Software to automatically change speed of fans

[haven888]

I have an older Shuttle XPC in a shoebox case. It has a little GUI program called XPC Tools that lets the user define threshold temperatures and adjust the speed of the various fans accordingly (and also lets you set overclocking speeds and report on system health). You can create multiple fan profiles and load a particular one. I'm shopping for a new micro ATX or mini ITX case and the components to assemble a new PC, and would like it to have comparable automatic fan-control capabilities.

Are there similar fan-control programs on the market? I've seen some on Newegg with knobs or switches to control fan-speed manually, but I want this to be done automatically so fan speed can be adjusted when I'm away from the computer, as changing room temperature and system temperature require.

Thanks

 

[nagol567]

most Motherbords come with a UI whith smart fan control. mine's program shows me a graph and lets me edit the fan speed quite easy.
How much do you want to spend on this rig?
are you gonna overclock?
What is it going to be used for? (gaming?)

 

[haven888]

The main reason I want this feature is that my office at home in the summer months often gets very hot during the day, when I'm not there to adjust the fan speed manually. This past summer we had a week of temperatures in excess of 100F/~38C), and temperatures in the high 90s are common. With a mini ITX case with restricted air flow because of cables etc, I worry that the system components won't be getting sufficiently cooled when the ambient air temperature is so high.

So I want the speed of the fans to adjust automatically in tandem with the changing temperatures of the system components, the way XPC Tools does it. Do the motherboards' smart fan control programs allow the speed of the fans to be automatically raised or lowered as the temperature of the board, drives, and CPU reaches a set threshold?

I also want to avoid a solution that takes up a bay with a fan-control panel, or that takes up a slot.

Hoping to spend no more than $30US for this fan-control capability, not including the cost of the fans of course.

Here's a screenshot of the XPC Tools GUI interface:

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/XPC-Tools/1143945164/1

 

[nagol567]

so do you want a new case? new motherboard? new fans? or just a program to control fans. im still a little confused. if your fans are plugged into the 3 or 4 prong plugs on the motherboard the motherboard will regulate the fans automatically in the bios. you can go into the bios and turn off this and they will run at 100% unless you use a software program to control the speeds automatically. (if you have the bios controlling the fans then the software wont work) What motherboard do you have?

 

[cjtex]

AI tuner. check my thread shows a pic of fan speed/temp/voltage etc

 

[haven888]

so do you want a new case? new motherboard? new fans? or just a program to control fans. im still a little confused. if your fans are plugged into the 3 or 4 prong plugs on the motherboard the motherboard will regulate the fans automatically in the bios. you can go into the bios and turn off this and they will run at 100% unless you use a software program to control the speeds automatically. (if you have the bios controlling the fans then the software wont work) What motherboard do you have?

As I wrote:
"I'm shopping for a new micro ATX or mini ITX case and the components to assemble a new PC, and would like it to have comparable automatic fan-control capabilities [i.e. comparable to what XPC Tools on the Shuttle PC is providing]. "

I don't have any of the new hardware yet--trying to get advice on this issue before I make any choices.

If, as you say, "the motherboard will regulate the fans automatically in the bios", then the advantage of XPC Tools or similar over the BIOS is that the info is displayed in the GUI--you can see the fan speeds.

Do you get granular control over individual fans when using the BIOS interface?