Fan Noise Issue with Vortex IV RS-980

bgoodall1

Member
Hi Guys.

Last weekend, I purchased online for Curry's PC World a brand new Vortex IV RS-980 17.3 inch laptop, I have now received it and I am very happy with the build quality however what I do have an issue is with the fan noise as its cycles and turns off like so many times and I am hoping someone here or at PC Specialist may be able to assist me as I am finding it a very distracting and disconcerting even just surfing the web and watching a YouTube video.

So here is the specs which I now can see after purchasing the laptop!

Chassis & Display Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 980M - 8.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - Hard Disk 480GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk 1TB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
RAID NONE
mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive NONE
2nd mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive NONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N-7260 HMC (300Mbps, 802.11BGN) + BLUETOOTH
Wireless Router/HomePlugs NONE
USB Options 3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Firewire 1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Battery Vortex 17.3" Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 230W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Carry Case NONE
Laptop Cooling Stands NONE
Stand-Alone Monitor NONE
Additional Keyboard NONE
Notebook Mouse INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Gaming Mouse Pad NONE
External Speakers NONE
Webcam INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Headsets NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation NONE
Dead Pixel Guarantee NONE
Insurance NONE
Data Recovery NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days


So can anyone please help me as all this fan noise is really starting to irritate me!

Thank in advance for any help and also for reading my post.

Bryce!
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
Is the noise starting from booting windows or after gaming? Are you using a cooling stand?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Things I've found to watch out for are browser plugins that will take CPU load such as google play music, ITunes will leave a service running called distnoted.exe that hogs CPU and needs to be manually stopped.

You need to look in your running processes and see what's using the CPU.
 

bgoodall1

Member
Is the noise starting from booting windows or after gaming? Are you using a cooling stand?

Thank you firstly for reading and replying to my thread, to answer your question, The fan cycling and noise kicks in after about 10 minutes into when the laptop is switched on. I do not play any games, just play YouTube videos and surfing the web. I do not use a cooling stand as I believe that I have paid over £1800 for this laptop and expected a nice and quiet system!

Would this fan noise issue rectify itself if I updated the BIOS as I have noticed there is an update available on the customer download section of the PC Specialist?
 

bgoodall1

Member
Things I've found to watch out for are browser plugins that will take CPU load such as google play music, ITunes will leave a service running called distnoted.exe that hogs CPU and needs to be manually stopped.

You need to look in your running processes and see what's using the CPU.

Thank you very much for replying to my thread, can I ask how I would find out this information?

Is there any known issues regarding fan noise from these series of laptops.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Thank you very much for replying to my thread, can I ask how I would find out this information?

Is there any known issues regarding fan noise from these series of laptops.

The fan kicks in when the cpu or dgpu are being stressed. If you open task manager by pressing ctl alt and delete at the same time, then order your processes by cpu usage, I'm willing to bet whatever you're using to watch YouTube is the culprit. If it's a browser then it'll be either that it's using the dgpu instead of on board graphics which you can change, or that a plugin in the browser is bloating the cpu.

Bear in mind that you have a gaming laptop which isn't the same as a normal laptop and will run loud when stressed.
 

bgoodall1

Member
The fan kicks in when the cpu or dgpu are being stressed. If you open task manager by pressing ctl alt and delete at the same time, then order your processes by cpu usage, I'm willing to bet whatever you're using to watch YouTube is the culprit. If it's a browser then it'll be either that it's using the dgpu instead of on board graphics which you can change, or that a plugin in the browser is bloating the cpu.

Bear in mind that you have a gaming laptop which isn't the same as a normal laptop and will run loud when stressed.

Okay, well I will try that, can I create a print screen and post it on this forum so you can have a look at what I am looking at?

And I understand that purchased a gaming laptop, however I thought buying overkill would mean it would be a lot quieter, however what type of laptop coolers would you recommend I purchase which would be whisper quiet? and do you think I need to update the BIOS to help the fan noise?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Okay, well I will try that, can I create a print screen and post it on this forum so you can have a look at what I am looking at?

And I understand that purchased a gaming laptop, however I thought buying overkill would mean it would be a lot quieter, however what type of laptop coolers would you recommend I purchase which would be whisper quiet? and do you think I need to update the BIOS to help the fan noise?

Sure, post back with screenies and we'll take a look.

I'd hold off on the BIOS update and speak to PCS about it first... Reason is i'd ask them what issues it sorts and for guidance on installing it. I've just tried installing a BIOS update on my laptop and had to give up because I couldn't get the USB to boot, so it's not like a normal BIOS update on a PC, bit more complicated.

As for laptop coolers, I have the Zalman NC3500 from PCS, bought it because it just one giant fan, therefor very quiet which was important for me. I don't think it's the best cooler out there, but still works fine, just not as effective as some others.
 
Last edited:

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
You've a cpu and GPU that can output significant laptop oomph... More oomph = more heat. More heat = more cooling required from fans.

Your cooling paste could also be already poor if it was a laptop built ages ago and sitting on a shelf, potentially... Or even not applied properly in the first place. Either way something is making the cpu or gpu rum hot to get th fans on. So either a shoddy paste job, the fans being blocked as it's not a cooling stand so have poor air flow, or something is using the cpu like spyder says.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
You've a cpu and GPU that can output significant laptop oomph... More oomph = more heat. More heat = more cooling required from fans.

Your cooling paste could also be already poor if it was a laptop built ages ago and sitting on a shelf, potentially... Or even not applied properly in the first place. Either way something is making the cpu or gpu rum hot to get th fans on. So either a shoddy paste job, the fans being blocked as it's not a cooling stand so have poor air flow, or something is using the cpu like spyder says.

Yeah, Slim points out the worst case scenario if it was poorly pasted, let's hope it's not that but it's a definite possibility.
 

bgoodall1

Member
So what do you suggest that I do then guys, do you think I should order through the PC Specialist Shop an upgrade to my cooling paste to the artic one instead? And if I do decide to go down that route what is the impact on my warranty? As the last thing I want to do is muck around with the insides and for it to go south badly!
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
As long as you don't damage your laptop when repasting it is fine, it wouldn't void your warranty
 

SlimCini

KC and the Sunshine BANNED
You don't need to order anything through the pcs upgrade. Just buy some alcohol, lint free wipes, Arctic mx4 and a fine screwdriver set from Amazon. I got all four for under £20, watched how to do it on youtube and was well away. Surprisingly easy and effective.

Though have you actually checked your temps yet?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
So if I was to purchase the more advanced paste should I see any dramatic results in the cooling?

As slim says, a repaste is a last solution to an unlikely scenario, you're leaping ahead a few jumps. Firstly you need to monitor your temps and check processes being used to determine if there is an issue at all.

I'll say it again, this is a gaming laptop and they run hot and loud when under stress, so I'm not convinced there's an issue here at all.
 

bgoodall1

Member
Okay sorry I am jumping ahead, so what is the easiest way to monitor the temps and I will post it here for your review and analysis?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Okay sorry I am jumping ahead, so what is the easiest way to monitor the temps and I will post it here for your review and analysis?

You can download piriform speccy or hwmonitor and take a reading when idle and when the fans are ramped up. You need to take a reading of both the cpu and GPU under these loads.
 
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