bimbo, could you supply any more details?
a model number, series, etc?
about the smaller = hotter issue. this is certainly true of desktop microchips, where we're now heading to the 0.09 micron manufacturing process. (northwoods at 0.13u).
but laptops, even if it's a dell, should be well equipped to handle heat dissapation and cooling issues. (especially so with desktops, as larger heatsinks are installed, more efficient heat dissapation and cooling methods arise).
you can also try using "I8kfanGUI" (search Dell forums for a link).
or goto:
http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html
it's a bios override fan control application/service. i have heard that it works great, BUT there's a caveat emptor: *it can mess things up if you use it improperly*
i've also read things about dell latitude laptops and their fans being consistently on, which affects the noise levels and working conditions.
but what i would suggest you do, is to visit dell's support pages and community forums to read further on similar users with similar fan, overheating issues. (aka 'fan not turning off').
i think i might have answered your problem now,
reading another article on the web, here's another story that you might find interesting.
"My work laptop, a Dell Inspiron 8200, has had continuous problems since I first bought it in July. A few weeks ago I rebuilt it from scratch and it's started exhibiting a new problem - seemingly random freezing and sometimes crashing during the night. I would then be forced to reboot and then it would be fine for 15-20 minutes and then yet another freeze up.
I think I've found the solution to this problem.
I started to notice that the crashes/freezes occur while the CPU was fairly heavily loaded (ex. virus scanning, movie playing, etc.)
After reading several other posts on the Dell user forums and elsewhere on the web, it started to make sense that the CPU was overheating. I downloaded the Dell Inspiron 8x00 fan control utility and
set it to be fairly aggressive as to when it increased the fan speed from low to high. Sure enough, while running a virus scan the CPU hit 45, 50, then 55 degrees Celsius.
It then switched the fan from low to high. And then I also realized that I've never heard the fan run that loud before!!! I don't think the fan has ever run at high speed without this 3rd-party utility!
Anyways, I've now gone 7 hours with no crashes and/or freezes. That's a record for the week.
Note that this utility is NOT supported by Dell. Then again, Dell tech support sucks, so this is a good thing.
"
so after having read that, i think it would be "fairly" safe to use the 8x00 fan control util, even if it's not supported by dell.
http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html
you'll see all the settings in the utility, so i hope all goes well.
but there's the caveat emptor above, just letting you know about 'possible' problems which could eventuate from the use of 3rd party applications.
