Fan spins a lot when downloading large file

Iron Contributor

The first time I downloaded a large file with Edge Chromium, my fans started to spin wildly. I tested my assumption several times the following days by downloading my google account backup (those are zip file of about 2 to 5 GB) and each time my fans spanned a lot.   

 

 

11 Replies

Chances are your Antivirus is scanning your download files, which uses CPU power and that makes your CPU run hot (it's natural in every electronic device), so the fans spin faster to cool it down.
Don't worry about it, happens to everyone with a decent antivirus :)

You can also check your Task Manager to see which process or program is using a lot of CPU.

 

Right-click on the taskbar and this menu appears so you can select task manager from it.

Annotation 2019-09-08 173041.png

 

This didn't happen when I use Chrome. The only antivirus I use is Windows Defender and when I check CPU usage and I/O in Process Hacker, it's edge who is on top. Windows Defender is way at the bottom. 

Oh okay so you already identified that Edge chromium is using CPU the most.
which version of Windows 10 and Edge insider are you using?

how long do the fans keep spinning faster? and during that time, which process would be consuming disk activity the most?

@HotCakeX I am using Version 78.0.262.0 (Official build) dev (64-bit) 

The fan is spinning during the whole download (so during the 2 hours that it takes me to download the 5GB files). I have my usual software running but because the fan starts to spin just when I start the download and stops when the download is finished (or canceled) then I don't thin my other software are responsible

Look the fan spin is not really relevant, it can happen for a lot of reasons other than high CPU usage. and it's really broad, like i don't know which fan you are talking about. i've got 7 fans in my computer case. 2 for the CPU water cooler, 3 for my GPU, 1 for my PSU, the rest case fans.

the fan speed and the software that controls them can be set and customized (even by default) to change fan speed for a lot of reasons, could be the in case temperature, could be the GPU fan that triggers case fans and etc etc.

but if you're specifically talking about CPU usage, then it's another story.
you still haven't said which version of Windows 10 you're running.

how much exactly do the CPU usage increase? is it near 100% or 50%?

do the CPU usage always increase so much when you download? (i.e from any site or only from Google drive?)

these are needed info to narrow down the cause of the possible problem.

 

the extensions you installed, if any, can be the culprit too.

you can confirm that by checking the task manger INSIDE Edge insider browser.

@HotCakeX I only have 1 fan on my laptop. 

Sorry I thought you only asked my Edge version, not my Windows version. So my Windows version is  Windows 10 1809 (OS build 17763.557)

 

I have seen the CPU increase to 10-15% (never higher). 

It happens on all heavy downloads, not just for google backup. 

 

I have also tried without active extension: it doesn't change anything. 

@07_19 

Oh it's a laptop, it's okay, Build 1809 is not too old,

Try downloading one of those files again but this time before doing that, do this first:

 

press the smiley button at top-right of the browser,

 

Annotation 2019-09-06 195240.png

 

if there is anything wrong, the tool will record it, the reason for CPU usage spikes etc.

also attach a screenshot of your task manager to your feedback. hopefully it'll help devs figure out the reason.

@HotCakeX Sorry for the delay and thanks a lot for this detailed explanation. 

No worries at all, you're welcome!

 


@HotCakeX wrote:

 

Right-click on the taskbar and this menu appears 


@HotCakeX 
If your taskbar were as full as mine, you'd struggle to find a bit of it to click on.
I always use Ctrl-Shift-Esc to start Task Manager ...

Sometimes CTRL + ALT + DELETE works better, specially when system is nearly hanging