what % should my CPU and GPU fans run at?

I posted a similar question at Tenforum and haven't got any replies so I hope this is not considered cross posting.

I an using the App Fan Control to control my fans in my system. I would appreciate if someone here is also using it they can help me out. I'm not sure what % the CPU and GPU fans should be set to. I want to setup some curves and then use those curves to also run my case fans. I need to understand what % the CPU & GPU should be set to before I can set any curves.

I don't put a large load on my PC, IN fact the build I have is OverKill but I wanted to build a new powerful system so I did. I have always built my own systems and always build more than what I need.

I will include a few screenshots to show you my CPU temps when doing basic computing things also a screenshot of fan Control to show what the auto setup set the fans to. I feel with the low temps I can lower some of the fans to make the case quieter. I have a GPU with 3 fans but only 2 show up on Fan Control and only one of them is showing a RPM which is always around 550 rpm, yet when I look at the fans on my GPU none are running. I know a GPU fan only runs when needed and since I don't put much load on the GPU it makes sense why they are not running but why does fan control say one fan on GPU is at 553 rpm? Below are screenshots of my CPU temps and Fan Control.





Thanks in advance

@Logical Ron


It depends on the temps you're getting.
Fan curves will be different for every comp.

For me... I set the CPU fans to keep the CPU about 26-27C at idle.
Then I set the GPU fans to keep approx. the same temp.

For the top of the curve, I try to keep the CPU and the GPU fans where the high temps will be 75-ish, on both CPU and GPU.


I keep the CPU fans locked at 85% (3000 rpm fans).
For my vid card I use fan curves...





These are my current idle temps, with the ambient room temp of 65F...

Ghot said:

@Logical Ron


It depends on the temps you're getting.
Fan curves will be different for every comp.

For me... I set the CPU fans to keep the CPU about 26-27C at idle.
Then I set the GPU fans to keep approx. the same temp.

For the top of the curve, I try to keep the CPU and the GPU fans where the high temps will be 75-ish, on both CPU and GPU.

Click to expand...

So to make sure I understand you correctly, you are saying if I set a curve for my CPU the Minimum should be 26-27C and the max should be 75C


So if I create a curve for CPU and GPU with a Minimum at 25-27C and max at 75C Fan Control will figure out the % the fans should be running at? I can then create a curve mix of CPU and GPU and that should balance the system and I can assign that curve to the case fans?

Any idea about my GPU fans not all 3 showing up on Fan Control and one having a rpm even though none are running? I guess I am assuming you use fan control, maybe you were just replying to the min and max temps for CPU and GPU ???

Logical Ron said:

So to make sure I understand you correctly, you are saying if I set a curve for my CPU the Minimum should be 26-27C and the max should be 75C


So if I create a curve for CPU and GPU with a Minimum at 25-27C and max at 75C Fan Control will figure out the % the fans should be running at? I can then create a curve mix of CPU and GPU and that should balance the system and I can assign that curve to the case fans?

Any idea about my GPU fans not all 3 showing up on Fan Control and one having a rpm even though none are running? I guess I am assuming you use fan control, maybe you were just replying to the min and max temps for CPU and GPU ???

Click to expand...

I set the CPU fans at 85% in the BIOS.
For the vid card I use EVGA Precision X1 to control the fans.
My case fans all run at 100%.
I picked case fans that do what I want, when they run at 100%, so I don't have to mess around with them.
Low noise and high airflow for the case fans.



You pretty much have to "tune" your fans to suit "your" needs.
Use the various temps as a guide.

Try to set things up so your temps stay between 30C and 75C, no matter what the load.
You'll need to play around with things till you get a fan plan that works for you.


Fan Control may have been originally coded, before there were vid cards with three fans.
The vid card itself, may only have sensors for two of the three fans.

Ghot said:

I set the CPU fans at 85% in the BIOS.
For the vid card I use EVGA Precision X1 to control the fans.
My case fans all run at 100%.
I picked case fans that do what I want, when they run at 100%, so I don't have to mess around with them.
Low noise and high airflow for the case fans.



You pretty much have to "tune" your fans to suit "your" needs.
Use the various temps as a guide.

Try to set things ups so your temps stay between 30C and 75C, no matter what the load.
You'll need to play around with things till you get a fan plan that works for you.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info I will create a curve with the min and max you suggested and see what happens. Wow 3000rpms that case must sound like a 747 taking off jk.........lol

Logical Ron said:

Thanks for the info I will create a curve with the min and max you suggested and see what happens. Wow 3000rpms that case must sound like a 747 taking off jk.........lol

Click to expand...

LOL
That's why I run those fans locked at 85% (2500 rpm).
And they're still fairly loud.

I haven't decided if I'm gonna keep using the CPU fans. I'm testing them.

Ghot said:

LOL
That's why I run those fans locked at 85% (2500 rpm).
And they're still fairly loud.

Click to expand...

I'm trying to find the best setting to cool my system as needed and not hear loud fans... wish me luck!

Logical Ron said:

I'm trying to find the best setting to cool my system as needed and not hear loud fans... wish me luck!

Click to expand...

You'll get it. It just takes a little while... "tuning" the fans to suit.

My CPU cooler Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE CPU Air Cooler came with 2 fans and they seem to work fine. If I chose to upgrade the fans you gave me a link to was the one I had considered when I built my system so I would go with them. Thanks!!

Logical Ron said:

My CPU cooler Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE CPU Air Cooler came with 2 fans and they seem to work fine. If I chose to upgrade the fans you gave me a link to was the one I had considered when I built my system so I would go with them. Thanks!!

Click to expand...

The one I linked above is LOUD. You probably won't like it.
If you're into quiet.. look for a CPU cooler with 140mm fans. They are seriously quiet.



It's not cheap, but this is probably the best CPU air cooler out there...

Ghot said:

The one I linked above is LOUD. You probably won't like it.
If you're into quiet.. look for a CPU cooler with 140mm fans. They are seriously quiet.

Click to expand...

I believe the fans that came with my cooler are 140mm so that is why I most likely like them........lol I am watching the tutorial from the designer of fan Control and now his video makes more sense to me with the added help you gave me on the min and max temps. In the morning here I will configure the fans and report back

Thanks for your help, going to bed now :)

Your current CPU cooler has 120mm fans.

Product Description​

Technical Spec :
Heatsink Specifications:
Dimension：L125 mm x W110 mm x H155 mm
Weight：730g
Heat pipes：6mm heatpipe x 6 units
Copper Base：C1100 Pure copper nickel plated


TL-C12C FAN Spec：
Dimension：L120 mm x W120 mm x H25 mm
Weight：120g
Rated Speed：1550 RPM±10% (MAX)
Noise Level：25.6 dBA
Air Flow：66.17 CFM (MAX)
Air Pressure：1.53mm H2O (MAX)
Ampere：0.20 A
Connector：4 Pin (PWM Fan connector)
Bearing Type : S-FDB Bearing




This Noctua CPU cooler maxes out at 24.6 dBa with 82.5 cfm air flow.
Slowing it down to 66 cfm would probably be about 20 dBa

Just to add, I recently bought a Noctua DH-15 to replace an ailing AIO cooler. I love it. It keeps the temps nice and cool and it's so quiet I can't even hear it.

My GPU on the other hand...

Logical Ron said:

I'm trying to find the best setting to cool my system as needed and not hear loud fans... wish me luck!

Click to expand...

Be aware there are a number of ways to lesson fan noise including the size of the fans - here the smaller the fan, the more RPMs needed to cool components, and a reason I never use 120mm fans.

My PC case only has three "case" fans - two stock 220mm front fans. One 140mm rear fan (Corsair). The AIO (Corsair) CPU cooler uses two 140mm Corsair fans. Outside the GPU and PS FAN, that's it. I also have no HDD drives in my system to lessen noise even more.

And because I don't overclock, I've tuned the case fans via the BIOS, AIO fans via Corsair's iCUE to keep the system cool and quiet. I guarantee you won't hear my fans if you were sitting next to my PC unless I was gaming, and that would GPU fans ramping up.

This is perfect as I also use my PC as my audiophile system as posted > here.

Setting your fan curves is going to be something pretty unique to your own setup. For example, Ghot said he shoots for 26-27C for idle, but unless you are running the same CPU, with the same cooler, in the same case with similar ambient temps, trying to shoot for his exact numbers isn't going to be particularly useful.

I run an AMD Ryzen 5900x with a Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro air cooler, in an Fractal meshify S2 case with the stock 3 x 140mm case fans. My CPU idles around 35-37C with this setup. My box is practically silent, you have to look at it to see if it's actually turned on. I run an EVGA 3080 FTW3 Ultra, and have the little switch set on the card to keep the 3 fans running all the time, rather than idle stopping them. I found the idle stop annoying because I could hear the fans kick on and off. I pretty much left the fan curves set on defaults for my Asus Rog Strix X-570 E gaming. I have fan control tied to my CPU temps and they idle up as temps rise.

During a gaming session (mostly Call of Duty), I can hear my fans when i take my headset off. But my box isn't loud by any means. My video card is set with a minor undervolt and a frequency cap via MSI Afterburner. My GPU maxes out around 52-55C depending upon the map I happen to be playing. If I remember correctly, 60C is about the highest I see on my particular CPU.

I'm perfectly happy with my temps. My box is stable, it's well within specs and it's pretty much silent. Although my case allows for up to 9 case fans, the 3 stock fans have proven adequate for my needs.

pparks1 said:

Setting your fan curves is going to be something pretty unique to your own setup.

Click to expand...

Agree with this one hundred percent.

pparks1 said:

For example, Ghot said he shoots for 26-27C for idle, but unless you are running the same CPU, with the same cooler, in the same case with similar ambient temps, trying to shoot for his exact numbers isn't going to be particularly useful.

Click to expand...

Yes, it is a balancing act. My i9-9900K (a hot running CPU) idles 31ish C. I could go for lower temps, but at the cost of higher fan RPMs, and a noisier system. Instead, I prefer silence over lower temps. Been running that way for 5 years now (built in Feb 2019).

But yes, no one shoe fits all