or Smartsense, fan 1 doesn’t ramp up properly according to load, rarely maxes out, and sometimes stops spinning abruptly under load for no apparent reason.
4. Likewise, fan 2 refuses to spin >111rpm outside of a diagnostic. Its performance doesn’t have any notable issue in hardware diagnostics. 
5. Physically moving the PC sometimes results in the fans temporarily turning off.
6. I suspect there’s still a processor power level issue beyond, or behind the fan behavior, since I can't get CPU load to peak judging from task manager readings. Anyhow, hardware diagnostics find nothing. I also don’t know how to test/monitor actual processor power levels.
7. I’m now on a July 2022 version of the HP CC SDK, but despite my best efforts I couldn’t find a later version. Maybe, just maybe, if I update the SDK, this could be fixed, but nothing in the boards are this specific. And the site doesn't allow a simple file search.

[Raj_05]

Hi @caprylate,

Welcome to HP Support Community.  

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing issues with your HP Spectre x360 14 related to power profiles and fan behavior. Faulty power profiles and fan behavior can be frustrating, but there are some troubleshooting steps you can try to resolve the problem. Here are some suggestions:

• Check for Updates: Ensure that your operating system, BIOS, and drivers are up to date. Manufacturers often release updates to fix bugs and improve system performance, including power and fan management.
• Power Profile Settings: Check your power profile settings in Windows (assuming you're using Windows OS). Make sure the settings are appropriate for your needs and not causing excessive power usage or fan activity. You can access the power profile settings by right-clicking the battery icon in the taskbar and selecting "Power Options."
• BIOS Settings: Access the BIOS/UEFI settings during startup (usually by pressing a key like F2, F10, or DEL) and check for any relevant power management settings. Sometimes there are fan control options or power-related settings that could be causing the issue.
• Cooling Policy: Windows has a cooling policy that determines when the fan should turn on and at what speed. You can adjust this by going to "Power Options" > "Change plan settings" > "Change advanced power settings." Look for "Processor power management" > "System cooling policy" and try different settings to see if it affects the fan behavior.
• HP Support Assistant: HP often provides a utility called "HP Support Assistant" that can help you diagnose and fix issues with your HP laptop. It may provide specific guidance for your model regarding power and fan management.
• Temperature Monitoring: Install a temperature monitoring software (like HWMonitor or Core Temp) to check if your laptop is running too hot. Excessive heat can trigger the fan to run at higher speeds. If temperatures seem unusually high, it might indicate a hardware problem, and you should contact HP support.
• Dust and Dirt: Over time, dust and dirt can accumulate inside your laptop, leading to decreased cooling efficiency. If you feel comfortable doing so, you can open up the laptop (if it's not under warranty) and clean out any dust carefully. However, if your laptop is still under warranty, it's best to have it serviced by HP to avoid voiding the warranty.
• Background Processes: Check for any background processes that may be using excessive CPU resources. Task Manager can help you identify resource-hungry applications. Closing unnecessary applications can help reduce the workload on the CPU and potentially lead to quieter fan operation.
• Power-Hungry Applications: Some applications or games may be demanding more power than necessary, causing the fan to work harder. Make sure you have the latest updates for all your software, as updates often include performance improvements.

I hope this helps. 
 

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Alden4
HP Support 

[caprylate]

Hi, thanks for the reply but it's really quite generic. Nevertheless I did follow the possibly relevant suggestions, and one option looked slightly suspicious, so I changed it: Under "Cooling Policy", I changed "Passive" for "On Battery" to "Active", however that resulted in the opposite effect: The fans immediately slowed, and as I tested out a game, they refused to ramp at all, resulting in single digit frame rates at the main menu. The effect was reversed once I reverted the option back to default.

So, even though I was plugged in the whole time, opting for the system to ramp up fans before throttling on battery power resulted in even less fan action, perplexing to say the least. Following a similar twisted logic I tried changing "Plugged In" to "Passive", but that worked like it's supposed to, and slowed the fans. No luck there.

Nothing else looked out of the ordinary: Ofc I first checked updates, it said everything was up to date, it didn't even prompt me to update the HP CC SDK like it's supposed to. Power Profiles are set to the maximum possible in Windows, but like I said the fans don't ramp like they're supposed to. BIOS is overridden in this instance, like I said. HP Support Assistant can't find anything wrong with the unit. I repeatedly checked. Temperature Monitoring says that the CPU starts to throttle at 40-50°C, and far before the fans are at maximum, like I said before. The rest 3 do not apply, as I said the fans spin normally in diagnostics, just not when I actually need them, in Windows.

If you don't have a more specific fix, I would appreciate a more up to date version of the HP CC SDK to try first. If that doesn't work I'll post here and let the community know anyway.

[Raj_05]

Hi @caprylate,

Thank you for your response,

Due to limited support, I would request you contact our HP Support and our Support Engineers should be able to sort this out. HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link.

https://www.hp.com/contacthp/

Please feel free to contact us here anytime you need any further assistance.

Have a great day!

Alden4
HP Support