PC fans being among the most important bits of tools, indispensable in cooling your system internals down. Normally they don’t make any sounds, so you probably won’t hear them working, except for the times when your computer is running essentially under maximum load.
Yet, some issues might compel your fans to run at maximum RPM the whole time and wear them out, which might not be the desired thing for you unless you are quite content with the noise.
Why Your PC Fans Run at Full Speed
With many reasons being the PC fans run at max speed for long time intervals, it is important to be aware of why it happens. Under this supposition that there is nothing wrong with your computer, the main cause might be a fan header not well connected or got damaged.
Rather, you can go through with another problem that is causing your fans spinning at full speed. This can be a plethora of things such as, missing or misconfigured utilities that don’t blow air until their specified times or a program that uses system resources and thus makes the computer slow.
Last but nor least, some fans might consider empty lanes as unimportant; but they are not. But it will keep your PC running cooler nonetheless, although all or part of your PC fans being operated at full load will make them wear out quickly otherwise, causing annoying jet engine-like noises.
How to Stop Your PC Fans Running at Full Speed
Fortunately, this problem is much easier to do away. Generally, a few proven checks are all you will need.
Check Internal Temperatures and Clean Air Vents
The first thing you may want to do is to check your air ducts. Her personal computer’s high-spinning fans are the first noticeable sign that it is running too hot.
If you’re experiencing high CPU or GPU temperatures on idle or regular loads, there’s a good chance that either of the following is causing it:
- The air vents are deflected which inhibits the normal airflow patterns in inside the PC case.
- Something is not correct about your CPU heatsink – thermal paste (if any).
- Problem a me of fan either at CPU or GPU.
Basically, heating up any part on inside is not advantageous, as well. Even though in most cases the heat caused by these heavy loads is something we get used to, you will still need to learn how hot is too hot for your hardware. A simple way would be through the cleaning of the fans and air vents and this will have a huge impact. There exist other remedies as well for the GPU overheating.
Now, if that doesn’t work, you can even try to remove and re-apply the CPU’s thermal paste and GPU’s thermal paste. Please don’t forget to clean out the old thermal goo! You may as well reapply thermal paste on some common laptop models, but it is rather appropriate for skilled individuals, thinking about the technology of producing laptop.
When everything is set up and running, it wouldn’t hurt to watch on your CPU temperatures occasionally to rule out similar problems in the future.
Check Background Programs
Besides the above mentioned, your fans may pulverize because background programs consume your system resources in excess. The load of the system can be increased, thus speeding up the CPU fans.
The fastest way of solving the problem on a Windows computer is to call in the Task Manager and run it on your machine. Make sure to stop all the processes that aren’t considered critical to system. This should relieve your PC’s work so that it will slow down the fans as well. Plus, you could block some background Windows apps in order to lighten up the workload as well.
Check Fan Connections on the Motherboard
DC and PWM fans are two examples of fans with a different wiring, so you should wire them up in a way that takes their uniqueness into account. Almost all fans are equipped with a four-pin header that is capable of PWM (pulse-width modulation) control within software. This allows your CPU, GPU, and other case fans to effectively run according to the temperature internally of the computer.
Ensure your fans are connected to header pins on the motherboard. The GPU usually manages the modulation of its fan, which is unlike the CPU fan that needs to plug into your motherboard’s correct header (Usually marked as the CPU fan header). This is also valid for case fans which you plug in the motherboard no matter otherwise.
Typing this you will make sure all fan headers are plugged in properly and then you can also check BIOS to see if fan runs in which mode. Some motherboard manufacturers set the BIOS to run fans in DC mode which will eventually cause them to operate at full speed. They will go full speed even if there’s no need for that.
Check Fan Curves
Additionally, one can adjust CPU and GPU fan curves in order to do this. As a rule, motherboards or laptops OSs have some manufacturer system utility software that can set the fan curves that change the fan speed depending on the CPU and GPU temperature.
As an another option, one can use a third-party program such as MSI Afterburner or Fan Control to customize the fan speeds and create the fan curve that will make sure the fan runs optimally at all the time instead of getting full speed constantly.
Install Manufacturer Software for Automatic Fan Control
Much the same as you require drivers for the separate components of your PC, you may require the manufacturer software (usually from motherboard manufacturer) to control the fan speed at a certain level automatically. Even though it is not necessary, enter recommended software for CPU/GPU monitoring or from the motherboard or laptop manufacturer. They might be easier to use than available on many different sites.
It frequently is equipped with preset for fan speed modes as well, and hence, it gives you greater control over your fans only by pressing the button. It includes programs such as Dragon Center for MSI, Armory Crate for ROG laptops and iCue for Corsair fans to name just a few of those.
Get New Fans
Additionally, if everything else fails, you could find the fans are faulty and would need replacing. I would hope that it doesn’t come to that point as it’s more a last resort. But just as all else in life, your PC hardware will age as you use it. It might be high time to buy a new.
Our article about the right case fans for your PC is a great introduction, and additional to that, we have posted also the article about the best fan controllers for your PCs.
It is as easy as following a few basic steps. You will be able to take care of those fans. Monitoring the PC fans gives you the opportunity to repair any problems that could cause problems in future and also you can make sure that the computer is always in a perfect state without of making any sounds or reducing the lifespan of the fans.
