16" Lafité® AI fan noise advice

[JDA1982]

Hi all,

I've previousely purchased a laptop from PC Specialists, but the laptop is quite old now. One thing that I underestamated was the fan noise of a powerful gaming laptop, so I'm considering purchasing a new laptop 1. because it's time for a new one, and 2. because now I have a dedicated gaming PC I don't really require a loud, bulky 17in laptop like the one I have got.

I was looking at the 16 inch Lafite laptop as it seems to be much thinner and compact while still having a decent size screen, albiet not quite as big as my current laptop.

My biggest quesiton is really about the noise, can anyone with any experience of this laptop advise what the fan noise is like both in general use (browing, youtube etc.) and when gaming? I don't require a powerful GPU, the integrated ARC would do fine, most of my heavy gaming is done on my desktop either directly or via stremaing to the laptop using Parsec.

 

[Paul1964]

For your existing laptop you should find that if you open it it up, clean the fans and heat-sinks and then re-paste the CPU and GPU you'll find it should run quieter and cooler. It's recommended to do this every 1 to 2 years.

For the Lafite I would probably go with something like this setup.

Chassis & Display
Lafite Series: 16" Matte QHD+ 240Hz N7 LED Widescreen (2560x1600)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX370 12 Core Processor (2.0GHz, 5.1GHz Turbo, 50 AI TOPS)
Memory (RAM)
16GB PCS PRO SODIMM DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
Integrated AMD® Radeon™ 890M
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
AC Adaptor
1 x 90W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Lafité Series Integrated 80WH Lithium Ion Battery
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 + BT 5.3
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 4.0 PORT (Type C) + 1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) 2 x USB-A PORTS
Keyboard Language
LAFITÉ PRO 16 SERIES BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Home Copilot+
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 5MP FHD WINDOWS HELLO CAMERA
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
Clevo V560KU (Ryzen AI 9 HX370, QHD+ 240Hz sRGB 100%, AX210, Blank KB)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £1,151.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/lafite-pro-16-AMD/9XQcTtbVR0/

 

[JDA1982]

Thank you for the advice, I'll take a look at that spec.

Regards to my existing laptop, I do repaste it and try to keep the fans clean, but it's one of those huge desktop replacement laptops. It has a desktop CPU and a top of the range (for its time) GTX1080 GPU, so it runs hot and loud. Louder than I'd like a laptop to run anyway.

 

[Paul1964]

Regards to my existing laptop, I do repaste it and try to keep the fans clean,

Yes. And try to get the dust and fluff out of the heatsink fins.

 

[JDA1982]

I appreciate your effort to help make my existing laptop make less fan noise, but I do maintain it. It's just got really loud fans.

I'm just looking for anyone's personal experience with the Lafite, I don't want a laptop that gets as loud as a gaming laptop.

 

[Ekans2011]

I completely agree with @Paul1964, and I would suggest using TG Kryosheet or Phasesheet PTM instead of standard paste.
The former is applied once and never degrades, removing the need for reapplication, but the latter has a far longer average lifespan than any thermal paste and can be extended significantly.

Thermal Pads for CPUs, graphics cards & SSDs

Thermal Pads for the PC. Carbon & graphene pads for CPUs & GPUs. Flexible & customizable pads for graphics cards & SSDs.

www.thermal-grizzly.com

 

[JDA1982]

So how's the fan noise on the Lafite? I cannot make the fans quiet on my current laptop, which is an Octane IIRC, it's not just a thermal issue, the fans are simply loud when they spool up, very loud. I want a laptop that doesn't reach gaming laptop noise levels from the fans and am wondering if the Lafite is quiet enough. Some personal experience and of that would be much appreciated.

 

[Ekans2011]

So how's the fan noise on the Lafite? I cannot make the fans quiet on my current laptop, which is an Octane IIRC, it's not just a thermal issue, the fans are simply loud when they spool up, very loud. I want a laptop that doesn't reach gaming laptop noise levels from the fans and am wondering if the Lafite is quiet enough. Some personal experience and of that would be much appreciated.

I can't say anything about the Lafite, but did you carefully clean the heatsink fins and fan blades? Have you tried customising the fan curves? Perhaps you're using an aggressive profile, and the fans are full blowing air when they don't need to.
What are the temperatures on your CPU and GPU?

It is difficult to tell something blindfolded without knowing the present state of the laptop.

 

[JDA1982]

Yes, it's been cleaned several times. It's been loud from day 1, though a repaste from new did bring temperatures down. It has a desktop CPU and a GTX1080, it was about as powerful a laptop as you could get when it was new.

But I want a new laptop and one that doesn't run as loud as a gaming one. The fans are audible from the moment they ramp up from idle, even on a quiet profile. But as it's so old now and my use has changed over the years I'm looking for a new laptop regardless, I just don't want a loud one.

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

Yes, it's been cleaned several times. It's been loud from day 1, though a repaste from new did bring temperatures down. It has a desktop CPU and a GTX1080, it was about as powerful a laptop as you could get when it was new.

But I want a new laptop and one that doesn't run as loud as a gaming one. The fans are audible from the moment they ramp up from idle, even on a quiet profile. But as it's so old now and my use has changed over the years I'm looking for a new laptop regardless, I just don't want a loud one.

What’s the laptop for exactly? What software are you installing?

 

[JDA1982]

Mostly it will be for browsing, streaming media, streaming games from another computer via Parsec, some gaming local from the laptop but nothing too heavy. Some work, dealing with large spreadsheets (100mb+ excel files).