All desktop computers and even most laptops have cooling fans, mounted on the CPU cooler, video card, power supply, and case.
Computer fans can have two functions: extract hot air and introduce fresh air into the case, this continuous cycle allows the correct dissipation of the computer.
Correct air flow and correct dissipation are essential to avoid overheating which could irreparably damage the PC hardware.
Fan speed management is usually handled automatically by the system, however, in some cases it will be necessary adjust the fan speed manually.
The cases in which it will be necessary to manually adjust the speed of the fans can be different, for example when you make a overclocking and you need more dissipation.
Or conversely, when you notice that the fans spin too fast without the computer straining or stalling consuming many resources or maybe in case one or more fans make too much noise and the PC does not require a large dissipation.
How to increase or decrease fan speed
You can adjust the fan speed without the help of third-party software by acting on the BIOS settings, but I think this procedure is rather inconvenient and cumbersome and above all unsuitable for inexperienced users. For this reason I suggest using a third party software.
There are really tons of programs that allow you to adjust the speed of the fans on Windows. Without a doubt, the best known and most used is SpeedFana completely free, cross-platform and easy to use software.
How to adjust fan speed with SpeedFan
If you want to use SpeedFan, the procedure to follow is the following:
- Login to SpeedFan official site;
- Click on the entry “SpeedFan x.xx”present in the section “Downloads” to download the software;
- After the download is complete, double-click the file you just downloaded;
- When prompted click on “Yes”;
- In the window that opens, click on “I Agree”;
- Click the button “Next”;
- Click on the button “Install”;
- After the installation is complete click on the button “Close”.
At this point you are ready to use SpeedFan, to do so:
- Double click on the SpeedFan icon on the desktop;
- Click on “Yes”;
- Click on the button “Close” present in the small foreground window.
In the main screen of the software you can view the temperature of the hardware installed in your computer and the speed of the fans indicated in RPM (revolutions per minute).
By placing a check mark next to the item “Automatic fan speed”the software will automatically manage the rotation speed of the fans based on your computer usage.
To manually adjust the fan speed, remove the check mark next to the item “Automatic fan speed” and act on the percentages in the center of the SpeedFan screen. The higher the percentage, the higher the RPM will be.
However, this procedure doesn’t always work well. To adjust the rotation speed correctly and above all with more precision, click on the button “Configure”present in the upper right.
In the window that opens, click on the tab “Speeds”, then select the fan whose speed you want to adjust. At this point in the lower part of the window two fields will be shown, from the field next to the item “Minimum value”you can adjust the minimum speed, while from the field next to the item “Maximum value” you can adjust the maximum speed. At the end of the adjustment, click on the button “OK”.
Fan speed recommendations
I remind you to be very careful when adjusting the speed of the fans. Too low a rotation may cause the hardware to overheat and may cause system malfunctions and even catastrophic hardware failure.
When you choose to change the speed of the fans, I suggest you use SpeedFan with another software that allows you to monitor the temperature of the components, especially that of the processor and video card.
Among the various programs that allow you to monitor the hardware temperature, I suggest you try the following:
For more information read the articles “How to monitor the temperature of the video card” and “How to monitor the temperature of the CPU“.
