Do you guys set your case fans to adjust based on CPU/Motherboard temps or do you max them out so that they stay constant at a desirable speed?

When you set your fan speeds in the BIOS after building your PC for the first time - if you're working with a modern motherboard/bios - you'll likely have access to a tool that resembles a graph with dots on it, where the Y-axis is fan speed in % of max speed and the X-axis is temperature values in degrees celcius. This is, if you are using PWM fans (fans that change speed based on temperature information sent from the motherboard), the most straightforward way to set up your fan profiles. A profile determined by dots you place on the graph will tell the fan under what conditions (i.e. at what temperatures) to spin at a certain percent of max speed.

Here's my observation - fan speed changes are more distracting than (relatively) loud fans. And my suggestion: Don't make a straight or consistently ascending line on the graph, for example 40 degrees = 30% speed, 50 degrees = 40% speed, 60 degrees = 70% speed, and 70 degrees = 100% speed. Don't do this because the result will be that your fans constantly speed up and slow down dynamically as the temperature changes under normal usage at safe temperatures. This is, for me, much more distracting than having the fans run consistently at one speed a bit faster/louder. Here's what I've done instead:

In my bios fan control settings there are four dots on the graph and a graph for each fan. I've set all of the fan graphs up as follows: (point 1) 0 degrees celcius = 50% speed; (point 2) 60 degrees celcius = 50% speed. These two values ensure that the fan runs at 50% the majority of the time - namely when the CPU temperature is anywhere between 0 and 60 degrees celcius. This is both quiet enough for me and keeps the temperatures around 35 degrees at idle. The fan speed doesn't change at all up until the CPU reaches 60 degrees, which is the max temperature I've observed any CPU core to reach under normal non-gaming or rendering workloads with the fans at 50%. So to summarise: now, most of the time the fans are running at 50% speed and the CPU temps are below 60 degrees; Next, the last two dots are set with CPU intensive scenarios in mind. The third point is 65 degrees = 75% speed (could be 80% speed if you're worried about thermal runaway, or 70% speed if you want it to be a bit quieter at this temperature, there's room for adjustment here), and the fourth 70 degrees = 100% speed. The reason for this 10 degree span is twofold: For one, this is the temperature range which is easily handled by my cooling solution with fans at close to full speed when the CPU is at 100% utilisation. This is also (70c) the max temperature I would prefer my CPU to run at for longer duration, although it is well below throttling temp and even 10 degrees below the widely assumed safe operating temp for my chip. Just an aside, putting both latter values (graph dots) at 70 degrees = 100% speed should have had the same effect, as the fan speed would increase linearly by 100% over 10 degrees in either scenario. I just like to use all the dots.

These values are an example. EDIT: as other users have pointed out, the fact that these values work for me doesn't mean they'll be perfect for your cooling setup. They could be a bit too relaxed if your chip is quite hot in general or too aggressive from a noise standpoint if the CPU tends to briefly fluctuate above 60 degrees under medium workloads. END EDIT. The key to quiet fans is to prevent them from switching speed at lower, "safe" temps, and instead to have them aggressively ramp up when the temperature goes over whatever value you're comfortable having the CPU run at over a longer period of time. Note, this isn't my approach with my graphics card, there I'm a bit more focused on avoiding thermal runaway and tend to have the card fans ramp up to 100% long before any thermal throttling would occur, as well as have them run faster at lower temps to prevent the near-throttle temps from ever occurring. In general, a graphics card will reduce its processing speed (core and/or memory clocks) before it hits a safe thermal limit - for my rx 480 the performance throttling temperature is 83 degrees, but the "safe" max temp is over 90. CPU's won't thermal throttle their processing capability (clock speed) based on temperature until they reach unsafe temperatures, so the motivation for fan speed curves is different for these two different scenarios.

EDIT: update 11.02.2020, Ryzen 2 CPUs WILL throttle their boost clocks long before reaching unsafe temp levels. For example, my CPU is at 65° under an all core 100% load, my boost clock on all cores is about 3990-4000mhz; my CPU is at 70° in the same scenario, the CPU boosts to 3950mhz. This may also be the case with intel CPU "turbo boost" level clocks. So it's up to you to ascertain if this is the case and then choose a performance and noise level you're comfortable with if you want your CPU to consistently boost as high as it can with your respective thermal solution (CPU cooler).

What a CPU still won't do is drop below stock clock speeds until it hits unsafe temps (thermal throttling), and in this way it is similar to gfx cards whose algorithms consider core/memory load as well as temperature to decide when to boost above stock ("boost clock", "game clock" or whatever your GPU AIB chooses to call the above stock overclock).

Just thought I should update this because I wrote it long before experimenting with my r5 3600 and the case cooling. Spending an inordinate amount of money on good airflow+static pressure fans nets me about a 50mhz all core boost clock with an aggressive fan curve by keeping CPU temps between 60-65 at max utilisation. Wasn't worth it.

Hope this helps some people out there, happy building :)

Late edit: Link to second post with additional information on fan curves.

Hi everyone, I have a 360 AIO, 1 exhaust, and 3 intake all using NF-A12x25 PWMs. This is the fan curve I follow:

And this is my fan control set up:

I wanted to know if it is ok for my exhaust and intake to operate, in relation to my CPU temp (just like my AIO). Is this ok, or should I change the source?

So I once brought my pc to a repair store where he proceeded to put all the case's fans + cpu fan on the maximum speed permanently, which ended up improving the cooling and added noise which does not bother me. I was wondering if this is OK and normal to do, or if I should put an actual fan curve on them. Thanks in advance

When setting a CPU fan curve, I can look up the recommended temperature for my CPU and use that information to set a curve that's as quiet as possible while still being safe. Easy.

When it comes to setting my CASE fans however (all on SYS FAN 1), I am completely lost. By default SYS FAN is set to read CPU temperature as an input. Setting "system temperature" as the input intuitively makes more sense to me because other things can get hot besides the CPU, but I have no idea if I'm right about that, and even if I am, I have no idea what a "safe" system temperature is and cannot confidently set a fan curve that I know won't hurt my electronics.

This seems like such a simple question and yet Google is completely failing me here.

Everyone knows the theory about positive pressure in the PC case to prevent dust. But what if, while gaming, GPU usage spikes to 100%, the GPU fans run very intensely, and at the same time, all the case fans are set to monitor the MOBO or CPU temp (which is at, say, only 20% usage in a given game)? Does this eliminate the positive pressure? GPU fans spin very intensely, and air needs to be drawn in from somewhere, for example, from any gaps where there are no dust filters.

Therefore, I came up with the theory that at least one case fan should monitor the GPU temperature and also rev up significantly to supply additional air to the GPU fans and thus maintain positive pressure in the case.

This theory arose from another thread in which I asked about the purpose of setting one of the fans to monitor the GPU temperature.

What's your opinion?

I see so many people asking about what fan curve is good or what temperatures are acceptable. I sturggled with this for a while and just expirmented myself for awhile with little help from online sources,

The first thing you have to understand is there is NO one size fits all fix to what your temps should be or how your fan curves should be set up, but hereare a few big pointers. Please note that this is a GAMING-FOCUSED guide.

no one-size-fits-all
Temperatures for pc parts are always in Celsius. Temps of 20-45 can be considered good "idle temps" depending on the CPU model and the cooler. Temps up to 80 degrees are completely fine for all core temps, and generally, 70-75 is a good place being on the "safe side". Generally, CPUs don't thermal 95 degrees, meaning they won't slow down until they hit 95. GPUS, have about the same tolerances, but keep in mind, with the larger DIE size of gpus, they have a hotspot temp as well as the general.

In regard to fan curves, it depends on your setup, CPU, ambient temperature and cooling solution. Usually the reason to use a fan curve is to make your setup as quiet as possible while still maintaining safe and high performing temperatures. You also want to make sure that your fans arn't speeding up and slowing rapidly and often. That will lead to more annoyance than having the fans at a higher speed, as well as damage to the fans.

The best way to control your fan curves depends on how convenient of a program you'd like. You can always control fan speeds within the bios, howver this can prove anbnoying to edit curves on the fly. I rewcomend using the open-source program "Fan Control." This is increadibly light on system components and increadibly easy to use.

The ideal way, in my opinion, to set up a fan curve is to use the highest fan speed that is not noticeable while gaming. Please note that this comes from the perspective of someone with the following parts:

King 95pro, Liquid Freezer III 360mm, 9800x3d, 2070s(soon to be upgraded)

If your parts run hot already in games(75+ degrees), please ignore this guide and continue to use default curves or make the fan speed higher. The easiest way to do this is to set the fan speeds manually to set speeds(%) and listen and choose the highest that is not noticeable. Do this for every different brand/model of fan in your system. Non audible is generally 800 rpm or lower depending on the fan

I would set that unoticable speed to the speed from 0 degrees up until 75 degrees. Then increase the speed from there until the fans are absolutely be maxed out at 85-90 degrees. The goal is to keep the fan speeds in the “non-audible range” while gaming, unless massive temp spikes happen. The same can be done for the AIO pump if applicable. I would recommend leaving the GPU alone or setting up a different curve for it.

The next step should be to test the fan curves. Use MSI Afterburner to monitor CPU/GPU temps while gaming. And just enjoy some games while keeping an eye out for high temps and an ear out for rapid changes in fan speed.

Here's an example of my fan curve for my case fans and AIO fans

https://imgur.com/a/Hb5uknA

*note: my cpu hits 50-60 in most games(cyberpunk, indiana, etc). with this and 65-70 in Warzone(cpu demanding)

If your cpu is hitting the higher temps where the fans change speed(75+ according to this guide), the curves should be changed. This kind of rapid changing of fan curves should not be happening. If this is the case, increase the length of the increase to spread out the increase in fan speed (make the slope smaller and increase the length). Additionally confirm the GPU is under 80ish degrees.

Please note that the fan curves can be highly dependant on your setup, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Note that this is coming from someone with a relatively cool CPU and a good cooler. Lower tier coolers may require a very different fan curve, likely with higher speeds and a longer ramp-up.

I hope that this helps some newer builders. Please let me know if you have any quistions or concerns.

Got a new build and having trouble figuring out fan speeds/temps/settings.

Relevant hardware:

Lian Li Fancool 216 (with its 3 stock fans)

Ryzen 7 5800X CPU

Deepcool AK620 CPU cooler

PowerColor 6800XT

I'm trying to figure out what I should base my fan curve temps on. CPU fan is obvious, it's based on the CPU temp. However, for the 3 case fans, I'm confused. Should I also base them on the CPU temp as well? But what if the CPU load is low but the GPU load is high, should I base them on the GPU temp (is that possible?) Or "system" temp? Or "chipset" temp?

Furthermore, I know what temps for the CPU are the critical points when I want to ramp up fan speed. But I don't know what are the critical system temps? Like, I know if my CPU is at 80c I want my CPU fan at 100%. But what is the critical system temp at which I want my system fans at 100%? (If system temp is even what I should base the fan speed on?) Is that the ambient air temp in the case?

Also, what is the recommended software I should be using to control the fans? I've tried MSI Center, but I can't figure out if that needs to be running the whole time, or if I can just apply the settings then close the app and leave it closed? I know I can set it in the BIOS, just wondering if there's a more convenient way to do it.

Thanks for any advice!

Hi all,

I just completed building/testing my PC, but I am unsure about what the best fan curves are to use. I currently am using the standard curves given from the BIOS.

Case: MSI Vampiric 010
CPU: 15-13600k
GPU: MSI Gaming Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB
MoBo: MSI Pro Z690-A WiFi DDR5
RAM: Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) 5600MHz C36
PSU: Corsair CX750F RGB
CPU Fan: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE
Case fans: 6x Thermalright TL-C12C-S

I have currently daisy chained 3 case fans (twice, so 2x3) PWM.My motherboard however does have 6 seperate fan connectors, so plugging each fan in on their own would be possible as well (if that would be any better instead of daisy chaining them).

Could anyone perhaps help me out in this case?

Thank you in advance.

Edit: Currently playing CS:GO and below are my current temps with the standard BIOS fan curves:

CPU Core temperature: around 44 degrees Celcius
CPU Socket temperature: around 33 degrees
System temp: 33

Fan speeds:
CPU Fan: 450 RPM
Sys fans: 1100 RPM
GPU Fan: 1400 RPM

I just built a pc and wanted to get recommendations on fan curves. I’m looking for a silent pc that can still run games without overheating or getting 75+ in temps

Hi guys,

I customized the cpu heatsink fan curve with Fan Control but left the case fans (2 intake and 1 exhaust) curve to stock. From what I understand from Bios they track the temperature by one point on the motherboard (bottom left).

Do I leave them that way or should I set them to follow the cpu/gpu temperature? What do you think?

Thank you very much.

So i want to create a fancurve for my cpu. My cpu cooler and case fans are too loud and it annoys me. I have a ryzen 7 5700x3d and a Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB cooler.

First off, i don''t know what speeds i should put at what temperatures. I want my cpu to be cool but not that the fans are so hot. Also, what do case fans use as the temperature source? Should i just use my cpu temps as a reference? Lastly, what do these two features in the picture do and what is the best settings for therm? Thank you in advance!

After installing multiple noctua fans, I have come to the conclusion, that although quiet, have an annoying tendency to subtly change RPM in a oscillating motion. this change in fan speed is a tad irritating to listen to, so, I have attempted to create a custom curve to eliminate this phenomena and ensure that the system runs quiet when idle and cool when under load.

So, how do you guys set your custom fan curves? do you break out a two-step beat (50% at idle temps, 100% under load) or do you prefer a smooth luscious curve from zero to infinity?

let curve critique commence!

Hey guys! I recently built my first pc. The specs are:

Cpu :Ryzen 5 2600

Mobo :MSI B450 gaming pro carbon ac

GPU :Rtx 2060

Cpu cooler :Cooler master hyper 212 turbo

SSD : Crucial mx500 500 gb

Psu : Corsair cx550

Case : Cooler master mb511

I had first connected the case fans to the psu and noticed that it was very loud. Then i bought a fan splitter and connected the front case fans to the Mobo.

I want to know what is a good fan curve for both the cpu cooler and the case fans.

Also the case fans are 3 pin not 4 pin.

Hey guys, I finished my PC a couple weeks back and everything has been good so far. The only issue I had initially was that the case fans would be increasing and decreasing speed as each minor temperature change which was really annoying. I found some YouTube videos that recommended a specific fan curve, which did fix that issue.

This is the curve for my case fans (3 intake, 3 exhaust) I have Arctic ACFAN00137A P12 PWM PST fans and they're all daisy chained together to a fan hub that came with my 5000d case.

Does that curve look good? My PC is idling at about 37c to 40c while case fans are at about 480rpm based on the curve at those temps.

There's a separate curve for my AIO which I have mounted as a front intake. I did not change the curve for this. I left it the way the software had it by default. Here is what it looks like

Should I be changing this? The AIO fans have an RPM of about 750 while its idling in the 37c-40c range.

I'm a bit clueless when it comes to this stuff, so any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks

Hi can you guys give me some thoughts on your fan curves so i can use it as a guide. My cpu curve in asus bios is set to 40% under 50 degrees them it goes up to 70% until it hits 65 degrees then all the way to 100% if it hits 75 degrees. The case fans are set to 30% under 40 degrees then goes up to 60% under 75 degrees and then to 100%. Now my problem is while gaming it goes up and down constantly obviously in headphones you can’t really notice that but still i don’t think its good thing. My setup: Nr200p, R7 5800x, rtx2070, cpu cooler: Scythe fuma 2, case fans: 3x arctic p12 pwm

Looking for the ideal curve for sound, coolness and wear and tear on components. So what's everyone working with?

Well, I built my PC, picked out the parts and it's beautiful. The time came after setting everything up to set up custom fan curves, and my interest in doing so went out the window. Every Youtube video for beginners would start out with a nice definition, but within 5 minutes they were speaking like I should already know what they're talking about an what temperatures are acceptable, etc. How important is it that I set up a custom fan curve? I'm willing to do so but lack the knowledge.