One of the most common issues faced by pro-gamers and graphic designers is CPU overheating. The most common reason for it is that CPU fans aren’t operating at the speeds they are required to. Hence, as a result, your CPU overheats.
This might be due to the automatic fan controller not functioning properly or problems in your OC profile. Luckily, you can manually control your CPU’s fan speed and enhance airflow to cool it down.
There are many ways to do so, the most common of which is entering the UEFI or BIOS of your PC and controlling it, so let’s find out about how to change CPU Fan speed there:
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How To Adjust Fan Speed Using Your BIOS or UEFI
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface and BIOS are pretty much similar, as they both allow you to control your fan speed and the process to enter them is pretty much similar on every motherboard.
Basically, UEFI and BIOS have the same job, but the UEFI is more advanced, comes with modern motherboards, and stores all initialization data in form of a data file on the system instead of storing it in firmware.
Although the UEFI can differ from motherboard to motherboard, you can go through the following steps to enter them.
- Restart your PC, and enter the boot screen. You can look for boot screen instructions on the first display that appears when the computer restarts. The most common keys are Esc, F2, or F12 to enter.
- Once you are in the UEFI BIOS utility, look for Q-fan Control, Smart Fan Control, or Fan Control tab in the top horizontal row or something similar.
- Once you are there, you will see a list of fans with a curve graph. It is very simple to understand. Before altering the graph, select the fan you want to control and change the fan mode to normal.
- The x-axis of the graph denotes temperature and the y-axis denotes the speed of the fan. You can alter the curve as per your need so that when the PC reaches a certain temperature it will increase the fan speed to your preferred settings.
- If you have an older BIOS interface this setting will be a bit different, you can scroll down the BIOS menu to see Monitor, Status, or other submenu and navigate to Fan Speed Control in it.
- Instead of a curve, in this interface, you have RPM settings (rotations per minute). You can increase the RPM fans up to the fan’s rated speed. You can’t go higher than the fan’s maximum speed, obviously.
- Once you have customized the speed as per your requirements, save the settings and reboot your PC.
While this method is universal and effective, it’s quite a bit of a hassle to reboot and then change settings from such an interface. Modern computers and software provide you with an easier solution.
How To Change CPU Fan Speed Without BIOS?
There are two ways you can change CPU fan speed without BIOS. Both ways involve fan control software, but the first method has official software from your motherboards or CPU manufacturer, and the other method involves third-party software.
If you have an advanced and modern gaming rig, it will provide you with an on-screen advanced interface or command center that allows you to control everything from one place including fan speed and overclocking profiles, and several other factors of PC hardware.
However, those who don’t have official software can download third-party applications for the job. Just make sure you download from a trusted source, and then you have got nothing to worry about.
The process doesn’t require much navigation as it did with BIOS. You can simply run the command center and you will see fan speed control right away. All the fans on your motherboard and your PC, the case will be listed in front of you.
You can select the fan you want to change the speed of, and directly alter the speed using a curve, rpm, or lever, as per software preferences.
How To Increase CPU Fan Speed On Windows 10?
You can use either of the above methods to control the fan speed on Windows 10. Whether you use the BIOS method or the software method the process is pretty much similar.
However, if you want to increase your CPU fan speed on a laptop, there is an easy method to do it from the desktop.
Here are the steps to do so:
- Open Control Panel from Start Menu on Windows 10 and go to “Hardware and Sound>Power Options”.
- A new window will appear. Follow through by clicking on “Change Plan Settings>Change Advanced Power Settings”.
- The Power Options dialog box will appear, go to the Advanced Settings tab and click on the plus drop-down behind Processor Power Management.
- You will have sub-menu options with one titled System Cooling Policy. Click the drop-down arrow under it and select Active from the drop-down menu and then click Ok.
- Click on Apply and then Ok.
- You have successfully increased your fan speed.
Controlling Fan Speed With External Fan Hub
Did you know that your desktop computer’s drive bay can be fitted with an external CPU fan controller now? Well, modern technology does surprise us all.
The External Fan Hub is an advanced hardware tool that will fit in your PC case and allow you to control the fan speed of every fan on your PC easily. You won’t need to meddle with settings or BIOS, and you can directly control fan speed with the push of a few buttons.
Advanced External Hubs can also allow you to monitor certain other features along with managing fan speed. You can monitor temperature stats for both CPU and GPU to know when you need to increase fan speed.
Related: External Ram For Laptop
Types of Fans You Can Control
There are three types of fans you can have on your PC, out of which you can only control two. Hence, if you are unable to control your CPU fan’s speed, it might be because the fan doesn’t allow control.
Let’s take a look at all three types one by one.
PWN Fans and DC Fans
Both of these fans are plugged into your motherboard and hence can be controlled using either BIOS or using third-party software. You can easily locate them in your PC case by two prominent factors.
The first one is that they are plugged directly into your motherboard. That’s how you can control them.
The second factor is a bit different for PWN and DC fans. The PWN fans have a small, rectangular four-pin connector. On the other hand, the DC fans have a three-pin connector. Based on this reason, the PWM fans are termed as more energy efficient.
However, you can’t raise the speed of PWN fans above a certain limit decided by the manufacturer, while with DC fans, the case is entirely different.
Molex Fans
Molex fans are very different from the above two as they come with a 4-pin flat connector and connect directly to the power supply.
Since the fans are connected directly to the power supply, they can’t be controlled. There is no intervening motherboard interface that would allow you to control fan speed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to change CPU fan speed in MSI Afterburner?
Unfortunately, the MSI Afterburner can only control GPU fan speed and not the CPU one. However, it is packed with tons of other features. So, you will need third-party software to control CPU fan speed, or you can control it from BIOS.
Which type of fans doesn’t allow you to control their speed?
The Molex fans come with a direct connection to the power supply and pass the motherboard. Since there is no way to access them from BIOS or from software, you can’t control their speed.
Can I increase the fan speed of my CPU?
Yes, you can. There is a variety of ways you can increase the speed of fans in your CPU. The most common of these is using BIOS or using third-party software on your desktop. Modern gaming rigs also offer advanced control centers to control fan speeds on screen.
Why is my CPU fan speed not changing automatically?
Yes, it is true that many PC’s come with an automatic fan controller to optimize fan speeds during intense gameplay and normal working hours. However, those controllers might malfunction, and then you will need to control the CPU fan speed manually.
Conclusion
Whether it’s intense hardcore gaming or demanding graphic editing work, if your CPU fans aren’t at optimum speeds, your PC might overheat which can result in some serious problems. Fortunately, you can control your CPU’s fan speed manually.
We have shared plenty of methods that you can use to do so in the above article, both with and without entering BIOS settings. Increasing your CPU’s fan speed will prevent overheating and keep your PC cool for consistent performance.