cpu fan speed

if you are plugged into the PSU directly for fan power, you dont get variable speed, it just runs at max. If its plugged into a fan header on the motherboard, it should be able to handle variable speeds. have you checked the bios or used any software for creating custom speed profiles like speedfan?
 
does the BIOS have fan speed profiles you can set? you can download speedfan and look up how to use it to override the speed settings the fan is currently getting, but my hunch says that if its running at max, it needs to be running at max to keep the system reasonably cool.