CPU fan question

[pontifex]

the cpu fan on one of our pcs went bad today. i replaced it with another fan.

when you turn the pc on, the fan runs for about 10 seconds then stops.

is it possible that the fan only runs when the cpu gets to a certain temp or should it be running all the time? the fan is some cheap generic fan and there isn't any documentation for it.

i'm thinking it should be running all the time, at least every fan i've ever seen does.

i turned the pc on with the fan and heatsink off and the fan ran all the time until the pc shut off by itself. so this is what makes me think it only runs when it gets hot.

any ideas or suggestions?


edit: well, i was in th emiddle of testing this when i made the post. apparently when the cpu temp reaches 54 or 55 degrees celsius, the fan kicks on for about 10 seconds and drops it down to about 50 and repeats.

i guess its ok

 

[Lord Evermore]

This can be set in the BIOS usually. You can turn off the feature, or set it to a different temperature. Seems silly to let the CPU run until it gets really hot, then cool it down, then hot, then cool, on and on. Some BIOSes will also let you set how fast the fan runs so if it's just kind of warm it'll turn slowly, but some airflow is a good idea.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
This can be set in the BIOS usually. You can turn off the feature, or set it to a different temperature. Seems silly to let the CPU run until it gets really hot, then cool it down, then hot, then cool, on and on. Some BIOSes will also let you set how fast the fan runs so if it's just kind of warm it'll turn slowly, but some airflow is a good idea.

theres no option in the bios

 

[Lord Evermore]

What mainboard? Any mainboard that has a feature to shut off the fan should have such an option. It's usually in the power management section, or CPU configuration, or hardware monitor.

 

[F1shF4t]

alternatively you can connect the fan to a molex connector using an adapter so it always spins at full speed or use another fan header on the mainboard if it has one.