How can I change the fan speed on my pc?

Asa Samuel · #1 12-18-2008, 02:48 PM

My computer fan is very very noisy, and it has three of them

so I was wondering how I can change the speed of them? i've tried looking but can't find it myself, can anyone give me some directions to it?

I'm on windows XP btw.

Thanks for any help,
Bass Junkie

Passinwind · #2 12-18-2008, 02:50 PM

Check out silentpcreview.com for way more ideas and info than you can probably handle.

Asa Samuel · #3 12-18-2008, 03:01 PM

There is one hell of a lot of information on there but I still can't find out how to change my fan speed

Passinwind · #4 12-18-2008, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass Junkie

There is one hell of a lot of information on there but I still can't find out how to change my fan speed

For starters:

You can buy a a variable resistor that goes from the motherboard header to the fan, or get a quieter fan, or put in a dropping diode between the fan and motherboard. But in any case you should have a monitoring app in place to check your CPU temperature and make sure you're not burning it up with the reduced airflow. I use Motherboard Monitor, but many boards have built in monitoring in the BIOS. That's better than nothing, but doesn't show the heat at high CPU loads, which is important.

Asa Samuel · #5 12-18-2008, 03:09 PM

I know someone that could change their fan speed in control panel, where would that be? I've had a look in power saving as I would've thought that would be where it would be if my computer has one.

bongomania · #6 12-18-2008, 03:12 PM

You could just stuff some peanut butter into it.

Pilgrim · #7 12-18-2008, 03:14 PM

I think I'd just order replacement fans and install new ones. It's a pain to open up the box and check the part numbers on the fan, but that's what I did - then just did a quick Internet search for the replacement part. I think the fan was about $17.

My fan was in the power supply - it's not that hard to open up the case and replace the fan. No soldering needed - it normally plugs into the PC board. Just don't handle any capacitors!

Asa Samuel · #8 12-18-2008, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

You could just stuff some peanut butter into it.

all out of peanut butter, any other ideas?

Passinwind · #9 12-18-2008, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass Junkie

I know someone that could change their fan speed in control panel, where would that be?

My guess is that it came with an app from the motherboard maker to do that. I've worked on zillions of PCs and have never seen that, but I haven't worked on anything as new as 4 years old either...

What motherboard do you have?

Passinwind · #10 12-18-2008, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass Junkie

all out of peanut butter, any other ideas?

Unplugging the fan really makes a big difference in the speed it runs at...

Seriously, try posting your question at the forum on the site I mentioned. It was always very active back when I was on the quiet computer quest.

MakiSupaStar · #11 12-18-2008, 03:32 PM

Stick a popsicle stick in it. Either that or a playing card. I would recommend the Ace of Spades. If that's too slow, you can always ease it off to a 9 of hearts.

Asa Samuel · #12 12-18-2008, 03:49 PM

I just opened up the computer, and there is nothing along the wires of the three fans to adjust the speed, and in the setup when you laod up your computer i saw both fans are running at just under 5000 RPM, but i also noticed that there were quite a few wires un-plugged, coming from two things that looked (to a fairly un-trained eye) like hard-drives, they looked the right size and it looked like there were round bits in the casing that looked about the same size as hard-disks, (i have taken one out of a pc to smash up before)

I'm thinking of finding out a bit more about how to put together computers and finding out what these are and if i actually have two more hard-drives at hand!

**Eric Perry** · #13 12-18-2008, 03:52 PM

Make sure the fans are clean. Dust, dirt, and gunk can load up on them and definitely noise 'em up a little.

MonetBass · #14 12-18-2008, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

Stick a popsicle stick in it. Either that or a playing card. I would recommend the Ace of Spades. If that's too slow, you can always ease it off to a 9 of hearts.

Yes!

Chunk-O-Funk · #15 12-18-2008, 04:12 PM

If your motherboard and other hardware has sensors built in to monitor temps and fan speeds all you need is the software to control things.

"SpeedFan"
http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

I use Rivatuner
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163

I have it set so it the fans (mostly the fan on my video card) run at a lower RPM until it hits a certain temperature than the fan will go 100%.

Depends on your hardware, though.
If you're not sure the easiest way to find out is to download a program like this and see if you can change the fan speeds.

Setting up Rivatuner to change fan speeds at different temps was a little complicated, but if you want to simply knock down a few RPM's to tame the noise it's simple.

Asa Samuel · #16 12-18-2008, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chunk-O-Funk

If your motherboard and other hardware has sensors built in to monitor temps and fan speeds all you need is the software to control things.

"SpeedFan"
http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

I use Rivatuner
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163

I have it set so it the fans (mostly the fan on my video card) run at a lower RPM until it hits a certain temperature than the fan will go 100%.

Depends on your hardware, though.
If you're not sure the easiest way to find out is to download a program like this and see if you can change the fan speeds.

Setting up Rivatuner to change fan speeds at different temps was a little complicated, but if you want to simply knock down a few RPM's to tame the noise it's simple.

I've downloaded rivatuner, where can i change the fan speed? i am in the power user tab, and have found the bit about fan speed but i'm not sure exactly what to do.

EDIT: i have found a guide online.

Flintlock · #17 12-18-2008, 04:32 PM

I can change it in setup. Just wack delete when your PC is booting up, it should be in there somewhere.

Asa Samuel · #18 12-18-2008, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flintlock

I can change it in setup. Just wack delete when your PC is booting up, it should be in there somewhere.

Some people can do it in the hardware monitor bit, but i can only view the speed in there, not change it.

Chunk-O-Funk · #19 12-18-2008, 04:39 PM

Go to the main tab, then you should see your video card/monitor listed. Over to the right there is a small icon that says "customize" next to it. Click on that, then click on the icon that says "low level system settings" It's the first icon of a video card.

You should see a slide bar for a fan control. You have to click the "fixed" tab to access it. From that you should be able to set the fan speed up or down. There is also an option to load fan speeds at windows start up.

Your interface may be a little different than mine because of your hardware and OS, but that should get you there.

RivaTuner is a powerful tool and it does a lot more than change fan speeds, but it can be complicated to use. I really only use it for the fan on my video card because it will automatically change the RPM up and down with the temps. The fan on my video card is a bit noisy at 100%. RivaTuner was also the only one that would work with my Vista 64 bit machine.

I've heard SpeedFan is a lot easier to use and it's main function is to do just that. Change fan speeds.

Asa Samuel · #20 12-18-2008, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chunk-O-Funk

Go to the main tab, then you should see your video card/monitor listed. Over to the right there is a small icon that says "customize" next to it. Click on that, then click on the icon that says "low level system settings" It's the first icon of a video card.

You should see a slide bar for a fan control. You have to click the "fixed" tab to access it. From that you should be able to set the fan speed up or down. There is also an option to load fan speeds at windows start up.

Your interface may be a little different than mine because of your hardware and OS, but that should get you there.

RivaTuner is a powerful tool and it does a lot more than change fan speeds, but it can be complicated to use. I really only use it for the fan on my video card because it will automatically change the RPM up and down with the temps. The fan on my video card is a bit noisy at 100%. RivaTuner was also the only one that would work with my Vista 64 bit machine.

I've heard SpeedFan is a lot easier to use and it's main function is to do just that. Change fan speeds.

Those are the same instructions as i found, but there is no "fan" tab, i'm just trying re-installing it as it did look a bit out-dated for some reason, maybe it was the configuration or something.

EDIT: nope, still no fan tab, i'll try the other programme instead.