Intel HSF question

[rebel316]

I just put together a new core2duo system and the first time building a pc with an intel processor. As I turned the PC on for the first time, it booted up without a problem, but my initial concern was the heatsink fan did not spin up right away and I waited about 20 seconds before it started to spin. Is this normal behavior for the HSF? or do I have a faulty HSF? The temperatures were roughly hovering in the 21-25C when idle when I had it on for about an hour.

 

[hennessy1]

That doesnt sound right to me. Even though most mobos have a fan controller that will slow down the fan when it is at certain temps and spin it faster when its hotter. It should never go off completely to my knowledge.

 

[rebel316]

It doesn't completely go off, it just took a little bit of time before it started spinning after the initial bootup, it doesn't stop abruptly or anything like that.

 

[hennessy1]

Oh ok then it doesnt sound like anything is really wrong I mean if it stays on which it should then your ok. May I ask as to which cpu you have that 21-25c is really low with air. especially with intel hsf

 

[Blain]

The non-spinning fan kind of freaked me out at first also.
But when the heat goes up, so does the fan rpm. :thumbsup:

 

[rebel316]

I am running a E4400, but I assume the temps will rise since I didn't really have much to really test it with under heavy operation.

 

[BoboKatt]

Go in your BIOS and check where your fan info is. You will note that if your mobo/cpu supports smart fan or whatever they call it, there is by default I believe a temperature that the fan will start up (and you and choose what temp that is and what speed you want your fan at) and then there is also the temp at which your fan goes to full speed.

You can play with that, if you have those options and just set the 'start" temp to like 10c. It seems your fan is starting up only when your CPU reaches a certain temp. Naturally if you have not used in hours and the comp is off and you boot it up, in the first few seconds maybe even 30 or 50 seconds it will be below the threshold.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I had this happen to me with a Celeron 440 Conroe-L chip. It runs at 2.0Ghz, but only uses 35W. It's so cool, that even though it ships with a half-height heatsink, it still doesn't get warm enough at idle for the CPU fan to spin for more than a few seconds then it stops again. I had to disable "CPU smart FAN" control, and then the fan would spin all the time.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I had this happen to me with a Celeron 440 Conroe-L chip. It runs at 2.0Ghz, but only uses 35W. It's so cool, that even though it ships with a half-height heatsink, it still doesn't get warm enough at idle for the CPU fan to spin for more than a few seconds then it stops again. I had to disable "CPU smart FAN" control, and then the fan would spin all the time.