Nothing is wrong with it IF you do your homework, know what you are doing and are disciplined enough to judiciously monitor your temps! Is you are not carefully monitoring your temps at ALL times, it could very well be a big deal! It is important to keep your temps comfortably within the "normal operating range" of ALL the devices cooled by the fan. Running near hot for extended periods of time can decrease stability and increase aging. And running near hot is just split second away from too hot! It is critical to remember these fans don't just cool the CPU or GPU they are sitting on. This is ESPECIALLY true with many of today's graphics cards. Motherboard designers intentionally cluster heat sensitive and heat generating components around the CPU socket so they too can take advantage of the CPU's cooler (another reason to stick with OEM coolers, BTW). And more and more graphics cards have dedicated covers to channel the fan's air over the graphics RAM and the graphics chipset. Reducing fan speed can result in the graphics RAM and graphics chipset not getting enough cool air, affecting stability, reliability, and longevity - and these devices do NOT have temperature sensors. So I ask you, Infected, as I did Rasheed, Again, if the reason you feel it necessary to manually control fan speeds is to reduce noise, turning down the CPU and GPU fan speed is NOT the right way to do it! Note the last line in my sig! Heat management trumps noise control any day of the week. If your fans are making too much noise at "normal" operating temperatures, replace them with better fans!
Yes, I think Bill_Bright is being a bit too paranoid, about me trying to break my system. I bought 3 new machines last year, from HP, Asus and Acer (my current one), and all offered this in the BIOS. Yes, it can get even worse, but with SpeedFan you could make the fans run faster whenever it reached a certain temperature, I like to keep it on a maximum of 45 degrees.
I appreciate all the feedback, it sure is useful. But to clarify, I'm not planning to experiment or anything. Like I said, on my old machine I made the fans spin at 50% (instead of the standard 45%) when playing games, just to keep the GPU cooler. I feel a bit frustrated that if "smart fan control" is enabled, SpeedFan doesn't work at all, and if you disable SFC, the fans will spin at 100%.
Yes, good point. I will also try to configure it with this tutorial: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1275-page1.html And good to see that are are plenty off tools focused on fan control, I just wish Acer included something like this: http://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/369/images/system-tweaking.html http://www.ecs.com.tw/extra/esf/
What? For the CPU, yes! Definitely. But not case fans, or graphics card fans, and maybe not system fans - since more and more motherboards don't use system fans anymore. But the card will already do that - without having a middle man (that may not work right) .
Right. Besides, it's not advisable to mess with GPU fans unless with something specific like MSI Afterburner... but the OP was already told that and everything he needed... Remembering Rasheed187 other threads I have the feeling he doesn't come here for advice but for a good chat.
And I would only do that with MSI cards. If other brand cards have similar programs, then fine with their cards - if that is something you feel you must do. But again, if controlling fan speed because the fan noise annoys you, that is the wrong reason for controlling fan speeds. And if not constantly monitoring your temps, then you shouldn't be interfering with the defaults either.
And speedfan makes the same claim. But note that MSI Afterburner is specifically designed as "video card overclocking software", not hardware monitoring or fan speed controlling software. Big difference. And the topic of this thread is Speedfan fan controlling. Not overclocking graphics cards. And the point is, the vast majority of users don't need either. Graphics cards, CPU/chipsets, and the better PSUs already have integrated speed controllers dedicated to those specific devices built in! And they do it WITHOUT using some 3rd party universal one-size-fits-all overclocking product that does fan speed controlling on the side while consuming unnecessary disk space and eating unnecessary RAM and CPU resources. IF you are a gaming enthusiast and you want to abuse (and make no mistake, that is what overclocking does) your "MSI" graphics card by overclocking it, then fine, use MSI Afterburner. But if you are like the vast majority of computer users out there and are not overclocking your graphics card, then there is no need to use MSI Afterburner. And you don't need SpeedFan either, except maybe to "monitor" your temps in real-time. And I reiterate what I said before, you don't use Speedfan to lower fan speeds to reduce fan noise because the fans are spinning too fast and making too much noise. And I say that as a long time electronics technician with some background on the subject. You can follow the link in my sig to see if I might have some qualifications in the area of electronics support.
Not entirely true, I often do seek advice. Thanks, you make some good points. But I'm not planning to over-clock or anything, I just wonder if the current "smart fan control" is really doing a good job. And on my old system, I could clearly see that video games became a bit choppy when GPU temperatures became high, that's why I started to use SpeedFan.
Then how do you propose you make your pc quieter? As long as your temps are fine, there's no harm in it.
You are attempting to prove your point with a "what if" scenario then trying to apply it to all situations. You can't do that. You are correct when you say, "as long as your temps are fine" then you can run with fan speeds decreased. But as I have repeatedly said, only "IF you do your homework, know what you are doing and are disciplined enough to judiciously monitor your temps!" But I still contend that is ONLY for the case fans, not the CPU or GPU fans because those are already controlled by the motherboard BIOS and by the GPU BIOS (and by the PSU's temperature controller/monitor on better PSUs). If the noise is still too great, then I contend the better solution is to buy better fans. Larger fans tend to move more air but at a lower RPM for less noise. Maybe even buy a better case that offers better noise suppression. Or buy a sound suppression kit for your case. These typically include rubber isolators (grommets) for the fans and drives. You can get special lining for the case interior. See Tips for Building a Quiet PC and note that fan speed controllers are not mentioned once.
Using quality fans like this is recommendable, and adjust their speed according to temperatures. Not so long ago you had to either install third party software (like Speedfan) or hardware controllers because motherboard BIOS wouldn't do a good job. But modern mobos allow granular control either through BIOS or directly in Windows (in the second case just download the software from the manufacturers site). Anyone who is familiar with a program UI (presumably everybody in these forums) will configure the speeds with ease. With most current mid towers, considering a high end build with i5/i7 and a gtx 970/980, 3x 120mm/140mm good fans running at 500rpm idle/900rpm load will produce a good balance between silence and cooling. Going the route of sound suppression/isolation is simply a waste of time and would probably increase temps.
I mean, you're not wrong, but it's not as big of a deal as you're making it seem. Turn your fans down to where you like them, run a benchmark/stress testing program for a few minutes, and see where your temperatures are at. If you components are under an acceptable threshold that you're comfortable with, then you're done. You don't need to continuously monitor your temperatures after that. They aren't going to magically go up 20C unless maybe a fan dies. But even in that situation, if you hadn't been managing your fan speed, you'd still have that problem anyway. I'm quite familiar with making PC's quieter. I have a high end case, I have all the rubber grommets, I have high end fans, Window's turns my HDD's off when not using them (boot drive is SSD). But even at this point it wasn't enough for me. I ended up making my case fans run at 5V instead of the normal 12v. This made the BIGGEST difference of all. I even benchmarked temperature differences between my fans running at the full 12v and then at 5v. Want to know what the temperature difference on my CPU was? It was 1-2C hotter, which could even been because of differences in ambient temperature. And this is with a 4770k overclocked 1.1GHz and my motherboard's CPU fan speed profile set to "Silent". But, I didn't stop there. I got one of those inline fan speed reduction cables for my CPU fans. Benchmarked it again and it was much quieter and only 1-2C hotter. Then I made a custom bios for my graphics cards. In addition to applying a large overclock, I changed the fan speed curve. Not only did I gain performance from the higher clock speeds, I eliminated the 65C throttle point, and made my pc much quieter. Instead of my GPU's holding 66-67C when stress testing, they now sit at 75-76C, which is still perfectly cool. At idle, I cannot hear my PC unless I put my ear 6" from the case. Under full load, I have to be maybe 2 feet next to it to hear it. I'm not saying everyone will see the same marginal differences I did. But it's not nearly as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. Besides, modern hardware has temperature protection features built in. If your CPU hit's a certain temp, the PC shut's down. If your GPU hit's a certain temp, it throttles to the point where your performance is crippled. It's a pretty safe thing to do.
You are making a blanket statement and that's the problem! Turning down fan speeds just to control noise can and will affect temperatures. Unless you are actively monitoring your temps you could very well end up with a very BIG deal. One unexpected system lockup can result in loss data and a corrupt hard drive. That can result in unacceptable downtime and lost productivity. You clearly are NOT a normal computer. Do not assume what works for you applies to the many. For example, now you are suggesting running a benchmarking/stress test! Who does that? Not your normal speedfan user, that's for sure. That's what enthusiasts do and if you are a computer enthusiast - then do what you want. I don't care! But don't assume that is normal computer user behavior. Right. That is still perfectly cool. But how many folks understand that? Not to be picking on the OP but note he said he was worried because his GPU was hitting 50°C. Exceptions don't make the rule.
All I'm trying to say is, instead of just telling him not to do it, give him the information he needs to make his own decision. And with that, I'll say that your (OP) cpu will throttle at 100C and shut off at 105C. I skipped the 700 series of GPU's but with the 600 series (same Kepler architecture), you'd throttle first at 70c, then again at 80c, then again at 85c, and finally at 90c. As long as your CPU is under 90C, or if you want to be conservative 80C, under load, you're fine. As for your GPU, you don't really need to worry about it. Stay under 70C for max performance, stay under about 85C for security.
Wow! I didn't! You might want to go back and read what I said instead of criticizing others and passing your own judgment on how others offer advice and opinions. I have said repeatedly there is nothing wrong with controlling your speeds IF you do your homework, know what you are doing and you monitor your temps.
I'm sure you don't intend to, Bill, but your posts always come off as arrogant and condescending to me and that is honestly the only reason I posted here after my initial post. I'm sure you'll have some sort of rebuttal but at this point I've given the OP the information he needs to make his own decisions and supplied him with tools to get the job done and so I'll refrain from taking this further.
Geez whiz! I'm "always" arrogant and condescending and here you are again with another post for the sole purpose to personally criticize and chastise another poster? Wow, talk about the pot calling the kettle black. I said, " I don't recommend." Not, don't do it! I said, "maybe not use" instead of don't use it! And I said "if you are not overclocking, then you don't need MSI Afterburner" - and then added, "you don't need Speedfan either". You took what I said out of context, then implied I said something else. And I said the better solution is better fans and noise isolators. AND I said I was talking primarily about the CPU and GPU fans which are already speed controlled. Yeah, you've stated your opinion - stating to use benchmarking and stress programs, talking about your multiple case fans, voltages and throttle points. Clearly not "normal user" tasks. Clearly suggesting that your way is the way for everybody - and I'm arrogant? You did your homework - just as I said is necessary. So great! But not everyone is so inclined or interested in dedicating that sort of discipline and so for them, I say again, let the existing controllers do their job. You stated your opinion and I didn't criticize you! So I wonder, who's arrogant? I too provided the OP lots of information, including a link to a site with a reputation for good advice on quiet PCs. And I did that just to substantiate what I said - instead of expecting everyone to just believe what I say is the gospel. So who's arrogant again? Good idea. I am sorry for these unnecessary distractions Rasheed. Clearly, with your GPU at 50°C max and your CPU temps and other temps well under control, your current cooling is doing a great job. And again, because Speedfan commonly fails to put sensor to label properly, I recommend you run Speccy to verify what goes where.
Yes, I guess so. I still need to check out a couple of tools to control my GPU fan. The GPU temp is the only thing that rises after playing video games, and sometimes game-play seem to suffer because of it.
BTW, I recently realized that Speccy has a real-time system tray applet too so you can constantly monitor temps.
I don't like Speccy's GUI. I have tried MSI Afterburner and it works as expected. I can now control my GPU fan, and when I turn it off, the "smart fan control" system takes control over again, very nice. The only thing I worry about right now is that apparently my "system fan" is not spinning, I still need to open up my PC. BTW, HWiNFO64 is giving me the same readings as SpeedFan, not sure what to think about the 114 Celsius reading, but if it was serious, I suppose my PC would have already died now. http://www.hwinfo.com/
You may not have one. Many chipsets use passive cooling (heatsink only - no fan). Speccy's GUI? You mean the colors of the system tray icon? You don't have to use Speccy as your real-time monitor but I have found it is really good at properly identifying sensors. What does it say where Speedfan and HWinfo are reporting 114°C?
I've had SpeedFan show incorrect temperatures for me before. I had to give them a temperature offset to match the temperatures that other programs were reporting. My go to for CPU temperature monitoring is RealTemp. I just checked and HWInfo shows just about the same temps that RealTemp is reporting on my pc. So either your motherboard is incorrectly reporting the temperature, or both of those programs aren't reading it properly. I'd bet it's the former.
Like I said before, I'm almost sure that when I first bought the machine months ago, both my BIOS and SpeedFan showed that my system fan was running, and now they don't. And when my CPU is used extensively, my system temperature rises quite fast to over 50 degrees, so something might be up. About Speccy, I meant the main GUI, I'm very picky about these things. But seems like it has been improved, it is indeed a nice app with quite a lot of info. It does not seem to pick up the 114 degrees though.
