NUC8i5BEH high fan speed regardless of BIOS settings or CPU temp.

[fan-man]

Hi,

So about 2 weeks ago I bought a new NUC8i5BEH, bought a 16 GB RAM stick and an SSD to it.

I install the parts and start it up. I notice that the fan is quite loud. I tried tinkering with the Cooling settings in the BIOS, tried updating the BIOS to the latest one (0081). Disabled Intel turbo boost. Nothing helped. I even tried setting Fan Control Mode in the BIOS to Fanless. Still nothing.

I started looking in these forums and found the same model with the same issue:

https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-NUCs/NUC8i5BEH-fan-constantly-around-3650rpm/m-p/1191582

Since that person's problem got solved by replacing the unit, I tried the same.

I RMAd the unit at the store I bought it in, they accepted and wanted to refund me. But I thought that maybe I just got a faulty unit and can try with a new one. So instead of the money, they sent me a brand new one (same model).

SURPRISE!! The same issue with the fan again!

Is something wrong with the BIOS 0081 or did I seriously get another faulty unit? Do I need to downgrade to an older BIOS. In a different thread, someone suggested that 0078 works fine.

Any help would be appreciated

Attached are some screenshots of the BIOS, the interior (with and without the SSD) and HWmonitor.

[n_scott_pearson]

Units destined for the RMA replacement process are refurbished completely and tested. I cannot believe that they didn't notice something like this (it's kinda obvious). As you make the RMA request, ask that they test for this issue BEFORE sending the unit to you.

...S

[Andi]

Hello all,

I think this should be investigated quickly. It is really easy, just pick up a NUC and plug it in, don't even need memory and storage. I have sent the replacement back as well and would like to buy the 10th Gen i5 but that's more expensive for the same (or even lower) performance, with a downgraded video card as well.

I was always an Intel fan boy and would be willing to pay extra but this time I will say no. The quality control is really bad. It's very easy to check something is wrong, no need to reproduce 10 steps, you just need to plug it in and start it.

@fan-man thanks for the suggestion but I need the extra storage as I use the NUCs for homelab.

Don't get me wrong, I really love NUCs but I hate having to send them back and forth and losing time and also don't understand Intel's strategy with the 10th Gen being more expensive and offering less.

[Chris_V_Intel]

Hi All,

We are working on a solution for this issue. 

As soon as I have it, I'll post here.

In the meantime, don't RMA your units. The solution should be downloadable. If that changes, I'll let you know.

Feel free to shoot me a reminder if it's been a week or more.

Thanks for your patience. 

[Andi]

Hello Chris,

First of all, thank you for your answer and appreciate the quick response. If the solution will be downloadable, I am happy to wait and not RMA the unit, use it like this for the next weeks as this model is perfect for me.

Please update me as soon as you have something, I would also be happy to test and support you guys with this.

Thanks

[Chris_V_Intel]

No problem @Andi !

Thanks for the offer, but I believe we're good. 

Eitther way, will post here when I have something.

[Akira108]

Hi all!

I have exactly the same issue with slight differences. Eight days ago I bought two NUC8i5BEH. One is functioning as it should – on default Balanced BIOS Cooling scheme fan runs not higher than 2100 rpm while average CPU temperature is about 40 degrees (Celsius). On the other one CPU fan ran ~3600 rpm constantly from the start, no matter what Cooling settings were. As I need both computers right now, I’ve decided to RMA the noisy one and buy a new one. So I did on the 1^st of October.  Unfortunately the new NUC (came in the sealed box and looks brand new) behaves the same – CPU fan runs ~3600 rpm all the time from the start. I thought of RMAing it, but it doesn’t solve the problem as I need both PCs badly right now and buying another one doesn’t guarantee it works quite, plus I have to wait up to 20 days for the expertise without any refund.

Please help!

Best regards

Kirill

[Andi]

Hi @Akira108,

I am somehow in the same situation like you but with only 1 NUC after I exchanged it once. It seems that the one working correctly is from an older batch. The new batches all seem to have this issue. If you read the forum @Chris_V_Intel said not to RMA the devices as they are working on a solution. Personally, I would be inclined to wait for it as the NUC8i5BEH has the best price.

If you are in a hurry, you can choose the NUC10i5FNH but that has a lower GPU and is slightly more expensive. If you don't care about GPU and ~50 EUR and time is the most important factor, you have this choice. 

Another colleague got the slimmer version with no 2.5" SATA option, those seem not to have issues. So anyway you look at it it will be a compromise

Let us know what's your choice in the end.

[Chris_V_Intel]

Hi all,

Just wanted to provide a quick update.

We will release a new BIOS to fix this issue. As long as we don't find any issues during validation, it will be released sometime next week.

I'll let you know when it's posted.

[Akira108]

Hi @Chris_V_Intel!

Thank you for the update.

I’ve also opened a support ticket as you told  @Andi.

Patiently waiting for a new BIOS.

[Chris_V_Intel]

Hi @Akira108 ,

You're welcome.

When I asked @Andi to create a ticket, I wasn't sure we'd have a way to fix this that you all could download. Now that we will, there's no reason to create a ticket.

You can go ahead and leave yours open, if you want, this is more for the next person that reads this.

[Paulo]

Hi, any news on the solution?

[Chris_V_Intel]

Hi all,

We actually did have a validation issue, so the new BIOS has been pushed a week. It should be released sometime next week (Oct. 19-23).

[Paulo]

Hi,

I am now considering to return my NUC8i5BEH due to this issue and getting a NUC8i7BEH.

Do you know if the issue with the fan speed will also occur on the i7 variant? Or, for that mater, with any other NUC?

[n_scott_pearson]

It doesn't matter which BE model you have; the problem can still occur. Are you really that hard up that you can't wait a week or so for the fix? Even at their loudest, these fans don't reach the DB level that defines loud desktop systems.
...S

[Andi]

Hi @Paulo 

I would give it another week for this. The NUC8i5BEH is really a sweetspot between price and performance. I own both i5 and i7 and they are really close. Intel will fix this for sure. I know, it's not ideal but for a week, I would just wait.

Thanks,

Andrei

[ALand]

I hope that it is a firmware issue fix.  Did they make a hardware change after May 2020 models?  It seems that units with fan issues are June 2020 or later, from many posts on the issue.

[n_scott_pearson]

All I can say is that I was told that it's a EC firmware issue, not a hardware issue.

Theorizing, if this issue was introduced into the EC firmware at a certain point in time, there would likely be older systems that have firmware without this issue. The problem is that all it would take is one BIOS upgrade and they would have the newer, problematic firmware installed onto their system. You could thus possibly find a system that doesn't have the issue -- but this system would be missing the fixes for all of the other issues in the BIOS and in the ME and EC firmware that have been subsequently released.

We're at that point where the fix will be released before you could do anything else (practically speaking). Speculating about it is a waste of your time and ours. Chris will let us know when the fix is available.

...S

[ALand]

Thanks for the feedback.

[Akira108]

Hi @Andi!

Thank you for the respond.

I think you’re right, probably, the working one is from the older batch. I’ve read the forum and glad that @Chris_V_Intel said there is no need to RMA the device and a solution will be downloadable.

Looks like we stand on the same ground as I find NUC8i5BEH the best choice for my purposes too. I thought of NUC10i5FNH and the slim NUC8i5 model before I settled on BEH. So I don’t want to refuse from the device with a better GPU and 2,5” SATA option. I’d rather wait for the solution. Just hope that finally we won’t figure that it’s a hardware issue )

[robcowart]

I purchased two NUC8i5BEH a few days ago. Both have a 10JUN2020 date of manufacture. One has this issue, the other does not. Clearly not all units have an issue. I also have an older NUC8i5BEH and NUC8i7BEH for comparison, so it is clear that one is defective. I have already returned the troublesome unit so I can't wait for the BIOS. I would have tried it if I had seen this thread first.

[ALand]

Thanks for the report. Did both of those units have the same bios version?