more memory ?

[quickturtle]

I had a difference with a friend about his laptop. The fan seems to be working hard and I suggested maybe if he had more memory in the laptop it might run smoother.

He uses Windows XP, 512 memory and he now has a 100gb hard drive, whereas before he had a 40gb. Could the big hard drive cause the microprocessor to work hard thus making the fan work more ? That is what he thinks it is. I suggested getting more memory. Thanks...................

 

[rvnguy]

quickturtle,

Might not be the answer you want but each item added, especially to a laptop, like memory, will add addtional heat that will need to be removed causing the fan to run more to evacuate this heat.

As far as the HD; Most laptop HD's spin at 5400 RPM. Once they spin up there is little difference between maintaining that RPM from a 40GB to a 100GB drive. In general, it is not the storage capacity that generates heat but more so the RPM.

He might be wise to carefully do a cleaning of the internals to remove dust if this has recently began running the fan more. Or have it cleaned professionally.

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[temporello]

If the fan is working "hard" I assume that you mean that it's louder than it was.
Replace the fan,more memory will not help.

 

[quickturtle]

Thank you for the replies

 

[cdogg]

Just to add...

First of all, the CPU doesn't work harder because of the size of the drive. The size doesn't directly impact the CPU. Instead, the work is done by the drive's controller (IDE, SATA, SCSI, etc). Most hard drives, regardless of size, have similar seek times. Laptop hard drives aren't large enough anyway for this to be much of a concern.

Secondly, the fan might be worker harder (or "louder) due to one of three reasons:

1) There is more heat (the obvious)
2) The fan is failing (also obvious)
3) Or there is a corruption in the BIOS (maybe it was upgraded recently, and it's code for controlling the fan is less efficient than before)

Dell makes all sorts of changes during each newer release of their BIOS's. When a common problem with overheating or lockups are reported in a particular model, they make fan adjustments to correct the issue. Sometimes, this causes the fan to work harder than before. If your friend recenly upgraded the BIOS, then this might be working as intended.

Bottom line, though, is that a memory upgrade won't likely help the problem much, if at all.

Just my 2¢


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[paparazi]

I guess technically neither of you were correct.
I doubt the extra ram or bigger hard drive would have any noticeable effect of fan speed or how much the fan actually works.
There may however be settings in the bios you can adjust?

Definately a good idea to blow out the fan and cooler.

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[cdogg]

paparazi,

I guess technically neither of you were correct.

There were 3 responses in this thread before yours. Not sure who this comment was directed at, but it seems that the consensus from all other responses is that MORE RAM WILL NOT HELP.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[quickturtle]

I really appreicate the info. One question though: since more memory doesnt affect the fan, why would the fans get louder when certain applications are on and doesnt do much when others are on ? That is why I thought he needed more memory. I figured the computer was struggling with bigger apps. In any case, I'll tell him to try blowing out the fan and if that doesnt work, then get a new one....

once again thanks,

TEK-TIP RULE

 

[KevinADC]

does this happen only when running on battery power or also when plugged in?

 

[Freestone]

cdogg:

I'm surprised Martin hasn't replied yet, but the way I read his comment "neither of you were correct" was not directed at any two posts, but to the original poster, quickturtle (who asserted more RAM would quiet the fan) and his friend, who asserted it was the bigger hard drive causing the fan to work harder.

 

[kmcferrin]

I'm with Freestone, I took it to mean that he was speaking of the OP and his friend.

The only way that more memory might possibly help, is if he is running low of memory and that is causing more swapping out to disk, therefore slightly more disk and CPU activity. But since the disk is still spinning, the heat increase would be minimal, and any heat savings would probably be offset by the addition of heat from more memory.

 

[cdogg]

OK guys (gals), I am now enlightened on Martin's meaning!

Back to the issue...


It was stated that there is already 512MB of memory in the system. It is true that low memory can cause excessive disk swapping and more CPU activity. But 512MB?? I doubt that's the problem here. The suggestions so far that were against getting more memory were under the assumption that the only problem was the fan and not slowness or excessive disk swapping.

quickturtle,
You can look in Task Manager on the Performance tab to see if low memory is the problem. Unless it is, then I stand by my first post.

But then again, memory is cheap and it's hard for anyone to really say for sure how much of a difference it will make without being in front of the laptop themselves to look at it...


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[paparazi]

cdogg
Obviously I was addressing the original question but I am suprised you had to ask cdogg.

Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[cdogg]

Martin,
I meant no offense, just checking at the time I asked that. I had overlooked in the original question that there were two people involved. If your post was the first in this thread, then it would have been more obvious. My apologies...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[paparazi]

Friends don't need to apologise and certainly no offence.
Respect to you cdogg


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.