Ways to know whether my Laptop fan is working or not

On my Laptop the CPU Core Temps. have been relatively high recently (I think) and so there's a nagging doubt in my mind whether any of the internal fans have failed. What are other alternative ways to verify if the fans are working?

I tried using two different utilities (Core Temp & Speed Fan) and they do report the CPU core temperatures but the fan rpm section comes out blank. Now this could just mean they are not able to read the right sensors.

It is a Dell Vostro Laptop with core-i3 and Windows 7 running.

Any ideas?

Updates:

Ran the "PC Checkup" tool from the Dell Support Center. That leads to all tests coming up as "Pass". But I don't see any explicit fan testing in there.

Interestingly, the current clock speed is only 798 MHz whereas the Max Qualified Speed is 2.20 GHz. So apparently the CPU load isn't very high? Both cores showed 55 C to the Dell Test Suite.

curious_cat

Posted 2015-03-10T12:54:34.960

Reputation: 267

3Put your ear to the base of the laptop? – Kinnectus – 2015-03-10T12:55:41.023

Hear them spinning? Feel wind at the air vents? – icelava – 2015-03-10T13:01:57.963

1@Big Chris. Tried. Very silent. But I don't think it means much since my mom's spanking new Dell Inspiron is also as silent. I think the default fans these days in laptops are not very noisey. – curious_cat – 2015-03-10T13:03:38.720

Asking "Whats the best way..." only results in opinion based answers. Have you run any Dell diagnostics? If I remember correctly, it cycles the fan thru various speeds. – CharlieRB – 2015-03-10T13:05:00.983

@icelava: Can't hear anything. Air vents I feel some air, yes, but not a lot. How much should the core temp. be for a Core i3 anyways? Right now it's only 63 C so that's not alarming. But it has been touching 80 C sometimes (say, in the middle of a long movie) and that's when I get worried and shut it off. And its not helping that I'm in a tropical, humid locale with the outside temp. being approx. 35 C in the middle of the afternoon. – curious_cat – 2015-03-10T13:05:35.450

@CharlieRB: Ok, I removed "best" & added "alternative". Basically, I think various programs have different degrees of success reading the sensors off the Motherboard so I was wondering what programs others have had most luck with. – curious_cat – 2015-03-10T13:11:52.420

If you feel air coming from the vents and it's under even a small amount of pressure (like breathing on the palm of your hand) then your fan is "working". Whether it's working properly is a different matter and will need for the processor/motherboard/BIOS to change load for it to require a change in fan speed... if you are desperately worried book it in for a service with an authorised Dell service centre. – Kinnectus – 2015-03-10T13:12:49.767

Answers

You've exhausted what I would do, check CPU core temps then try get info regarding fan RPM. If your CPU Core temps are in the 70s-80's and you can't hear any fans (you would almost certainly hear them) then I think you have a problem.

EDIT: Download SpeedFan, manually ramp up the fan RPM and if you don't hear anything then you've got a problem.

StephenC

Posted 2015-03-10T12:54:34.960

Reputation: 84

This doesn't answer the question "What's the best way to verify if the fans are working?" – CharlieRB – 2015-03-10T13:03:38.523

What do you suggest then? He's used some tools to find out and he can't get any reliable data from those. If his core CPU temp is high and he can't hear any audible noise from the fans, there is a problem.

Do you want me to explicitly recommend that he lifts the laptop to his ear? If so, i'll edit my answer. – StephenC – 2015-03-10T13:05:32.737

The edit is better. The point I am trying to make is that answers need to be complete. "I think you have a problem" is redundant considering the OP has already stated the point.

– CharlieRB – 2015-03-10T13:10:46.123

2Point taken, and i'll make sure my answers are more complete in the future. I'm a long time lurker on these boards, but fairly newish to making contributions. – StephenC – 2015-03-10T13:13:36.357

Glad you are contributing. We need you to share your experience, so that is why I am encouraging you to improve your answers. – CharlieRB – 2015-03-10T13:36:01.443

@StephenC Could you elaborate on how to manually ramp up the fan RPM using SpeedFan? I have it running here but I see no suitable option. – curious_cat – 2015-03-10T14:59:51.370

You can always pick your laptop up (when it is running) and see underneath if you see some obvious things happening e.g. winging sound or some air being fed out.

I am making an assumption that your PC/Laptop is reasonably old (>2yrs?). Depends on what things you have used it on and how much you have used it on average, The thermal layer on the processor die base runs out accordingly. For example, if you had a GPU chip with the processor built-in, using the laptop for gaming will mean your thermal stuff is gonna run out a bit quicker (but not like tomorrow or next month). The solution is to put the new paste (costs about 10 bucks).

P.S. There is this thing about revs for the fan. If your fan is revving @ lower speed (<60), you will never be able to hear it properly anyway. Check Open Hardware Monitor for the tools to check your fan revs (sorry if You have done it already!)

hagubear

Posted 2015-03-10T12:54:34.960

Reputation: 323

Yep. Dec. 2012 was when this Lappy was born. – curious_cat – 2015-03-10T13:10:01.977

1@curious_cat I have used/abused my laptop so much from February 2014, but the beast is still healthy and running smoothly. Also, don't forget to use an Air duster to clean the vents in the fan area (I'm gussing you know where that is). – hagubear – 2015-03-10T13:12:50.293

There's vents on the Laptop's bottom & on one side. I think the bottom ones are Inlets & side is the Outlet? I'll use an Air Duster but I was afraid of blowing the dust into the Case. – curious_cat – 2015-03-10T13:30:22.063

I downloaded Open Hardware Monitor like you recommended but I do not see any fan rev. info on there. Here's a screenshot http://i.imgur.com/R3Hrbjo.jpg What gives?

– curious_cat – 2015-03-10T14:10:19.257