What's wrong with my zotac 3060 ti's fan speed percentage?

kitnoman · May 16, 2022

We have 4 computers in the house and 3 of them has 3060 ti of different brands. All of the fan run at 3000-3300rpm at 100%. So in theory, 50% fan speed should be around 1500rpm. However only 2 of them does that. I tested all cards on just one system and it's consistent that the zotac 3060 ti twin edge lhr run 700-800rpm at 50% at 1100-1200rpm at 60%, 1500-1700rpm at 70%, 2500rpm at 85% and 3k rpm at max. I really thought that the card has cooling issues as it is the smallest 3060 ti that I have that's why it goes up to 70% fan speed, but it's only now that I realized that the fan is a bit wonky. I know that the easiest way to fix this is to modify the fan curved or do nothing, because if I'm going to compare it with the other cards, the 75-80% fan speed at 2000rpm of this zotac is the same with the 60-65% of the two galax cards.

I know this is minor, but is this happening with other zotac users?

Moonzy · May 16, 2022

25 minutes ago, kitnoman said:

So in theory, 50% fan speed should be around 1500rpm

This isn't true

The % you set is pwm, not fan speed

The fan speed to pwm might not be linear

kitnoman · May 16, 2022

20 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

This isn't true

The % you set is pwm, not fan speed

The fan speed to pwm might not be linear

I get what you mean about pwm. I don't have a background in tech, so most of what I know is from experience and personal research. Can you tell me more about it not being linear? And I'm more interested if there's a way. it can be calibrated, so that when the "fan speed percentage" say 50% for example, the fans are actually spinning at or closer to 50% of it's max rpm. I'm thinking this is a bios issue and it's probably on "efficiency mode" or something, but the card is not dual bios and after installing the oc app of zotac I can't find any option there. So if you have any more ideas, please do tell me. Thanks!

But it's not really a major issue, I'll just have to convince my brain that when the gpuz/afterburner say 70-85%, it's actually just 60% of the maximum rpm of the gpu fans

Moonzy · May 16, 2022

33 minutes ago, kitnoman said:

Can you tell me more about it not being linear?

Well, when I said pwm, it might not be true too as some fans are DC controlled so the % is controlling the voltage sent to the fan

Basically, due to many factors, the % you set is not directly controlling the fan rpm linearly

35 minutes ago, kitnoman said:

And I'm more interested if there's a way. it can be calibrated, so that when the "fan speed percentage" say 50% for example, the fans are actually spinning at or closer to 50% of it's max rpm

Write/use a software that controls the fan's DC or pwm signal based on the rpm feedback

I don't know of any such softwares for GPU, because it doesn't make sense to control a fan that way

Better off control the fan speed based on the temperature of the thing you want to cool

36 minutes ago, kitnoman said:

I'm thinking this is a bios issue

It's not an issue, it's normal

Just that it don't respond to the way you think it does, doesn't mean it's defective or an issue

As long as the GPU doesn't overheat, it's fine

Ralphred · May 16, 2022

1 hour ago, Moonzy said:

Better off control the fan speed based on the temperature of the thing you want to cool

Wise words, ignore the actual RPM of the fan unless the temps are outside your comfort range or the RPM is zero when it shouldn't be.

2 hours ago, kitnoman said:

Can you tell me more about it not being linear?

So DC control literally lowers the voltage to the fan, but this has the knock on effect of changing the size (literally) of the magnetic fields involved, so until you are applying enough voltage that they are big enough to interact and spin the fan, it wont move. At 50% voltage I'd expect 30-40% of max RPM, but the control system may be set-up to that 1% "is enough voltage to make it spin" so you'd see a diminishing return curve. You are going to get a diminishing return curve anyway because of increased air resistance at higher RPM's.

With Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) it's just turning the fan on and off a lot, so it will run slower at lower %. But you have to consider the inductive properties of the fan, so even at "50% of the time on, 50% of the time off" there is time still needed for the magnetic fields to be built, this would result in an increasing return curve, couple that with the diminishing return curve of "more air resistance at higher RPM" and, as above, the %age should be considered more of "arbitrary indication".