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How much noise is a laptop supposed to make?

So I've had my laptop for a while now and it's an older model from 2016. The fan and HDD make a lot of noise and I can hear it all the time when i have it on. I'm just wondering is this normal? and do other peoples laptops make a noise that you can always hear when using it? I'm aware that newer models run much quieter but i'm wondering if other people hear noises from theirs and how loud. I have used compressed air to clean out the dust in the air vents and the sound is still the same. I'm wondering if i need to get an upgrade soon. Thanks.

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Its probably time for a new laptop.
Original post by sunny.side.up
Its probably time for a new laptop.

I thought that too, but everything on the laptop works completely fine. It runs all of the programmes I need perfectly. I just don't know if its worth spending over £500 for the same thing but with just a tiny bit more speed. It's just the noise that bothers me, i don't know if its normal for a laptop of this age or if it's a sign of hardware failure.
Original post by Loreto2018
I thought that too, but everything on the laptop works completely fine. It runs all of the programmes I need perfectly. I just don't know if its worth spending over £500 for the same thing but with just a tiny bit more speed. It's just the noise that bothers me, i don't know if its normal for a laptop of this age or if it's a sign of hardware failure.

It shouldn't be so loud, that usually means its old.
So since your laptop is 7 years old, does your fan make some noise when using it or is it completely silent?
My PC just hit 3 years (okay, not 4, but yeah.) and I have never replaced the thermal paste. Thermals are identical to how they were three years ago (same ambient temps after running, same Cinebench scores for said temps, same Furmark temps on the GPU, same everything) and that's just from a good regular cleaning and system resets.

It might not be a laptop, but I imagine the same principle applies. Mine is only a year old but it's as good as new.

- Open it up + dust it + clean anything you can clean with isopropyl.
- Make sure fans are cleaned
- Ensure all vents are clean and empty/debris-free.
- Reset the system
- Remove RAM (or SODIMM or whatever you have) and clean
- Remove GPU (if you can) and clean, although in a laptop that might not be feasible...

Following all that just reset the system (clean the HDD/SSD/whatever) and reinstall your OS, and it should perform perfectly, assuming the components are fine.

As for diagnosing noise vs. heat, install Intel XTU (if you're an Intel person) or AMD *Insert Name Here* (I forgot the name of the AMD CPU monitoring suite, but yeah.) and also install a utility to monitor your MOBO temps, XTU does that but yeah. Mess around with stressing your CPU/GPU/etc and see what heats up and what doesn't. Also install CrystalDiskInfo/Mark and stress your HDD a bit to see if it heats up (it's a thing.)

If your CPU heats up abnormally then either the thermal paste might be the culprit (I doubt, unless the brand you bought your PC from is questionable and/or one of the big ones like HP or whatever who basically just dump some cheap metal scrapings in with some oil on the heatspreader) or the CPU itself might be in dire straits. If its the GPU the same analogy applies.

A good way to see where the noise is coming from is to leave the base unscrewed and prop up the laptop. You'll need an external monitor/keyboard/mouse for this so you can watch the bottom. Push the PC a bit and see where the noise comes from.
Original post by Loreto2018
So I've had my laptop for a while now and it's an older model from 2016. The fan and HDD make a lot of noise and I can hear it all the time when i have it on. I'm just wondering is this normal? and do other peoples laptops make a noise that you can always hear when using it? I'm aware that newer models run much quieter but i'm wondering if other people hear noises from theirs and how loud. I have used compressed air to clean out the dust in the air vents and the sound is still the same. I'm wondering if i need to get an upgrade soon. Thanks.

I have a new 2020 gaming laptop and when I put work load on it or like have microsoft teams and a couple of chrome tabs while working so the fans start spinning and they can get pretty loud.
Original post by Callicious
My PC just hit 3 years (okay, not 4, but yeah.) and I have never replaced the thermal paste. Thermals are identical to how they were three years ago (same ambient temps after running, same Cinebench scores for said temps, same Furmark temps on the GPU, same everything) and that's just from a good regular cleaning and system resets.

It might not be a laptop, but I imagine the same principle applies. Mine is only a year old but it's as good as new.

- Open it up + dust it + clean anything you can clean with isopropyl.
- Make sure fans are cleaned
- Ensure all vents are clean and empty/debris-free.
- Reset the system
- Remove RAM (or SODIMM or whatever you have) and clean
- Remove GPU (if you can) and clean, although in a laptop that might not be feasible...

Following all that just reset the system (clean the HDD/SSD/whatever) and reinstall your OS, and it should perform perfectly, assuming the components are fine.

As for diagnosing noise vs. heat, install Intel XTU (if you're an Intel person) or AMD *Insert Name Here* (I forgot the name of the AMD CPU monitoring suite, but yeah.) and also install a utility to monitor your MOBO temps, XTU does that but yeah. Mess around with stressing your CPU/GPU/etc and see what heats up and what doesn't. Also install CrystalDiskInfo/Mark and stress your HDD a bit to see if it heats up (it's a thing.)

If your CPU heats up abnormally then either the thermal paste might be the culprit (I doubt, unless the brand you bought your PC from is questionable and/or one of the big ones like HP or whatever who basically just dump some cheap metal scrapings in with some oil on the heatspreader) or the CPU itself might be in dire straits. If its the GPU the same analogy applies.

A good way to see where the noise is coming from is to leave the base unscrewed and prop up the laptop. You'll need an external monitor/keyboard/mouse for this so you can watch the bottom. Push the PC a bit and see where the noise comes from.

May I ask your specs?
Original post by Loreto2018
So I've had my laptop for a while now and it's an older model from 2016. The fan and HDD make a lot of noise and I can hear it all the time when i have it on. I'm just wondering is this normal? and do other peoples laptops make a noise that you can always hear when using it? I'm aware that newer models run much quieter but i'm wondering if other people hear noises from theirs and how loud. I have used compressed air to clean out the dust in the air vents and the sound is still the same. I'm wondering if i need to get an upgrade soon. Thanks.

You may find the vent holes are dusty and fan is running longer, hence the noise. It may need a quick clean or see if blowing air through the vents helps.
Original post by Callicious
If your CPU heats up abnormally then either the thermal paste might be the culprit (I doubt, unless the brand you bought your PC from is questionable and/or one of the big ones like HP or whatever who basically just dump some cheap metal scrapings in with some oil on the heatspreader) or the CPU itself might be in dire straits. If its the GPU the same analogy applies.

I wouldn't expect a £500 laptop to be stressed to the point where the thermal paste would start to degrade so soon. That said, most modern pre-built laptops these days are built more for silence than for optimal thermal performance. Apple are one of the worst for this and the fans only kick in once the CPU temps are already waaaay too high, thus dramatically reducing the life of the laptop. By the time customers bring these laptops in for repairs, the motherboard is already pretty cooked. If this is the case, then a re-paste would probably help a bit, but not much if the damage has already been done.

If the OP is concerned about CPU temps, then I would recommend installing temperature monitoring software. This is something that should be installed from day one so that you always know what your idle temperatures are, as well as temperatures under load. It makes it much easier to spot problems. If the temps start to climb, then you know it is time to open up the laptop and give it a good clean, etc. Ultimately though, the fan is your friend. If it is not blowing, then where else is that heat going to go?
Original post by Veet Voojagig
I wouldn't expect a £500 laptop to be stressed to the point where the thermal paste would start to degrade so soon. That said, most modern pre-built laptops these days are built more for silence than for optimal thermal performance. Apple are one of the worst for this and the fans only kick in once the CPU temps are already waaaay too high, thus dramatically reducing the life of the laptop. By the time customers bring these laptops in for repairs, the motherboard is already pretty cooked. If this is the case, then a re-paste would probably help a bit, but not much if the damage has already been done.

If the OP is concerned about CPU temps, then I would recommend installing temperature monitoring software. This is something that should be installed from day one so that you always know what your idle temperatures are, as well as temperatures under load. It makes it much easier to spot problems. If the temps start to climb, then you know it is time to open up the laptop and give it a good clean, etc. Ultimately though, the fan is your friend. If it is not blowing, then where else is that heat going to go?

Tbf I hate Apple with a passion. Friend had an old Macbook that you could roast eggs on. Their phones may be decent for the natural images you can get out of them, but I'm convinced anyone who gets an Apple desktop/laptop is just in it for the ability to shove it in your face.
Original post by 1Unknown
May I ask your specs?

It's a bit of an old PC at this point; 8700K w/ 32GB RAM (I went from 16 to 32 a few weeks ago, my old RAM broke on me and I needed more for photo editing anyway) w/ a 1070 Ti.

DSC_1182.jpg

Hopefully my precious baby lasts me until the end of my degree T_T
My 3-year-old laptop makes no noise at all
No, it doesn't make any kind of sounds that you mention but I'm just amazed with the difference in performance sounds of my laptop compared to newer ones. The newer models are completely silent and they don't even sound like they are on at all. That's why i was wondering if maybe mine was too loud or if it's just normal for the model that I have. It doesn't get insanely hot, but it does feel warm at the bottom after using it for a while. If you are interested my laptop is a HP Envy Notebook, 8GB ram with AMD A10-8700p Radeon R6, 10 Compute Cores 4C+6G. Is this any good for general uni work and streaming netflix etc? I don't use it for gaming at all because I know how that could significantly reduce it's lifespan and cause it to slow down. It's lasted for a good 5 years and i'm hoping I could squeeze another 2 years out of it before i finish my degree.
Original post by Loreto2018
So I've had my laptop for a while now and it's an older model from 2016. The fan and HDD make a lot of noise and I can hear it all the time when i have it on. I'm just wondering is this normal? and do other peoples laptops make a noise that you can always hear when using it? I'm aware that newer models run much quieter but i'm wondering if other people hear noises from theirs and how loud. I have used compressed air to clean out the dust in the air vents and the sound is still the same. I'm wondering if i need to get an upgrade soon. Thanks.


I had a dell brand new, always made a racket. You should upgrade, but sometimes a laptop line is just dodgy. I ditched the dell after a year.
The HDD always makes a clicking sound like it's reading a disc which I'm completely fine with because it's not that loud. I've also gone into the settings and reduced my GPU maximum capacity to 48% to reduce the fan noises. However, since i've done that the fan has been making a weird noise, it's not loud it just sounds like it's struggling so idk if that was a good idea?
my laptop is new and it makes a load of noise
noise is not a bad in itself unless the noise is a problem for you

it may be indicative of poor performance but if you say that it runs fine, it is probably okay

the function of the fans is to keep it cool, so download something like HWMonitor to check the temperature of your pc components. if the temperatures are reasonable then the fans, while loud, are just doing their job and for now its working
Original post by HoldThisL
noise is not a bad in itself unless the noise is a problem for you

it may be indicative of poor performance but if you say that it runs fine, it is probably okay

the function of the fans is to keep it cool, so download something like HWMonitor to check the temperature of your pc components. if the temperatures are reasonable then the fans, while loud, are just doing their job and for now its working

The noise isn't really a problem for me but I find that after the laptop has been on for a while the fans really start to kick in and it sounds like It's really struggling even when I'm doing light tasks like typing a document in Microsoft word. I've never heard these sounds before so that's why i was quite worried. It gets loud for like 2 mins or so and then quietens down like as if it is really struggling to keep up with what i'm doing.
(edited 3 years ago)
My laptop particularly makes a lot of noise, however, it's been saving me money as I use it as a fan when it gets hot at night. (Got to save money because of COVID) :smile:

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