Help understanding Speedfan?

[MonKENy]

Can you guys help me understand a little better what Im looking at. and what is what?

I get the GPU of course but there is a CPU, System, and 4 cores, plus temp 1 and 2. How do I know whats being used and what just extra info?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I could only guess that they're port addresses, but the "$" has me befuddled.

You could always send an e-mail to the program's author: I think his first name is Alfredo. I'd had a congenial exchange with him back in the day -- probably 2005.

About the difference between "CPU" and "CPU core [n]," this topic came up in the last few days with a discussion of AI Suite's reporting of "CPU temperature" that always seemed >= 8C lower than the average-of-cores. Someone mentioned that the motherboard manufacturer had its own "CPU" sensor, and that such was being used in Suite. This might explain how "CPU" is linked to a Nuvoton sensor, and the cores aren't, except in Speedfan's organization of the items in the report.

And that leaves me a tad befuddled again.

My own personal interest goes to integrating fan-control so that an extra fan could be controlled not in reference to CPU temperature, but to GPU temperature. Speedfan might allow one to do this; neither Suite nor Afterburner will do it.

I'd always abjured using SpeedFan for my post-LGA-775 builds, because configuring it is tedious. Your thread has aroused my interest again.

Can you guys help me understand a little better what Im looking at. and what is what?

I get the GPU of course but there is a CPU, System, and 4 cores, plus temp 1 and 2. How do I know whats being used and what just extra info?

 

[MonKENy]

since the sys, nd temp 1 and 2 never changed temps I removed them from my list. Now I have GPU, CPU and core 0-3 and seem to get rising and falling of temps so those I will keep.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

since the sys, nd temp 1 and 2 never changed temps I removed them from my list. Now I have GPU, CPU and core 0-3 and seem to get rising and falling of temps so those I will keep.

I am curious as to :

Clock speed
Room-ambient
Core temperatures 1, . . , 4:
Idle
Load with any one of:
OCCT:CPU
Intel Extreme Tuning Utility
Intel Burn Test ["Maximum"]

It could run anywhere from idle of 25C to 40C, depending on case, cooling, clockspeed/voltage, and/or room-ambient.

You have to rename the temperatures that are following those in other monitors like HWMonitor. For idle, you could probably run them at same time, but otherwise use only one monitor at one time.

Last I saw in the ancient version I used, there was no graphic tool for setting fan curves. Parameters were entered in text-boxes.

But I was impressed of its abilities with 3-pin fans. Alfredo would've refined it to PWM and other features a long time ago.

 

[maddogmcgee]

easiest way is to download a profile for your motherboard. You need to sign up to do it and cross your fingers but it saves so much time working out what is what since someone else does that for you and gives them convenient names.

 

[MonKENy]

easiest way is to download a profile for your motherboard. You need to sign up to do it and cross your fingers but it saves so much time working out what is what since someone else does that for you and gives them convenient names.

Download a profile for speedfan? I dont even see any spot to do that. Can you elaborate?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Download a profile for speedfan? I dont even see any spot to do that. Can you elaborate?

The Dog is a genius. Yes, Almico SpeedFan has a link in that website from which you can select motherboards in a list. So, profiles -- yes . . . absolutely . . most likely -- indeed.

. . . . Darn . . . Now I remember one of the major turn-offs of SpeedFan. See, if I can't find my P8Z68 boards, and there's only one Z77 ASUS board, yes also: cross your fingers and prepare to be disappointed.

You'll have to follow the DIY manual of SpeedFan to configure to your own motherboard -- more likely.

 

[coffeejunkee]

I guess you found out by now, but to be clear: those are all the different temp sensors in your system. If you click the + it shows all the fans in your system (empty headers too) allowing you to choose which fans should be adjusted based on that temp sensor.

Aux = auxiliary, usually not used.

Always look at core temps, they are measured by very accurate sensor inside the cpu (well, only very accurate at higher temps, idle not so much). CPU temp is measured by Nuvoton IO chip, not sure how but I don't think it's too accutate.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I guess you found out by now, but to be clear: those are all the different temp sensors in your system. If you click the + it shows all the fans in your system (empty headers too) allowing you to choose which fans should be adjusted based on that temp sensor.

Aux = auxiliary, usually not used.

Always look at core temps, they are measured by very accurate sensor inside the cpu (well, only very accurate at higher temps, idle not so much). CPU temp is measured by Nuvoton IO chip, not sure how but I don't think it's too accutate.

I think it's probably a good assumption that the Nuvoton IO chip measuring the CPU temperature is a motherboard component. This would be consistent with assessments of software like AI Suite, in which the Monitor shows "CPU temperature" at 8+C lower than the average of cores. Someone suggested that this value comes from a motherboard sensor, and it would be consistent with the underlying fact that the Suite Monitor is ASUS' proprietary software for any given set of motherboard models.

So, putting the spotlight on SpeedFan again, one has to sort all this out, perhaps rename confidently identified sensors and fans, and then link the sensors and fans in the software.

 

[Z15CAM]

In my opinion FanSpeed should be avoided - Use HWMonitor Pro

 

[BonzaiDuck]

In my opinion FanSpeed should be avoided - Use HWMonitor Pro

I think it was more likely that the user would misinterpret this or that sensor before going through a "customization" process. In other cases, Alfredo may not have "got it right the first time" for this or that sensor.

It was enough reason for me to stick with the mobo proprietary software. But there are situations in which you might be able to link a GPU thermal sensor to a motherboard fan with SpeedFan. A person would just have to weigh the pros and cons. ASUS added a second independent CHA_FAN control with the software for Sabertooth Z77. Since they gave it a name other than "Fan Xpert," I wouldn't know if other mobo SW had the same features.

Did anyone ever post a "demo-tutorial" thread at Anandtech about the SpeedFan software?

 

[Ramses]

This is specific to a 990fx board, but the general pattern of it might help make sense of things. Maybe. http://www.overclock.net/t/1035333/official-asus-sabertooth-amd-owners-club/7370 It's a great piece of software when it's all setup, it's had the features that have just finally been added to the MoBo makers software for years and years and years.

 

[coffeejunkee]

In my opinion FanSpeed should be avoided - Use HWMonitor Pro

Never really understood the bad rep SpeedFan has with some people. Maybe the very small effort to configure it properly is asking too much? Is it the fact it shows all temperature readings, even the bogus ones from unused sensors in the IO-chip, which is confusing to some people? Or is it that it can't control the fans on many laptops, leading to unrealistic expectations by the owners of those? But then why blame SpeedFan instead of the manufacturer locking those fans?

Anyway, your suggestion is useless since HWMonitor can't control fan speeds. I will say though if there ever was a developer that deserved a donation it's Alfredo. Without him I would have had to buy another mobo since Asus fancontrol sucks bigtime, both in bios and Ai Suite.

 

[Ramses]

He's one of the few I've actually paid several times over many years.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Never really understood the bad rep SpeedFan has with some people. Maybe the very small effort to configure it properly is asking too much? Is it the fact it shows all temperature readings, even the bogus ones from unused sensors in the IO-chip, which is confusing to some people? Or is it that it can't control the fans on many laptops, leading to unrealistic expectations by the owners of those? But then why blame SpeedFan instead of the manufacturer locking those fans?

Anyway, your suggestion is useless since HWMonitor can't control fan speeds. I will say though if there ever was a developer that deserved a donation it's Alfredo. Without him I would have had to buy another mobo since Asus fancontrol sucks bigtime, both in bios and Ai Suite.

" Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / And sorry I could not travel both / And be one traveler, long I stood / And looked down one as far as I could."

The problem with the ASUS fan control software : you only get two profiles. Instead of matching any discrete fan-port to any of several temperatures, you can only have two profiles -- even for multiple fans in each -- linked to the CPU temperature, which, in turn, is a motherboard sensor as opposed to those of the cores.

Once everything is up and running with the Ai Suite fan-control, someone like me may want to link a new fan to (for instance) a GPU or other temperature. At this point, I'm only guessing that Speedfan can make that happen. To find out, I have to disrupt my status-quo using the ASUS software.

 

[JimmiG]

Never really understood the bad rep SpeedFan has with some people. Maybe the very small effort to configure it properly is asking too much? Is it the fact it shows all temperature readings, even the bogus ones from unused sensors in the IO-chip, which is confusing to some people? Or is it that it can't control the fans on many laptops, leading to unrealistic expectations by the owners of those? But then why blame SpeedFan instead of the manufacturer locking those fans?

Anyway, your suggestion is useless since HWMonitor can't control fan speeds. I will say though if there ever was a developer that deserved a donation it's Alfredo. Without him I would have had to buy another mobo since Asus fancontrol sucks bigtime, both in bios and Ai Suite.

I've been using SpeedFan at least for the last 3 builds. The built-in fan controls in the BIOS are usually not good enough (why can't you just set a target temperature and be done with it?), and most software provided by the board manufacturer have limited features, annoying bloated GUIs, are never updated and often just plain crash.

It does take a while to configure for the first time, but it's incredibly flexible. I back up the config file to a safe place - it's such an integral part of the system.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I've been using SpeedFan at least for the last 3 builds. The built-in fan controls in the BIOS are usually not good enough (why can't you just set a target temperature and be done with it?), and most software provided by the board manufacturer have limited features, annoying bloated GUIs, are never updated and often just plain crash.

It does take a while to configure for the first time, but it's incredibly flexible. I back up the config file to a safe place - it's such an integral part of the system.

Could you confirm for me whether (or not) SpeedFan would allow me to monitor one (or both) graphics card temperatures and THEN control PWM fans connected to the motherboard?

I had built my last two systems with an eye toward minimizing the total number of fans in the case, but maximizing the CFM throughput. I'm considering the use of one more PWM fan -- either a beefy 40x28mm model or an 80x15mm Noctua -- integral to a ducting solution for 2x SLI cards. I'd want to control this fan according to the GPU temperature, as opposed to CPU temperature which seems to be the reference for my ASUS software despite two fan profiles with one for CPU and the other for Chassis.

 

[Ramses]

You can tie any fan, all fans, or no fans, to any temp the speedfan is able to read, and you can define a custom fan speed curve for them. You can have a separate fan for each temp reading your board supports. There is really very little it will not do within the limitations of your given hardware.

 

[i7Baby]

I don't like SpeedFan. I prefer HWInfo - Sensors. You can use HWInfo readings and compare them to SpeedFan to help interpret what the SpeedFan readings are actually of.

HWInfo - http://www.hwinfo.com/

 

[Ramses]

I usually use the mobo maker software to figure out what speedfan is reporting, or a hairdryer on occasion. Fans are easy, just stop em lol. It's a lot of work but even asus's software isn't quite as capable as speedfan. It was really nice in a big case with ample cpu cooling to be able to ramp up the fans blowing on the GPU only when GPU temp went up but not spin up the other ones, stuff like that.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I usually use the mobo maker software to figure out what speedfan is reporting, or a hairdryer on occasion. Fans are easy, just stop em lol. It's a lot of work but even asus's software isn't quite as capable as speedfan. It was really nice in a big case with ample cpu cooling to be able to ramp up the fans blowing on the GPU only when GPU temp went up but not spin up the other ones, stuff like that.

Per your post before the one above, I suspected that SpeedFan would let you do that. These days, if something is working properly, I hesitate installing new software to replace it. So I'll eventually give SpeedFan a try to see if it fulfills my needs.

Right now, I have the ASUS Fan Xpert with two profiles: two fans following the "CPU_FAN profile" and two identical 200mm intake fans following the "Chassis" profile. The graphics cards 2x GTX 970 have a separate fan control curve set up under AfterBurner.

I'm assuming from your answer that I can actually control the "Twin-Frozr" GTX 970 fans (or any from the mobo headers) with SpeedFan -- according to the GPU temperature(s).

 

[Ramses]

Yes, assuming the hardware monitor chip, and the way in which a given motherboard maker employs it, is supported, speedfan can control any fan based off any temprature, GPU, hard drive/ssd, cpu, board, etc. Furthering that, you can overlap controls, so say your gpu temp controls the case side fans, but if the gpu temp exceeds x degrees, you can have it bring up additional fans that are normally controlled by some other temperature. It can be hairy to set up but it's really pretty much the epitome of fan control. It took me ages to really figure out what it was capable of, it isn't especially user friendly, and the interface is basically just what it was ten years or more ago.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I just did a little investigation into features of the ASUS Sabertooth X99 motherboard. It has something like 10 fan ports and 2 user-deployable thermal sensors. The BIOS incorporates fan control similar to the ASUS software, with graphical representation of user-defined fan-curves for all the fan-ports.

Incredible.

The Sabertooth boards traditionally offered 10-phase power design, while the top-end of the ASUS line provided 12. ASUS' latest pitch in their "Overview" pages for the Rampage V Extreme promotes the idea that power-phases are trumped by superior design. I'd hope that's also true for the Sabertooth.

 

[Ramses]

The 990FX Sabertooth was loaded with temp sensors and fan controls in that way also, so is my z97-WS Asus board I have now but to a slightly lesser extent. They implemented all the auto fan learning and programmable speed/temp curves that used to require software into the bios on this one also. It's the biggest reason I stay with Asus, I had an Asrock and it was woefully lacking in that department while otherwise being a good board (990FX's).

Speedfan is still more robust, but the bios level stuff is really quite good now, a serious boon for Linux users such as I am from time to time. They have come a looong way with such stuff in the bios.

Didn't moving the voltage stuff onto the CPU negate some of that fancy motherboard power supply business? I'm still mildly baffled by all the Intel voltage settings, the AMD stuff was much simpler. I left my z97-ws on auto with all the power management on and bumped the all cores multiplier to 46 and it seems happy to buzz along at that with 1.303 at most when stress testing. I suspect it could go lower if I knew what I was doing but it barely breaks 70C as it is, so hey..