A common problem with all gaming laptops is that they can become extremely loud, almost like a jet engine, but why does that happen? and is it safe? it happens mainly because they want to control the temperature inside of your laptop.
When your gaming laptop is performing heavy duty tasks the components inside of the cramped up space don’t have any other way to dissipate heat other than using the built-in fans to control it.
And if not controlled then it will massively reduce the life of your gaming laptop, so loud fans on a gaming laptop are a completely normal thing , that is if your gaming laptop is not sitting idle and is actually performing a CPU or GPU intensive task.
There are many reasons which can cause your laptop fans to spin really fast and Ill tell you how to fix the problem.
1. Laptop Is Not Placed On A Flat Surface
You unknowingly place the laptop on a rugged surface such as a bed or pillow many times, even a sofa, what that does is that it blocks the bottom vents, from where your laptop fans draw in air, and when they don’t have any vent to draw air from, they work harder and as a result , become really loud.
The fans are designed to draw air from the bottom vents and push it inside of your laptop, and blockage of vents leads to an overheating laptop which leads to loud fans.
2. Too Many Background Processes
As a gamer you tend to install a lot of applications and games on your gaming laptop and sometimes, those applications bring extra functionality with them which consume more of your RAM and CPU power, which leads to loud fans.
It doesn’t make a difference at first but over time they tend to compile upon each other and before you know it, there are 100s of background processes running on your laptop.
Some common background apps that consume a lot of your CPU and RAM are antivirus programs, browsers, emulators, disk image burn tools, and many more.
3. Poorly Applied Thermal Paste
Thermal paste is responsible for transferring heat from the processor to the laptop heat sink and from the heatsink to the outside world. If the thermal paste is not of good quality and if it’s not applied correctly then that might be why your fans are loud.
A bad thermal paste application could potentially lead to a dead gaming laptop so make sure that it’s applied properly on your laptop processor or GPU.
4. High Game Settings
As a gamer you can’t resist the urge to play games on ultra or high settings, and because of that the laptop works harder and the fans begin to spin at a faster rate.
There’s no problem with this but doing it frequently will reduce the effectiveness of your laptop fans over time, so you should not play games on ultra settings and even if you are , it’s a good thing to lock the FPS at 60 so the temperature is maintained.
5. Poor Design Of Your Gaming Laptop
Although this happens rarely but it’s still a limiting factor because the design is one of the most important elements of a gaming laptop, not just for the purpose of looking good but also because design plays a vital role in cooling down your laptop.
If the design and structure of your gaming laptop aren’t optimized for dissipating heat then it’s a lost cause, so make sure that you get a laptop that has multiple vents on the bottom and side, and feels open.
Avoid getting Thin gaming laptops because they are not good at controlling heat.
6. Hot Ambient Room Temperature
This mainly happens in summers, the ambient room temperature also has a significant impact on how your gaming laptop fans perform and a hot room will naturally raise the temperature of your gaming laptop, making the fans work harder.
7. Installation Of Programs
When you’re installing a game or program, your laptop naturally uses more resources which can cause your fans to spin faster and thus produce more sound.
8. Extracting/ Repacking Big Files
Some gamers tend to download cracked games, and cracked games usually come in a zip or repack file, and installing a game through repacks takes at least 3-4 hours for a 100gb file and this utilizes all of the resources available on your gaming laptop.
So avoid installing games through repacks if you don’t want your gaming laptop fans to get loud.
9. Blocked Vents
If you’re not cleaning your laptop then this might be why the fans are loud, blocked vents are a surefire way to reduce the life of your laptop.
10. Mining
Mining is a very dangerous thing and it’s something that is very difficult to diagnose, basically someone remotely accesses your laptop and uses it for mining crypto currency and you can’t figure out what the problem is.
Look for any fishy programs running in the background and install a good antivirus program such as McAfee to prevent this from happening.
How To Fix The Problem
Loud fans can be a nuisance and there are many causes for it as highlighted above, but at the same time there are effective treatments for this problem as well.
1. Clean Your Gaming Laptop Frequently
Cleaning your gaming laptop every 3 or 4 months is very important because it helps to keep the vents clean and that way your fans don’t have to work hard to control the internal temperatures of your laptop.
Make sure that the vents are not blocked and if they are then use canned air or 99% Isopropyl alcohol to clean them.
2. Check If The Fans Are Working
If you can hear the fan on one side of the laptop and if the other side is quiet then it’s most likely that one of your fans isn’t working, this might also be reflected by high temperatures while performing simple tasks on your gaming laptop.
So get those faulty fans replaced and your problem should be solved.
3. Use Your Laptop In An Air Conditioned Room
This is a highly effective trick, during summers you need to use your laptop in a cool room.
4. Check For Useless Background Applications
Open task manager on your windows and see if there are any useless background applications, close all of them and preferably uninstall them so your gaming laptop resources are being used in an efficient manner.
5. Reapply Thermal Paste
Get your gaming laptop inspected by a professional or use a YouTube video to check if the thermal paste is applied correctly, if it’s not then remove it and reapply it.
6. Use Your Gaming Laptop On A Flat Surface
This is the easiest yet a very powerful way to stop the fans on your gaming laptop from becoming loud, make sure that you’re using your gaming laptop on a flat surface such as a table.
And if still want to use your laptop on your bed then use a laptop stand, a laptop table or a cooling pad.
7. Undervolt The CPU And GPU
I wouldn’t recommend undervolting the most important components of your gaming laptop, unless the battery life is being compromised or something unusual is happening with your laptop.
Undervolting your CPU and GPU is a last resort if nothing else works in controlling the loud fans on your gaming laptop.
8. Use A Laptop Cooling Pad
A good laptop cooling pad will only cost about $20 and it can drop the temperatures of your gaming laptop by up to 13 degrees under ideal conditions , all the while elevating your laptop and keeping it on a flat surface.
It’s a good investment to make.
Is It Dangerous?
Yes and No, in the short term, louds fans are nothing to worry about, but in the long term , this will be detrimental to your fans health because running on high speed frequently will break down the bearings and screws of your fans and at some point you’ll have to get them replaced.
Wrap Up
Gaming laptops usually tend to operate at higher temperatures than regular laptops and as a result they do become a little loud, otherwise they won’t be able to control the internal temperature.
So in most cases, it’s completely normal for your gaming laptop fans to become loud and you should not worry too much.
