Noise, in any phase of life, is frustrating. However, when you are engaged in streaming your favorite game, working around the field tackling your enemies, listening to your team mates and making through the battlefield, the last thing you want is to listen to a constant whirring noise coming out of your computer.
If you are wondering what it is, that’s your computer fan trying to cool itself and prevent risks of overheating while you are binging on your favorite game for the past 6 hours consistently. Sounds like a common scenario for you, isn’t it?
As frustrating as the noise is, keep in mind that your laptop is self-sustaining itself by cooling itself down to optimize performance. While the thermal functions in your laptop are quintessential, there are ways in which you can reduce the whirring noise to an extent.
When you are trying to fix the settings and operations of your laptop fan, make sure that you distinguish the noise from the fan with that of a failing hard drive. If you hear clicking noises, its likely your hard drive and not your laptop fan.
That aside, this article will explore some of the effective ways in which you can quiet down a noisy laptop fan for comfortable user experience.
Table of Contents
Look for runaway programs and blocked vents
The laptop fans adjust their functions automatically depending on how much heat is being produced. So, when you are doing simple tasks on your laptop, it is normal for the laptop fans to be comparatively quiet. However, when you have been gaming on the laptop for the past 8-10 hours, it is common for your device to work in overdrive to reduce the overheating.
You need to assess the noises and when they are created. If you are just sitting down with Word opened, typing away a document and you hear very loud noises from the laptop fan, be alarmed that something is wrong.
The best way to check the issue is by checking the background running programs and apps. Here’s what you need to do:
Click on Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Windows’ Task Manager. This will enable you to check which applications are running at present in your laptop.
On the Task Manager window, click on “More Details” to check which apps are taking up your CPU resources. If you find an idle application that you aren’t using that is consuming the CPU resources, close or uninstall it.
Also, if you have an anti-malware app installed, run that during this check. If there are viruses sucking up the CPU power, the app will detect the issue and fix it.
Also, compare your laptop’s CPU and GPU temperatures from your laptop settings with the standard numbers. If the numbers are very high, it could indicate something faulty with your device.
One common issue with the laptop’s temperature increase comes with blocked ventilation. This mostly happens with devices whose vents are on the bottom and gets blocked by pillows, flat surfaces, etc. So, always look for good alternatives. Instead of blocking the vents, place your laptop in a place that will support superior airflow and reduce the noise.
Adjust your fan settings
Majority of the laptops automatically adjust their thermal management settings based on the task at hand. If it is a task that involves lot of streaming or network connectivity, you can bet that your laptop fans will work more. The speed and the spin of the fans in the laptop depend on the manufacturer and their configurations set in the device.
Your first step would be to check those settings. Some brands prioritize the noise and have comparably slower fan speeds but a few other brands prioritize the performance, hence have faster fan speed settings too.
If you are good with technology and have a basic idea about the fan curves, the ideal settings and how to adjust them for optimal performance, go ahead and change the settings manually.
If you are using a ROG laptop from ASUS, they have the unique Armoury Crate settings where you can manually adjust the settings according to your workload. It even has a “Silent” setting to ensure that your gaming laptop doesn’t distract you with the fan’s sound.
One unique feature in the ROG laptops is that is enables users to create Scenario profiles, which switch between different profiles depending on the applications you are using. It allows the device to switch between Turbo and Silent mode depending on the programs you are using.
In case your laptop doesn’t have the adjustable or customizable fan settings, you can find them on UEFI/BIOS setup menu.
Get to cleaning
How often do you take your time to actually grab a wiping cloth, some disinfectant and Q-tips to clean your laptop? Simply cleaning your screen and the exterior of the laptop isn’t enough to keep it clean. More often than not, it is the dirt accumulated through the vents and the interior of the laptop that cause a chaos and lead to risks of overheating.
Since the vents and cooling fans have an opening from the laptop to promote faster cooling, they are often subjected to a lot of dirt getting accumulated in them. The same gets worse when you have pets who shed a lot. While the dirt and dust might not seem like much in the beginning, over time, it can lead to a lot of accumulation, blocking out the vents in the process.
And, when you have blocked vents, it restricts the airflow in and out, leading to overheating. The more your laptop overheats, the faster your fans will work to reduce the overheating, leading to noisy fans.
With ROG laptops, their Intelligent Cooling System is a bonus, especially with the Arc flow fans. The anti-dust tunnels in the laptop have a self-cleaning feature that ensures optimal functioning without interventions.
However, even with these extra helpful features, you need to indulge in a thorough cleaning every now and then. Giving the internal parts a clean allows you to increase the lifespan of the device exponentially. Also, when cleaning, use soft fabric or brush instead of sharp and jagged tools.
Moreover, if you aren’t very skilled with opening the laptop, we’d recommend seeking professional help. Ideally, when cleaning the internal panels, you can access the same by opening up the bottom panel and then accessing the internals from there. Once inside, you can use a brush or a soft cloth to get rid of the dirt and debris out of the nooks and corners.
Conclusion
Nobody likes being interrupted with a noisy laptop fan while they are working or streaming their favorite games. These tips should help you find the issue and then adjust the problem according to the settings. Make sure that you always start with a manual check first and then move on to the device’s settings and make changes to them.
Sometimes, all that your laptop needs is a little cleaning and brushing.
