Very hot device

Framework Laptop 12
1

Hello everyone!

I have been using the FW12 now for about a short while and it gets very hot (not possible to use on lap at all) with the fans blazing all the time. I am using only one browser (vivaldi) with it and tried with endeavourOS, Fedora, Omarchy and currently windows but the high temps remains the same.

I was wondering if anyone else experienced this? Maybe i missed a crucial step during the installation process or 48gb ram is too much for the device?

Anyone using their framework on their laps?

current performance indicator below:

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2

I suppose that’s not really typical.

I’ve been using FW12 on my lap even when gaming and watching some videos, it’s totally “OK”. Watching videos and light gaming (like visual novels), causal browsing lead to at most 60 degrees after some settling down from booting up the system.

If you’re using FW12 in tablet mode, it might heat up a bit more, from what I’ve heard.

I suppose that the target temperature is somewhere about 60 degrees, by default, because:

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That’s what my thermals look like after I started a few web-services in containers, and then left them running (as well as writing this comment, and all the other apps I have opened, the system is a bit busy, I’d say)

The spike is obvious, but then the cooling system kicked in, and brought it down to 60, where it now rests, that’s on charger in normal performance mode.

While on my laps, the fan does spin, but it’s hardly noticeable, and the warmth that I feel through my pants is such that it feels somewhat pleasant this autumn day.

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Resources reports 58 C on CPU while framework tool reports 48, so I’m not sure what’s going on here :person_shrugging:

I’d suggest to take a look under the lid, and see if there’s something blocking air passage, if the fans constantly run at like 5000 RPM (or more), if it’s about 3000, that might be “OK”, however not under no load at all :person_shrugging:

3

Thanks for the detailed response and advice. I will check inside to see if something is blocked or not.

Could you please confirm what ram you are running? i see 34GB in the screenshots.

4

All of the temps I am seeing in your print out look about right. Don’t be thrown off by the TJ Max value. It is misleading. In general the FW12 runs hotter. I think some of this is the intake being so close to the exhaust. I have found that cooling is just not super efficient. I think I might try repasting mine. However that said: I am able to keep the temps around 50C normally. So things are working. I think the 12 is just designed to run a little hotter. Probably because they are trying to minimize fan noise. For this reason I am not sure repasting is something that is even needed. As of now I haven’t seen any real heat issues. I think a normal operating temp of 50+ is a bit excessive but it is within spec.

5

No, this laptop is definitely not designed to run silent! Trust me :slight_smile:

The only way to bring the fan noise down is if you’re in a cold room - around 20 degC and not doing much - if temperature of CPU drops below 65 degC - the fan stops.

There was a thread about a tool which let you control fan speed but I haven’t tested it. Might be useful to some.

6

yeah I wrote a fan control application that allows you to control that. I use it primarily for the Mattbook. It works on the FW 12 though.

What I mean is that even when I manually crank the fan speed up the temps stay around the same. They are only a few degrees cooler. This is why I feel like the 12 is just designed to run a little hotter.

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In this picture i am just resuming from hibernation on Omarchy. So temps are still down. Give it about 5 minutes and they will rise to the normal range of 40-50 C.

7

Thank you all, i checked the interior and there does not seem to be anything blocking it. Coming from a mac where i worked with it all my laps all the time i didnt expect to have the fw that hot. For now i’m managing by using it on a desk tho not as often as i would like to.

Can someone recommend a good fan control app? Maybe that will help

8

If you are on Windows there is something here that someone made for the FW 16. That is AMD based but the ectool and framework_tool should all work on the entire new FW product line.

I wrote something for Windows on the Mattbook but when I put Omarchy on it I forgot to back that up. So it is gone in the wind. Anyway there should be something out there. Although honestly I just relented and let the EC do its thing as Framework envisioned. Hasn’t been a problem so far.

1 Like
9

That right there is a crying shame.

10

Yeah! It was stupid of me for sure. I now back up all projects with my own local git but meh. You live and learn. Funny because at work we source control that is mandatory. I’ll probably rewrite it though. I will one day maybe want to use Windows again on the Mattbook. It is not possible without custom fan control though.

1 Like
11

I was on omarchy previously but i ran into one issue where it does not autorotate the screen when you flip to tablet mode. Were you able to get automatic screen rotation working?
It only works for me on Fedora, Bluefin and Win11

12

I wrote this to help with that VERY problem:

You can install it via the AUR as well.

13

Thank you!