Advice on how to set fan curves

[wha2les]

Hi.

I am finally using my new computer, but it is quite loud (more fans than what I have in the past, and I'm having trouble adjusting the fan curve to have good cooling but not insanely loud revving.

Can you share kind of fan curves are you guys using so that I can have some foundation to go off on?

[An0maly_76]

Here's a write-up I did on air-cooling and myths surrounding, as well as an easy method of fine-tuning your fan curve to balance noise and performance.

 

https://linustechtips.com/topic/1424716-air-cooling-myths-and-setup-tips-for-the-novice-performance-gaming-builder/

 

That said, cooling comes down to three things, case airflow, fan performance, and proper setup.

Edited June 27, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[aDoomGuy]

I use this for my CPU and case fans. 100% at 62° -ish is maybe a bit low but my fans and case are pretty silent anyway but you may stretch it a bit longer if you want.

 

[darealsoulless]

1 hour ago, wha2les said:

Hi.

I am finally using my new computer, but it is quite loud (more fans than what I have in the past, and I'm having trouble adjusting the fan curve to have good cooling but not insanely loud revving.

Can you share kind of fan curves are you guys using so that I can have some foundation to go off on?

I tend to let my PC ramp up pretty aggressively. It's under the desk, between us is a 1" thick sheet of mahogany so it blocks the sound well. With a headset on or music lightly playing through my speakers, the sound is deafened completely and temps ingame are a cool and collected 70C at the highest. Embrace the noise!

 

For a real answer, most fans can be tuned to allow a zero-RPM mode, and once a component reaches a baseline temperature they can ramp up. I'd try playing with this. Note that you can keep your maximum fan speed low at the cost of temperature for a quieter computing experience. My graphics card for example, spins up its three fans at 60C, at 30% speed and when temp creeps below 60, the fans turn themselves off. It is a constant spinning up and down noise, but to preserve the life of my precious dies I'm more than willing to listen to it. If for whatever reason the temps reach 83C, the fans spin to their max speed because I'm uncomfortable with that temperature running sustained in, for example, an hour long battle royale match. Also lower temps play nicer with overclocks. I find that at max core and memory frequency instability occurs around the 80 mark, if kept below this than I don't experience crashes. I do also use a robust server-type PSU that can send its full wattage down the 12 volt PCI-e rail, so current spikes aren't a cause of instability for me either. Cooling is a complicated game and there are many ways to answer this question, just mess with it and find what works for you. It took me many days of changing a few percent, few degrees' curve here and there to get not only satisfied with my temps, but the stability of my system and ability to sustain an aggressive overclock on both the CPU and GPU.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Since i run a server fan sht gets pretty damn loud but as i am too lazy to set a fan curve i just leave it at a constant 80 or 70% speed because i dont exactly care about noise, actually pretty nice having some background noise rather than a silent room

 

 

Though imo the ideal fan curve would be as fast as possible while being inaudible and start ramping up ~75-80c, lowering fan speeds when theyre already inaudible is a waste of performance and i dont think that helps at all with fan lifespan so any lower and it may aswell be 0 rpm so the fan lifespan increases

 

only time you want to run fans full blast earlier would be overclocking as lower temps help with that but for only temp diff then not by much, its extra cooling ability + extra voltage that usually helps for oc though undervolt is preffered since cpus and gpus seem to be pushed too hard nowadays and you can save a decent amount of power while keeping most of your performance, so basically the only thing worth ocing is ram and vram and for lower power draw and volts you may aswell just set a static fan speed (fastest speed while being inaudible) cause it aint gonna run that hot anymore and with lower voltages even ~90c is acceptable 

[Ralfi]

Here’s one I used for a long time. I’ve tweaked it recently to suit my system, but this one’s more apt for what’s detailed below…

 

Basically, it’s split into two zones: Zone One is a flat-line & covers idle/temporary sudden spikes in temps - this is from 0° to 60°C.

 

The idea of the flat-line going all the way up to 60° is so you don’t get those short bursts in fan speed during occasional Windows background tasks or when certain Apps boost CPU use when first opened but then drop CPU use just as fast once settled.

 

The PWM level you select for this flat-line zone depends on a few of things; your CPU, CPU/Case fan efficiency quantity & orientation, Case airflow, Noise level (that you can tolerate in PC’s Idle state) & PWM range.

 

I went for 14% PWM which is ~644RPM as my CPU fan works well at that speed (together with my case fans), maintaining Idle temps between 30-35° (ignore temp in screenshot as my Fan software always boosts temps when running).

 

 

FYI, my case fans are as follows…

1 x Rear exhaust & 1 x Top-Rear exhaust, both daisy-chained to the CPU fan & hence have the same fan curve as above.

3 x Front intake @ ~510RPM, as per below fan curve…

 

Zone Two covers the Load zone, from 60° & above & the theory applies to all my fans - a gradual increase to the CPU’s typical max temps (70-83° for my CPU) & then a more steep curve beyond that.

 

You can try this theory with your fans. Match the RPM’s & see how you go. If temps are too high, then raise the PWM dots in each zone until you’re happy with both temps & noise.