Librem Laptop Fan Performance

Hardware
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So I’ve seen lots of threads here about fans coming on from resume, but have to mention that since a few coreboot updates i have not experienced it again.

The point of this thread however is to note how very little the Librem fans DO come on when in use. The Librem for my work load is silent. I have 7 programs open at all times. I was just playing Morrowind for about 20 minutes, and still the fan did not come on. Used Psensor to check out the temp reading and it was sitting nicely under 46C.
(Edit: I use TLP and powertop)

This in comparison with my other Linux machine (which is now running Windows), and with other laptops I’ve used in general is quite different. (Odd caveat: The best Windows Laptop I’ve ever used was designed to be a Linux laptop.)

Kudos to the Purism team for truly designing a quality laptop!

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up to 40 degree C you don’t really need fans to spin but i keep my desktop ones at 25% anyway (practically inaudible)

i’ve seen that System76 uses Noctua fans in their CPU cooler design but their dedicated fan controller board is OHW certified and does an amazing job at routing all control from the motherboard … so far the best implementation i’ve seen in the linux world …

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Totally agree. I’ve lusted after the Thelio Major for many moons now. It just keeps getting better as well. With System76 going the Purism route on a future laptop, I’m interested to see what they can do.

Btw: I’ve seen my Librem up to just under 60C and the fans still were off. I think the body of the Librem just acts as a really good heat sink. One of the advantages to such a sturdy and robust design.

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i don’t currently own any Librem products since L5 is yet to arrive but can you change the fan curve manually in the BIOS or otherwise ?

5

The bios is bare bones in that there isn’t a GUI of sorts to speak of.

I imagine the fan curve can be adjusted via the coreboot script if you were willing to dig into that, or ask Purism to change the curve for you.

I don’t see a reason why you’d want to. The laptop stays under 40C for most things.

There are, of course, things to adjust the fan curve in the Linux world, but I’ve never messed with them.

Usually I just want the fans to not be on when on a laptop, except when necessary, as it saves power. The Librem does this really well.

On my desktop, I usually just have all the fans full blast all the time.

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ok … but when the fan starts spinning did you notice any harsh noise ? or the torque impulse from the motor is smooth … i believe i’ve said this somewhere else on the forums (here at Purism) about the more poles a fan motor has the smoother the transition phase is … well usually industrial fans from Noctua have 6 poles (BeQuiet as well)

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ah yes and then there is the upgrade to Threadripper 3 that has yet to show up anywhere … but i’m not a fan of the way the chassis is designed … the build quality on the other hand is top-notch … from an industrial perspective … maybe not so Dell/Hp like but more geared towards elegance/sturdiness than expandability/serviceability …

8

Honestly, the fan is very standard with how pretty much every fan sounds in a laptop. What I will say is that if the fan comes on, it is there to mitigate serious heat, and so it spinning quite fast. However, it isn’t instant. The fan slowly ramps up and down.

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