CPU fan shuts off when it's cold.

[aequalsb]

With the E6300 stock cooler and this Gigabyte 945P-S3 mobo my cpu fan will stop turning when it's really cold. Like 50F. In the Mornings mostly. Is that cause the cpu is cold and doesn't need cooling or because the Stock HSF is bad? Once I get some gaming going the thing warms up and goes normal.

I think the smart fan setting in the bios is on too.

Dru

 

[Lowsky]

whats the problem.... it turns on when it is hot right?

less noise the better... i wish my processor fan was off sometimes turn off quite and cool setting or whatever intel calls it

 

[redwing]

Your fan/MB supports PWM fan control (check that it's using a 4-pin connector), it'll automaticall adjust the fan speed based on temperature, so that you don't have to sit through extra noise if you dont have to.
Go into bios (smartfan/ fan pwm option, or something similar, depends on MB) and you can modify it further, setting a low speed & low temp as well as a high speed/high temp.

When your CPU temp is under your low limit, the fan will turn at the *low* setting you entered. When your temps fall between the low and high settings, it will ramp up the speed linearly, and obviously if your temps exceed your *high* limit your fan will be running at 100%.

I suggest you find a low speed that is virtually inaudible to you (try 40%, 50%, something like that) and set your minimum fan speed to that.
35 or 40 degrees is a good temp to associate with that speed, since it's not dangerous for the CPU to be running at such temps. As long as your CPU remains below these temps, your fan will be unaudible (yay).
Set your maximum fan speed to 100%, and set your maximum temp to something like 50-55 celcius. The larger the delta between your low/high temps, the slower the fan will ramp up, and the less annoying it'll sound to you. You'll have to play around a bit to get it to work optimally, without excessive changes in fan speeds during normal (low CPU load) operation.

Cheers

 

[aequalsb]

Thanks for your quick responses.

I kinda figured that the fan speeds down when it's cold, but it totally shuts off when it colder than say.....60F in my house. Dont use the heater in the winter. With the advanced fan speed control, would it totally shut the fan off to keep the processor warm? Kinda like a thermostat in your car. Closes to help the car warm up and opens when it gets warm. Doesn't the processor have to be hotter than a certain temp to run?

I have the the 4 pin cpu fan. I can tell when the cpu is getting warm cause the fan speeds up. I just don't know if it should shut off completely when it's freezing a$$ cold.

 

[redwing]

It's fine, dont worry about it.
The fan doesnt completely shuts off, it just turns so slowly that you can't hear it (although I could be wrong, but I think that's how it is by default on your gigabyte mb).

You're right, the principle is the same as the radiator in your car. The little thermal diode in the cpu (or wherever) is like a thermostat.
The only difference is that in most cars the rad fan is either off or on (and loud), whereas when you're using pulse width modulation (pwm) to control the CPU fan, you have a range of speeds available to you, and you decided how fast the fan speed increases with temperature.

Bottom line : everything's working properly.

 

[aequalsb]

kk

Thanks again.

 

[Paperdoc]

It MAY be that the fan actually does shut off. I have a different rig, but I'm pretty sure that, in the BIOS fan speed settings on mine, one line actually sets the temperature below which the CPU fan does not run at all. I thought that was a poor idea and set it to 0C so it will always run at least at the minimum speed.

 

[aequalsb]

I'm gonna look in the bios. I hate when i stops running cause i set the cpu fan stop alarm and it goes off in the early mornings when the living room gets frigid.

I'll let ya know...

Dru