Jump to content
LaptopVideo2Go Forums

I8kfanGUI - Dell notebook fan control utility


Almighty1

Recommended Posts

General info

I8kfanGUI is a graphical Windows application to show the internal temperatures and to control the fan operation on the Dell Inspiron 8000/8100/8200 notebook series and many other Dell notebooks. It's running under all current Windows versions (98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/Server2003). For the original DOS command line utility look here.

The fan control and temperature detection is based on the fan and thermistor tests of the Dell diagnostics software. I got the technical details by disassembling portions of the Dell diagnostics software, because Dell was not willing to publish information on how to get control over the fans to prevent overheating. So this program uses undocumented Dell SMBIOS functions to detect the temperature sensors and to control the fans.

This program is licensed under the terms and conditions of the GNU general public license. The source code is included in the distribution file.

Compatibility list

Inspiron series

Notebook Fan control Read CPU temp Read fan speed Read fan status Temp control Remarks

Inspiron 9200 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Wrong fan speed reading

Inspiron 9100/XPS Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Wrong fan speed reading

Inspiron 8600 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 8500 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 8200 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 8100 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 8000 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 7500 No No No No No incompatible system

Inspiron 7000 No No No No No incompatible system

Inspiron 6000 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Wrong fan speed reading

Inspiron 600m Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 5150 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 5100 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes compatible with BIOS A29+

Inspiron 5000 No No No No No incompatible system

Inspiron 500m Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 4150 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 4100 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 4000 Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 3800 Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 3700 Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Inspiron 2650 Yes No ? ? No ---

Inspiron 2600 Yes ? ? ? ? ---

Inspiron 2500 ? ? ? ? ? ---

Inspiron 1100 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude series

Notebook Fan control Read CPU temp Read fan speed Read fan status Temp control Remarks

Latitude D800 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude D600 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude D500 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude D400 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude C840 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude C810 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude C800 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude C640 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude C610 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude C600 Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Latitude C510 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Latitude C500 Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Latitude C400 Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Latitude CSx Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Latitude CPx Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Latitude CPt Yes Yes No Yes Yes ---

Latitude CPi Yes (several types) No No No No ---

Latitude L400 No No No No No incompatible system

Latitude X300 Yes Yes ? ? ? ---

Latitude X200 ? ? ? ? ? ---

Precision series

Notebook Fan control Read CPU temp Read fan speed Read fan status Temp control Remarks

Precision M60 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Precision M50 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Precision M40 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ---

Smartstep series

Notebook Fan control Read CPU temp Read fan speed Read fan status Temp control Remarks

Smartstep 250N No No No No No incompatible system

Smartstep 200N No No No No No incompatible system

News

Update for wrong fan speed indication (03. March 2005).

Here is an update for the wrong fan speed indication for I8kfanGUI 2.2.0 on the following notebooks:

Inspiron 9100

Inspiron 9200

Inspiron XPS

Inspiron 6000

Latitude D610

Latitude D810

Precision M70

You need to download the update from the site below.

I8kfanGUI version 2.2.0 is out (24. January 2004).

The following changes were made to version 2.1.0:

fixed swapped GPU and DIMM temperatures on Inspiron 8500/8600, Precision M60 and Latitude D800

fixed several bugs in registry handling

added proper fan speed detection for Inspiron 8600, Latitude D400 and Latitude D500

http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Anyone know of any fan control/temp readings for the Core Duo laptops?

I9kfangui version 2.4 is supposedly going to help that but wont be out for a while =/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Guest Guest
Anyone know of any fan control/temp readings for the Core Duo laptops?

I9kfangui version 2.4 is supposedly going to help that but wont be out for a while =/

i have same laptop as u, latest i9kfangui works ok. sometimes when i open the program, the gpu reading is 20c (which is way too low --> wrong!), so i have to update, refresh, close the program, and reopen the program... sometimes, i have to do that for almost a dozen time, then after that it reads the correct gpu temperature. Under the same settings, sometimes bios takes over direct fan setting, so when i turn the fan high, it only stays for 2 seconds, then bios turns it down to slow or off. My settings are supposed to be correct since i follow the necessary procedure as listed in the forum/web which is maintain speed fan, autoupdate, uncheck maintan fan usage balancing, etc. BUT, sometimes the bios just lets direct fan control do the control. I have no clue what's happenning. But yeah, i'm waiting for the newest i9kfangui too!

anyway, what's your average idle cpu and gpu temp? mine now is 4%load, cpu 26c, gpu 58, both fans on slow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
i have same laptop as u, latest i9kfangui works ok. sometimes when i open the program, the gpu reading is 20c (which is way too low --> wrong!), so i have to update, refresh, close the program, and reopen the program... sometimes, i have to do that for almost a dozen time, then after that it reads the correct gpu temperature. Under the same settings, sometimes bios takes over direct fan setting, so when i turn the fan high, it only stays for 2 seconds, then bios turns it down to slow or off. My settings are supposed to be correct since i follow the necessary procedure as listed in the forum/web which is maintain speed fan, autoupdate, uncheck maintan fan usage balancing, etc. BUT, sometimes the bios just lets direct fan control do the control. I have no clue what's happenning. But yeah, i'm waiting for the newest i9kfangui too!

anyway, what's your average idle cpu and gpu temp? mine now is 4%load, cpu 26c, gpu 58, both fans on slow.

Hi.

Have the same problems. Any idea if there is a modded bios for the go7800 that lowers the tresholds for the fan kick-in/out settings? Or maybe this is a driver option (extended coolbits?)

Would really save us from overheating issues, and would be nice to NOT having to run external programs to control basic issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the fanguis should be able to control every fan in the Inspiron (provided the laptop is supported) but as far as I know, there are no bioses that lower the thresholds. if there were, I'd do it to my I5150 for more efficient cooling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a page somewhere for 9x00 DELLs. The program is called i9kfanGui i think. Try this new one.

Yes, go here: http://mckenziedev.com

Edited by ®®®
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is also a new beta (and soon release version) of the new fangui over at the main site.

Seems to support all the new systems just fine (multicore, ect), plus has many new features to boot. (multi processor dependent fan speed settings, much much better taskbar icon options)

version3 beta is also a lot newer than 2.3 on some other site.

I would recomend the beta, runs fine over here.

Edit: Here is a really good look at the new version.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I8kfanGUI version 3.0 beta 5 is out (4. July 2006).

This is the fifth beta version of the upcoming version 3.0. The changes I made to beta 4 are listed here. I'm publishing several beta versions before the final version because I've made fundamental changes and fixes to the previous version. The following fundamental changes were made to version 2.2.0:

revised temperature control to support multiple sensors and fans in any combination

system specific sensor and fan detection

changeable colors for each tray icon

updated minimizing to tray feature to make it more intuitive

updated realtime cpu speed calculation for hyperthreading and multi core systems

automatic detection and support of hyperthreading, multi core, and multi processor systems

User interface redesigned and updated to Windows XP styles

redesigned the history diagram for better readability

support for Windows XP themes

dropped support for Windows 98/ME

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Version 3.0 beta 6 (released 5. September 2006):

Changes compared to version 3.0 beta 5:

new feature: restructured the entire application for multi language support (currently english and german versions are available)

new feature: show temperature of second hard drive

new feature: select the program's main operating mode from a centralized switch on the main window and from the tray icon's context menu

new feature: changeable history diagram color theme

new feature: extended the history diagram to 150°C/300°F for GPU temperatures above 100°C

design changes on the system info window

changes in the tray icon context menu

fixed missing hard drive peak temperature update when switching between celsius and fahrenheit or vice versa

fixed tray icons going crazy with fan speed icon enabled but no fan status/speed reading enabled

fixed the tab order of visual controls for simplified keyboard access

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Version 3.0 beta 7 (released 8. September 2006):

Changes compared to version 3.0 beta 6:

fixed a bug which prevented the memory temp reading to be restored after a restart

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I8kfanGUI version 3.0 is out (17. December 2006).

This is the final version 3.0. The changes I made to beta 7 are listed here:

Changes compared to version 3.0 beta 7:

updated the CPU detection: added several new feature flags

The following fundamental changes were made to version 2.2.0:

multi language support

revised temperature control to support multiple sensors and fans in any combination

system specific sensor and fan detection

changeable colors for each tray icon

updated minimizing to tray feature to make it more intuitive

updated realtime cpu speed calculation for hyperthreading and multi core systems

automatic detection and support of hyperthreading, multi core, and multi processor systems

User interface redesigned and updated to Windows XP styles

redesigned the history diagram for better readability

support for Windows XP themes

dropped support for Windows 98/ME

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I8kfanGUI version 3.1 is out (16. February 2007).

The following changes were made to version 3.0:

application and fanio driver ported to Windows x64 (AMD64 / EM64T)

display the temperature of each core on multi core systems with DTS capability

new CPU load detection algorithm for compatibility with future Windows versions

possible access violation fixed when opening the About box

possible access violation during hd access fixed

updated the CPU detection: added several new feature flags

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Hey, I think that i8kfan gui is confusing c with f, because it says that my current temp is 89 c, which is not true. Also, my temp peaked at 98c, is that too hot? I have an 8600m gt overclocked at 595/495 on a dell 1520 with 2g mem, intel core due 2.2ghz, vista, overclocking with ntune

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Guest The Exile

Are you the guy who made the utility?

Anyway, this tool is really awesone, i had no way to control the fan speed on my laptop (Dell Vostro 1500), and with this i can force the fans to work 100%

So i just wanted to thank a lot to the person who made this possible

Thanks!! =D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Guest KLBUILDER

I have a Dell Precision M6400, bought in June 09, and I cannot gain control over that fans to save my life. BIOS A09, 32 bit, XP pro.

I've tried speedfan and I8kfanGUI, and neither one works at all. I8 will turn fans on, but something else always overrides them, so the system winds up fighting itself and the fans cycle on and off even more often than they do while under system control. Even when idle, my fans come on every 40sec and run for 20 sec NO MATTER WHAT! It's extremely annoying and seemingly unnecessary. Has anybody found anything that works for a Precision M6400?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Guest john poslof

On the dell 9400 notebook has a fan problem. I came up with this idea of hooking fans to the USB ports and using the power from it. I knew @ boot up the USB ports are powered up everytime and put out five volts DC. The dell 9400 has two USB ports that are removable by the CPU using the red wire and the black wire or ground this will be the power out put to your fans. Just make sure that both fans are wired in parallel and not series. I have done this to other computers and worked very well. If you can power a USB hard drive or CDROM using USB why not your fans. The down side of using power from USB ports is when you plug other devices in the same port you got you fans wired too may not have the proper power to run other devices on just that USB port. Some times some laptops share the same USB power instead of having individual power supplies to each USB port. In most cases if you have a lot of USB ports located on your PC than your chances are greater. Good luck (=

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...