How do I control fan speed based on CPU temperature?

[skilpadde]

My PC is pretty noisy when I play games, and the problem seems to be that when my CPU reaches 50°C my CPU fan goes completely insane. If it's of any importance I have the NZXT Kraken X40 to cool my CPU.

Cheers!

 

[Darkbreeze]

It should already be controlled by CPU temperature. Are you certain it's the radiator fan and not one of your case fans?

Is your radiator fan connected to the CPU_FAN header or somewhere else? Have you tried adjusting the fan profile in the bios, if it IS connected to the CPU fan header?

If it is configured differently, or perhaps even if it's not, it should also be controllable via the NZXT software which if you haven't installed, you should. Get the latest version from their website. Whatever version came on disk is probably already outdated.

 

[skilpadde]

It should already be controlled by CPU temperature. Are you certain it's the radiator fan and not one of your case fans?

Is your radiator fan connected to the CPU_FAN header or somewhere else? Have you tried adjusting the fan profile in the bios, if it IS connected to the CPU fan header?

If it is configured differently, or perhaps even if it's not, it should also be controllable via the NZXT software which if you haven't installed, you should. Get the latest version from their website. Whatever version came on disk is probably already outdated.

So, I was able to find some software for the NZXT with which I was able to get the CPU fan under control while keeping the temperature low enough. This helped a lot. What I now realized though, is that my power supply fan is the one screaming its lungs out, and probably has been one of the culprits as well. Is it possible to lower the speed of my power supply fan, or is that impossible/dangerous?

 

[mamasan2000]

Changing PSU fan speed is dangerous, could blow up and take out half your system with it.
If the noise annoys you, buy a new one. Research silent PSUs, there should be plenty. Even PSUs where fan doesn't spin at all until a certain temp is reached.
Bigger fan, more silent.

 

[skilpadde]

Changing PSU fan speed is dangerous, could blow up and take out half your system with it.
If the noise annoys you, buy a new one. Research silent PSUs, there should be plenty. Even PSUs where fan doesn't spin at all until a certain temp is reached.
Bigger fan, more silent.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I'm a bit worried about buying another PSU though, as I've had bad experiences with it earlier. I currently have a Corsair TX 650W PSU, but tried buying another one, a Corsair RM750 750W PSU, maybe 6 months ago. I got the new PSU, installed it, but soon had problems with it. My second screen flickered, and the higher load I had on my PC, the more it flickered. It also had this weird semi-burnt smell, but I'm not really sure if that would have gone away or not. Anyway, because of the smell, but especially because of the flickering, I returned it and received another one of the same kind. This one had the exact same problems, so I had to return that one too, and ended up using my old, 100W weaker PSU, which still today powers my PC without any flickering.

I tried Googling the problem, but couldn't for the life of me figure out why two 100W stronger PSUs of the same kind would make the screen flicker, as well as smell badly for almost two weeks.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Your power supply shouldn't be substantially loud, if it's a half decent model. The RM series units are not great quality, unlike the RMx and RMi units. The TX units were good quality, but those are older units now and most of them are probably near end of life status.

If you want a very good, really quiet unit, I'd suggest either of these. I've used both, and currently am using the G2, both of which are made for EVGA by Super Flower, and they are both quiet and excellent quality.

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/evga-power-supply-110b20750vr,evga-power-supply-220g20750xr/


The only reason your display should flicker or have problems due to the power supply would be if there was a problem with the unit OR a problem with your graphics card. Knowing your full system specs would be helpful.

 

[mamasan2000]

You could try other brands, Seasonic, XFX, EVGA.

 

[Darkbreeze]

While some people have had success with some of Corsair's higher end units and swear by them, I've never experienced anything but trouble with any Corsair power supply I've used or installed, except some of the CX430 units on low powered machines. I don't think the RM would EVER be called or considered high end though.

 

[skilpadde]

While some people have had success with some of Corsair's higher end units and swear by them, I've never experienced anything but trouble with any Corsair power supply I've used or installed, except some of the CX430 units on low powered machines. I don't think the RM would EVER be called or considered high end though.

Thanks again(!), I'll keep everything you've said in mind when looking for a new PSU. I tried both PSUs on three different GPUs, one of them being new, so I don't think the GPU was the problem. My specs are: Asus Sabertooth P67, Intel i5 2500k, Nvidia 980 MSI and 16GB ram. I'm not sure if the other specs are important, but I'm guessing they're not.

By the way, I had this weird experience with the NZXT software when turning on my computer this morning. I had made a "custom curve" that told the fan to only go crazy when the CPU reached about 60°C, compared to the 30°C that it did earlier. When I booted my computer up though, the fan went to 75'ish percent straight away, before Windows could boot up, and it stayed that way until I turned off my custom profile and used a prefixed one. When I tried adjusting the prefixed one to have the fan go slower, the fan sped up to 75% there as well, and only after about 10 - 15 minutes was I able to turn on my custom profile again without the fan going crazy. Not really a big problem, but I have no explanation for it, and thought I should mention it. Couldn't find anyone with the exact same experience either.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Might just want to use the silent preset it comes with, if it has one, which they usually do. Might also be a setting in there somewhere. I'm familiar with that particular cooler so I can't say for sure. Are you using the CAM software or an older software package. Not too sure which one that unit uses.

 

[skilpadde]

Might just want to use the silent preset it comes with, if it has one, which they usually do. Might also be a setting in there somewhere. I'm familiar with that particular cooler so I can't say for sure. Are you using the CAM software or an older software package. Not too sure which one that unit uses.

It does have a silent preset. I customized the silent mode a bit, which was the mode I had the fans set to when they went crazy. I reset the silent mode to its original "state", but the fan kept going crazy. Not before 15'ish minutes was I able to set it to silent without any problems. I'm not sure what CAM software means, but it's called NZXT Kraken Control.