Solved Windows 8.1 fan problem

So, upgraded from 8.0 to 8.1 and having fan problems on my Dell Latitude 6430u. The fans come un, under very little load and don't seem to shut off. The more you do with the computer, the loader and loader the fans become.

I put down a clean install of Windows 8.1 on the box as a test and having same problem. I've updated all of my drivers from Dell, I've gotten the latest HD4000 driver from Intel. My computer has the Core i7-3667u processor.

I have found that once the fans start running, if I go into Control Panel, Power settings and toggle to any other power option, the fans immediately shut off. After awhile, they will eventually come back on.

I'm running all latest Windows 8 Windows updates. I did try originally with 8.1 update 1, and now am without it and the problem persists.

Anybody have any ideas. Computer is not hot, CPU is basically idling at around 2%.

The Dell Latitudes have been known for a long time to have cooling fan issues. Doubtful that the update to 8.1 had anything to do with it. I would contact Dell to see if they have an updated AHPCI update.

If you are just going by Task Manager. I would not trust the results.

pparks1 said:

...Anybody have any ideas. Computer is not hot, CPU is basically idling at around 2%.

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Check BIOS? Sometimes a BIOS has fan speed controls.
How hot is not hot?

I would analyze with GPU-Z and Core Temp.

Yes, Dell's have had fan problems. However, this computer has been with me for nearly 1 year and has been fine. The problems just started last night.

I was surprised earlier looking at coretemp64 how high my temps were, I had honestly not looked at them before on this computer.

Here they are now, with the machine more or less idle at work (few apps running, nothing working hard)

141f is way too high. Doubtful that Windows 8 has anything to do with it. Go to the Dell Support site and look for an update for the bios and/or AHCPI.

Ok, reinstalled Windows 8 64bit fresh. The CPU is idling around 52C, with a high after boot of 62C. It's a straight up Windows 8 64bit install, I installed the Bluetooth software and the fingerprinter reader driver and my device manager is 100% clear.

My Frequency is also 797Mhz (99.68 x 8.0) with a VID of .9056. So, less than I was seeing before.



Fan was quiet, would kick in if I zipped up a ton of files and pushed the CPU to 100%, but nowhere near as loud as it was under 8.1 and the fans kicked right back off.

So, formatting the box and installing 8.1 right now clean, and will report back what I see there.

124f is still high. I would get a laptop cooler pad. It should run around 110-115 with the cooler pad. Laptops are notorious for having poor cooling capabilities.

Sorry, not getting a laptop cooler pad. I carry this laptop from home to work everyday and I move around the office all day long at work.

It's definitely Windows 8.1 that is causing my problem. While my temps are much higher in Windows 8.1, the fan comes on and simply spins up way higher and louder than it ever did in 8.0. Also, in 8.0 once load goes away, the speed of the fan drops almost instantly. But here in 8.1, it runs for a long time after load is gone.

I hate noisy computers, so having to use this laptop making this much noise is simply not an option for me.

Have you checked your power plan in energy options? Setting to balanced or energy saver could help.

Hybrid Vigor said:

Have you checked your power plan in energy options? Setting to balanced or energy saver could help.

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Yes, did play with those. I've always had my computers at balanced.

If you Google Windows 8.1 fan noise, or Windows 8.1 fan runs constantly, you will see lots of others who have experienced this same thing.

After futzing with lots of stuff last night, woke up this morning to a boot of these temps


If these stay here, we will be in good shape. Also noticing the my frequency is dropping down to 800Mhz...which yesterday at work and at home was always pinned around 3000Mhz. Hopefully one of my 10 zillion changes licked this problem. Problem is, I won't know which one it was.

Its been running now for 15 minutes or so, did a few things on it. Seems like my idle temps are hovering between 46-52C. Frequency is still dropping quickly back to 800Mhz after any load.

One of the things i did last night was take my BIOS back down to A05 from A07. With that BIOS, the fans started at 4,500RPM and were louder. I then flashed the BIOS again to A07. So, maybe that helped somehow.

Ok, issue is finally resolved.

If I installed Windows 8.0 Pro to the laptop, the fan would run, but less frequently and never as fast or loud and as soon as loud was reduced it would right back down.

If I installed Windows 8.1 Pro to the laptop, the fan would kick in much faster, and would ramp up much faster and seemed like it would take forever to slow back down or shut off. Also noticed that if I ran something like CoreTemp64 or speccy, that my CPU frequency was at 2800Mhz-3200Mhz pretty much all of the time. It would never fall back down to 800Mhz. So, it appeared that Intel Speed Step wasn’t working well.

So, I noticed that Dell doesn’t offer the standard Intel Chipset Utility under the Windows 8 or 8.1 offering on the 6430u. So, I went straight to Intel and downloaded it from there. Installed it and it didn’t seem to make a big difference.

However, after installing the Intel Chipset, I took and went BACK to BIOS A05 from Dell, which resulted in faster and louder spinning fans. Then, immediately upgraded again to BIOS A07. The fans quieted down. AND Intel Speed step seemed to be functioning properly once again and the fans have been quiet ever since. They come on when they need to, and shut off quickly once the load goes away and are practically silent at their normal operating speed.


So, to recap
1). I took Windows 8.0 Pro which had been running great.
2). Upgraded to Windows 8.1 Pro via MS Store and this moved me not only to 8.1, but 8.1 Update 1
3). With the fans acting up, I updated from BIOS A06 to A07 which didn’t resolve issue.
4). I updated the Alps Multi-touch driver, Display Link driver, Intel Rapid Storage Driver, Intel Mgt Agent, the wireless driver, the LAN driver, the card reader driver, the Intel video driver, and the dell feature pack and none resolved the issue
5). I installed the Intel Chipset utility straight from Intel. Still had problem.
6). I flashed BIOS back to A05 and then back to A07.

Fans are now working normally.

pparks1 said:

Sorry, not getting a laptop cooler pad. I carry this laptop from home to work everyday and I move around the office all day long at work.

It's definitely Windows 8.1 that is causing my problem. While my temps are much higher in Windows 8.1, the fan comes on and simply spins up way higher and louder than it ever did in 8.0. Also, in 8.0 once load goes away, the speed of the fan drops almost instantly. But here in 8.1, it runs for a long time after load is gone.

I hate noisy computers, so having to use this laptop making this much noise is simply not an option for me.

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Just joined and know very little about internal workings of a computer. I joined because I was looking for an answer to this same issue. My laptop worked fine. I got a notice about a free upgrade to 8.1 and ignored it. Next time it came up I upgraded. Almost simultaneously with upgrade completion my fan sounds like it is going to fly. And it runs hotter now. When I use it in the evening I shut it down each time I finish with it for any length of time. I mainly use this one with one eye on the TV and one on the computer. Hopefully as I read down further I will find the solution. My feeling is no doubt it is the 8.1 upgrade.