Folding Forum

Okay, so I got my computer back from HP. They put a fresh new fan in it. Now should I be more careful with leaving my laptop on overnight in case this happens again? Because I don't know if it blew out because it was a faulty unit that couldn't handle 24/7 use or if this new one will break in a matter of weeks, too. I might be getting a cooling pad soon, so that might help...

As with all components there is a failure rate...

In some cases there is a high initial mortality rate in the first few weeks of use, say perhaps a faulty bearing that was a product of manufacturing. In other cases, the mortality rate increases the longer a product is used - research by google suggests that HDD failure rates are fairly constant up until 5 years, when they begin to fail at an exponential rate. In other cases the failure rate is fairly linear. That's on a population basis - notwithstanding user negligence, for the individual it's largely just down to luck (or lack of).

As to the higher risk of failure for a laptop fan that is left on 24/7... I'd go so far as to say a laptop fan should handle being left on 24/7 (and even at a high rate). Case in point - the MTBF (mean time between failure) of fans can vary a lot, I've seen between 50,000 and 120,000 hours - for a fan running 24/7 365 means that the average life expectancy of a fan is 5.7 years (some will fail earlier, other will last for a long time). Some evidence suggests that leaving a computer on all the time does less damage to the components that turning it on and off - as different materials heat up at different rates and thus put stress on components as the computer heats up and cools down...

My old Dell Inspiron 6000 has pretty much been running continuously since 2005 and my fan still goes strong

When I got the replacement, the IT person said that the fan model I had was infamous (overstatement) for failing early, and especially in my laptop model (HP Pavilion dv6). I'm just worried that, if I leave it on 24/7, it'll blow out again and the warranty might be hesitant to replace another fan so soon and with the same problem. I set the "Fan always on" option to "off" in the BIOS menu so that it won't be on if the computer doesn't need it. Right now, I'm more worried about my fan than my CPU/motherboard/HDD temperature.

upgrade to a better fan of the same size. they obviously cheaped out on the fan they put in your particular lappy. Talk to your IT guy, have him tell you exactly what you need to buy, and what he would recommend, and when this one dies, have him replace it with the better one, or just do it yourself. All you should need is a screwdriver, and a needle nose pliers maybe to grab the bitty connector.

I'm hesitant to do it myself if that would void the warranty. If not, then I'm sure I could probably do it.

If it dies under warranty, it's their problem to fix. If it's out of warranty, then you fix. Have at least the specs of a better replacement on hand if and when it craps out again, if not having a fan on hand.

I'm with K1wi on this one -- the fan should last for years. I would contact the guy that replace it, remind him that he told you the old fan was infamous for it's failure rate and confirm that he replaced the low-quality fan with a reliable model. If the factory saves a penny on every fan, that can add up to a measurable amount, especially if most fans are used very rarely, hence the warranty costs are low. If the guy who replaced your fan ever has to do it again on warranty, he would be really stupid to not spend that extra penny to buy you a high-quality replacement.

if you are going to fold then you are going to need a good fan.

I'm just about to order a cooling pad. Does this one look like it would work well for Folding@home?

Whether it works for you or not depends on a number of factors.

This fan is the one I bought for my new laptop (i7 2860QM CPU and GTX560M GPU - not the BEST GPU, but pretty efficient).

The one you refer to has:
One 140 mm fan in fixed place. That fan may or may not be positioned by the inlet at the bottom of your laptop case.
-----The one I chose has 2x80-mm fans that are positionable anywhere - you can put them under the vents on your system - i have two vents - one for the CPU the other for the GPU. This lets me match.

variable fan speed - mine doesn't have that

blue light
------mine doesn't have any lights at all. I have a different cooler pad for an old laptop that has a constant bright blue light. Since we left the laptop in the living room, this sometimes drove us bonkers.

Stacked USB port (I think). Mine has a stacked plug which leaves the USB port open for other stuff.

You have to figure out what are YOUR needs.

I almost go the one you mentioned, but I decided to go with the other because I could fit it on my lap while I use my laptop instead of only using the cooling pad on a desk.