E6600 stock fan often drops to 0 rpm. Is this normal?

[SemolinaPilchard]

I just installed an E6600 on a Gigabyte DS3 and am using the stock Intel heatsink/fan. I've got all the components running on my workbench (i.e., not in a case), where the ambient temp is ~65 deg F and the CPU temp is reported as ranging between 23 and 33 at idle or under light load.

The CPU fan often drops to 0 RPM for 1-5 seconds at a time, and then fires up again to 800-1200 rpm. It sometimes does this several times a minute. Is this normal? I assumed that the fan would always be running, even when the CPU is idling. I don't want to fry my brand-spankin' new processor. Any advice appreciated.

 

[FrankCastle]

im no expert but from memory i think that is normal for the c2d cpu's...the fan only spins when needed

can someone else please clarify?

 

[cookin]

If you want the fan to run all the time, you have to go into the bios and disable Smartfan. Under Smartfan the CPU fan just runs when the CPU is warm enough, and I believe Smartfan is enabled by default on a new board.