Fans keep running indefinitely when LLM is loaded but idle (GIGABYTE AI TOP ATOM)

Accelerated Computing DGX Spark / GB10 User Forum DGX Spark / GB10
1

Hi everyone,

I have three GIGABYTE AI TOP ATOM systems, each running separately. On all three units I see the same behavior:

When I load an LLM with vLLM, the fans start spinning after a short time and then continue running indefinitely, even when there are no active vLLM requests and the machine is basically idle.

The temperatures look very comfortable. According to nvidia-smi, the GPU is at around 39°C and 9 W while idle.

Sensor readings:

mt7925_phy0-pci-90100
Adapter: PCI adapter
temp1: +40.0°C

mlx5-pci-20100
Adapter: PCI adapter
asic: +45.0°C  (crit = +105.0°C, highest = +59.0°C)

mlx5-pci-0100
Adapter: PCI adapter
asic: +45.0°C  (crit = +105.0°C, highest = +59.0°C)

acpitz-acpi-0
Adapter: ACPI interface
temp1: +41.5°C
temp2: +40.2°C
temp3: +40.1°C
temp4: +39.2°C
temp5: +39.9°C
temp6: +41.5°C
temp7: +39.8°C

mlx5-pci-20101
Adapter: PCI adapter
asic: +45.0°C  (crit = +105.0°C, highest = +59.0°C)

mlx5-pci-0101
Adapter: PCI adapter
asic: +45.0°C  (crit = +105.0°C, highest = +59.0°C)

nvme-pci-40100
Adapter: PCI adapter
Composite: +37.9°C  (low = -5.2°C, high = +82.8°C) (crit = +84.8°C)
Sensor 1:  +37.9°C  (low = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)

System utilization:

top - 12:58:04 up  1:57,  1 user,  load average: 0.40, 0.23, 0.19
Tasks: 462 total,   1 running, 461 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
%Cpu(s):  0.1 us,  0.2 sy,  0.0 ni, 99.6 id,  0.1 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st
MiB Mem : 124546.2 total,   5999.0 free, 115396.2 used,   4347.1 buff/cache
MiB Swap:  16384.0 total,  16384.0 free,      0.0 used.   9150.1 avail Mem

PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU  %MEM     TIME+ COMMAND                                                                                                                                              

37444 root      20   0  147.6g   3.8g 729264 S   3.3   3.1   7:23.16 VLLM::EngineCore
36896 root      20   0 3164728 112876  41636 S   1.3   0.1   1:12.32 /usr/bin/dcgm-exporter
...

All three GIGABYTE AI TOP ATOM systems show exactly the same fan behavior. I did not experience this with my ASUS GX10 under a similar setup, so I suspect this might be firmware-specific fan-control behavior?

With the fans running continuously, each GIGABYTE AI TOP ATOM uses around 50 W at idle with the LLM loaded.

Does anyone know whether this behavior is expected? Is there a firmware or, driver setting to make the fans spin down again when the system is idle and temperatures are low?

2

Seems normal since last firmware update from GigaByte. Have exactly the same combination ASUS+GigaByte. Asus: silent but in the 45-49 degree range in idle. Gigabyte: Fans spinning more or less continuously but approx 10 degree lower in temps. Under load they are quite close (with a bit more headroom for the GigaByte) on the longer run. Both are stable.

3

Same here. I raised a support ticket on their platform 2 weeks ago: https://esupport.gigabyte.com
They got back to me with this message:

We appreciate your patience and understanding that this case needs further confirmation or examination. It may take some time for the whole procedure but we will keep you posted as soon as there is any update available.

Original ticket:

System software:
OS: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
GPU driver: NVIDIA 580.159.03 (CUDA 13.0)

Firmware update details:
I updated both the EC firmware and the UEFI Device Firmware for my GIGABYTE AI TOP ATOM using fwupd by running the following commands:

sudo fwupdmgr refresh
sudo fwupdmgr upgrade

Current firmware versions (from BIOS/firmware screens):

  • System/SoC firmware: 2.148.24

  • EC firmware: 2.78.24

Issue description:
Before the firmware update, when the system was idle (with the Qwen 3.6 35B A3B LLM loaded into memory but not actively inferencing),
the fans would slow down and the system was effectively quiet. The fans would only run at higher speeds when the LLM was actively inferencing under sustained load.

Immediately after updating the EC and UEFI Device Firmware and rebooting, the behavior changed.
The system fans ramp up to an audible level roughly 1–2 minutes after boot and then stay at that speed for 1–2 hours, even when the system is idle.
After the fans have been running for a while, they eventually slow down again,
but roughly 30 minutes later they will ramp back up to higher speeds, again while the system is idle.

This happens even when:

  • CPU load is very low.
  • GPU utilization is 0 percent and power draw is minimal (confirmed via nvidia-smi).

Additional information:
I have collected and attached log files that include:

  • System information and kernel details.
  • Temperature and sensor readings while the system is idle but fans are running fast.
  • GPU state and utilization (nvidia-smi).
  • Relevant system logs around boot.

Could you please review this behavior and let me know whether this is expected with the current EC/UEFI firmware for the AI TOP ATOM,
or whether it may indicate a firmware or fan-curve issue?
Any guidance on a fix (updated firmware, configuration change, or supported rollback path) would be greatly appreciated.

5

I received the same response from Gigabyte. Based on their release schedule for previous firmware updates, this could take months to be fixed. It seems the fans draw an additional 10 W of power (+25%) during idle and adds unnecessary fan wear.

Does anyone know the last firmware version that did not have this problem?

6

As of today, there is an update from Gigabyte and new firmware is available that seems to fix that problem. Fans still seem to be running but not at 100% anymore. My boxes are silent again.