Dell XPS 13 too hot: How make fans come on faster at lower temp?

[omega3]

I have a recent XPS 13 9350 with i7, QHD+ touchscreen, Windows 10 which i bought 2 months ago.

Even when just typing like now, the laptop running at 50°C feels warm at the bottom on my lap.

In power options cooling policy is set to "active" (default) and max. processor state is reduced to 90% but it still gets warm at the bottom.

What i mainly notice in comparison to my old XPS 13 9340 is that the fans don't come on very often, only when hitting 80°C.

Is there a way with an app or settings to:

- make the fans kick in at a lower temp and/or
- make the fans come on more often

Hope somebody can help! Thanks.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Unfortunately, you're dealing with the downside of modern "premium" laptops, which is the aluminum chassis. It's great for heat conductivity, and unfortunately you feel that directly when the bottom is made of it too. That's why the new 15" XPS gets a carbon fiber bottom.

I doubt increasing fan speed will do all that much for you. Have you considered putting a skin on the bottom? A reputable vinyl skin (like a 3M Vinyl from someone like dbrand cut for your laptop) might provide enough thermal insulation to make your lap more comfortable.

 

[omega3]

Unfortunately, you're dealing with the downside of modern "premium" laptops, which is the aluminum chassis. It's great for heat conductivity, and unfortunately you feel that directly when the bottom is made of it too. That's why the new 15" XPS gets a carbon fiber bottom.

I doubt increasing fan speed will do all that much for you. Have you considered putting a skin on the bottom? A reputable vinyl skin (like a 3M Vinyl from someone like dbrand cut for your laptop) might provide enough thermal insulation to make your lap more comfortable.

Thanks for the reply and info. Where (link?) did you read the new 15" XPS get a carbon fiber bottom which sounds like a great idea. Any chance a new 13" will get the same treatment?

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Thanks for the reply and info. Where (link?) did you read the new 15" XPS get a carbon fiber bottom which sounds like a great idea. Any chance a new 13" will get the same treatment?

My apologies. I was looking through links, and it's actually an HP getting the carbon fiber treatment, not the Dell XPS. Funny enough, the older XPS line had carbon fiber bottom panels (XPS 9333), then with the recent line up they moved back to aluminum (9343 and 9350).

That being said, a vinyl skin should do at least some good to protect yourself from the bare metal chassis.

 

[omega3]

My apologies. I was looking through links, and it's actually an HP getting the carbon fiber treatment, not the Dell XPS. Funny enough, the older XPS line had carbon fiber bottom panels (XPS 9333), then with the recent line up they moved back to aluminum (9343 and 9350).

That being said, a vinyl skin should do at least some good to protect yourself from the bare metal chassis.

Regarding the vinyl skin, will try it but not sure if such a thin layer will do much. I tried putting a transparent plastic bag loosely over my legs but after 10 mins the heat gets thru to my legs. Not sure if vinyl protects better then plastic against heat.

Also, can you tell which HP model it is with carbon fiber at the bottom. If it's high-end enough i will check it out. Thanks again.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

The HP Model is the HP Spectre 13. Same CPU options as the new XPS 13 (Kaby Lake i7-7500U being the top end option).

As far as the skin, I still think it will make a difference if its a good quality thick one. Even a thin vinyl skin is going to be much thicker than a plastic bag. You feel the heat off the laptop because aluminum has high thermal conductance (hence its use as a heatsink). Vinyl has much lower thermal conductance (indeed it would be considered an insulator), and can make a big difference in comfort. A skin cut for the bottom of your laptop would probably cost about $25 (if it's a real 3M-based Vinyl skin). That's not a lot of money for some possibly large gains

 

[corkyg]

Never seal the bottom of a high powered notebook. You would be cutting off an import source of cool air into the case, High powered notebooks are really not laptops in the literal sense.

 

[linkgoron]

Have you tried undervolting using XTU/throttlestop? It might help your temps a bit. I've had great success with it on my XPS 15.

https://forums.anandtech.com/thread...ves-performance-during-cpu-gpu-loads.2453741/

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10395-dell-xps-13-9550-iris-540/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/4bv25i/xps_13_iris_performance/

You can also see some XPS 13 references here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-observations-undervolt-repaste.785963/page-4

 

[JeffMD]

Alternatively some options you can pull when your cooling solution is problematic;

#1 Go into your BIOS and disable turbo if possible. You will barley notice the speed difference except for a few FPS in games and it will help lots as your cpu never temporarily exceeds its TPU rating when it is cool.

#2 Create a new power profile that caps CPU use. You may need to play with this but if your laptop powers down your cpu clock to like 1.2ghz on idle, find the highest % before windows will kick that frequency higher. On a unit I had to do this with it was %66.