One of the worst things that could ever happen to any gamer is when their computer’s fans suddenly go awry. You’re probably thinking that you only need to restart the game and the PC to resolve this issue, but it doesn’t. Every time you play a game or open Chrome, the fans go crazy and the next thing you know, your PC starts to overheat unnecessarily, resulting in a sheer drop of performance.
Luckily, there’s a fix for this and you don’t need to replace your fans just yet. This article will cover the best fan control software that controls fans speeds without any difficulty. Some of the software listed will also allow you to monitor your system, overclock CPU and GPU, on top of letting you adjust fan speeds.
Why Are PC Fans Loud?
Gamers will know what it’s like to deal with the constant noises of a PC fan, even when they’re at minimum fan speed setting. Granted, you’re not hearing the sound of a sedan in your room whenever you boot the PC, but the whirring noises may be too much for certain people.
CPU and GPU fans emit noises because both hardware are expending lots of energy to carry out their corresponding processing tasks. In this case, whenever someone is rendering a video, CPU fans will work harder than the GPU fans. But if someone is doing heavy-duty gaming, the GPU fans will work their butts off.
When CPUs and GPUs are operating, they will generate large amounts of heat, which is not good for these sensitive components. And so, to dissipate this heat, fans will keep the system cool by turning up the RPM (revolutions per minute). By reducing heat, your CPU and GPU will continue to operate at their optimal levels. But when CPU and GPU temperature get too high, both hardware will reduce their performance to gradually dissipate heat.
Simply put, you know when your fan’s speed for your CPU or GPU is slowing down when you’re noticing FPS drops while playing a game or your entire system unit slows down. Now, you’re probably thinking: why can’t you just control fan speeds on your own?
Because this feature isn’t exactly available right off the bat when you build your own PC or purchase a prebuilt gaming PC. You would have to download and install a CPU fan controller software that would allow you to do that.
What Are These Software That Provide Manual Fan Control?
There are a good number of fan control software out there that will let you manage and control PC fan speed even if you don’t have the technical know-how. These software are easy to run and operate, so much so that it’s similar to adjusting the speed of your electric fan.
Here’s a short list of our best fan control software, both free and paid. These are not arranged in any particular order and are great for both Windows and Mac users alike.
FAN CONTROL
Fan Control is the best fan control software out there, according to a lot of its users. It’s free and it’s an open course fan control software, so you’re going to get all the upgrades and versions on it without spending money on it.
Fan Control allows you monitor each controllable fan with individual cards, and you’ll data such as their fan speed, sensors, and custom fan curves.
Fan Control also has an assisted setup option which you can access by clicking on the Wrench icon at the upper left portion of the app. This is great for first time users of a fan control software who don’t know what they’re looking at.
Going through this assisted setup will allow users to boot up important data and have it displayed on the Fan Control panel. You’ll be able to see your different temperature sensors and match them with your correct CPU and GPU fans. This will then build the foundation for any future tweaks for PC fan speed.
Corsair iCUE
Corsair iCUE lets you manage all Corsair products installed on your PC. It also allows you to monitor your CPU’s temperature in real time, create lighting effects for when temperatures get too high, and allow you to control computer fans.
You get three modes with iCUE: Quiet, Game, and Movie. What this means is that each profile will allow you to set the GPU and CPU fan speed for when you’re doing something. You want to use the Quiet Mode for work so the CPU fan speed doesn’t get too fast and too noisy (unless your work involves video editing). Game Mode allows you to control CPU cooling fan speed and GPU fan speed to help guarantee optimal performance. Movie Mode is for when you want the computer to put in more work, but don’t want it to be noisy.
All in all, this is a nifty software that lets provides CPU and GPU fan control. It’s straightforward, and a reliable and light program that controls any Corsair CPU fan, and other paraphernalia from the same brand.
Macs Fan Control (For Mac)
Don’t get us wrong, but even Macbook’s fans become too noisy when they overheat. For this problem, you want Macs Fan Control software, which is a free and also the best Mac fan control software that controls fan speeds for Apple computers. This is similar to the PC Fan Control software that we listed right above.
The program is easy to use and allows you to easily optimize your fan speed for efficient cooling. Once you open the app, you’ll see all the fans on one side of the panel and components on the other side. To control your computer fan speed, just go to the Custom tab and adjust the CPU fan speed or intake fan speed using the slider. You can also go to Preference to see other users’ preferred settings.
This Mac fan speed controller software is intuitive and straightforward to use. You’ll be able to monitor all the important data for your computer’s components, such as CPU temperature and adjust fan speed using your own preference or from other users who installed this fan speed controller software on their Macbooks. This is the solution for the unnecessarily high CPU fan noise, and the only Mac fan control software you’ll ever need for your Apple computer.
MSI Afterburner
MSI Afterburner is the fan control software that you want to use if you want to tweak or control your GPU’s fan speeds and settings. The primary purpose of the MSI Afterburner is to let you overclock the GPU without difficulty. You have full control over your memory clock speed along with GPU clock speed, GPU voltage, and power limit. You also have control over your fan speed for when you do want to overclock.
There are two types of fan control provided by MSI Afterburner. First, you have the conventional fixed fan speed, which you can freely access from the program’s main window. You can also set a custom fan curve through the program’s config menu. You’ll be able to draw your preferred fan hysteresis, how often you want fan speeds to be updated, and set preferred fan curves.
This MSI fan control software is considered as one of the best fan control software out there because of its straightforward system that optimizes fan speed for the graphics card. If you want your GPU fans to completely quiet while gaming, this is the fan control software for that.
Take note that MSI Afterburner is only a fan control software for the GPU and does not provide any control for CPU fan speeds.
Argus Monitor
This fan PC fan controller software allows you to control the fan speed for all case fans attached to the motherboard. You can also adjust and create your own fan curve config. Argus Monitor also has its own SMART Sensors, so you can see your current SSD and HDD temperatures along with real time data for GPU and CPU temperatures.
This PC fan control software also has a sidebar widget that shows you pertinent hardware information like temperature, frequency, fan speed, CPU power, and CPU usage. These are all color-coded and visible at the bottom right part of the screen where you see your tray icons.
The downside to this fan speed control software is that you cannot overclock your system.
Speed Fan
Fan Control is great for when you want to control fan speed, but it’s only available to Windows 10 and 11 operating systems. Gamers running on an older right will want to use another PC fan controller software called SpeedFan.
This PC Fan controller software can work for older OS as far back as Windows 95, which is great for those who have retro gaming rigs but still want to control CPU fan speed.
There are two ways for fan speed control. First, there’s the traditional fixed fan speed preference and can be accessed when you boot the program. The fan speed control software will show you the percentage figures for CPU, Sys, and Aux, which indicate your PC fan speed. You can lower and increase these as you see fit.
The second option is an Auto Fan control option, but it’s a lot more complicated than the traditional fixed fan speed option. Auto Fan Control allows you to increase or decrease your fan speed based on current CPU temperature automatically. But you’ll have to set this up using the Configure sub menu and then set the temperatures for each fan speed sensor. These sensors will then speed up or slow down the fans automatically to keep up with your ideal temperatures.
For those running on older operating systems who want a fan control software for their CPU fan, SpeedFan is the go-to program. You can control CPU fan speed even if you’re running on Windows 95 or Windows 98.
Zotac Firestorm
Much like the Corsair iCUE that allows you to control fan speed for Corsair fans and monitor other components, the Zotac Firestorm is the app that gives you full control over Zotac components installed in your PC. On top of managing RGB colors and fan speed control features, you can also use the software to overclock your graphics card.
There are three settings: Auto, Advanced, and Manual. If you want the default setting of the software, choose Auto. Manual allows you increase and decrease fan speed based on your needs. The fan speed is set to run at the set speed regardless of the GPU temperature. Advanced settings will allow you to set computer fans’ curves based on what you need.
This CPU fan control software is a set-it and forget-it type of software, unless you’re running on Advanced settings. However, a huge disadvantage to the Zotac Firestorm is that it can’t control the fan speed of the case fans.
ASUS AI Suite 3
Similar to Zotac and Corsair, the ASUS AI Suite 3 lets you control all ASUS hardware installed on your motherboard. Just like any other fan speed control software, you can see all important data such as voltage, CPU and GPU temperature, and frequency. There’s also added support for Ryzen processors, but you can’t overclock said processors using the ASUS AI Suite 3.
Because it’s a brand specific CPU fan control software, you can only control PC fan speed for ASUS graphics cards and other fans attached to the motherboard. This is made possible with ASUS’ Fan Xpert 4, which allows you expertly manage all case fans. But to access this feature, your motherboard needs to be of ASUS brand.
MSI Dragon Center
The MSI Dragon center is another fan controller software for Windows and allows you to customize all MSI products connected to the motherboard. You have complete control over all stats, including PC fan speed, CPU and GPU temperature, frequency, and voltage. It’s a free application and is preinstalled in MSI gaming laptops.
The Dragon Center comes with three modes: Battery Life, Acoustic, and Performance. If you want to monitor laptop fan speed, you’ll find the Cooler Booster Mode, but note that as the CPU fans and GPU fans go up in speed, the noisier they get.
The MSI Dragon Center is another set-it and forget-it type of PC fan speed control software. You just toggle through different modes to increase and decrease laptop fan speed, or PC fan speed, and the rest is done by the softare.
EasyTune 5
EasyTune5 has other features other than letting you monitor your CPU fans’ speeds This fan speed controller software has a Smart-Fan Control Feature that gives you full control over your computer’s CPU fan speed. It comes with Easy Mode so you just set it and forget it.
This fan speed controller software also allows you to control fan speeds based on CPU temperature, but just don’t set it at a high threshold that you completely restrict the airflow to and from the CPU.
You can also overclock your CPU with the EasyTune5 through its CPU Intelligent Accelerator (CIA) and Memory Intelligent Booster 2 features. Both of which are found in the EasyTune5’s advanced configuration modes.
HWMonitor
Last but definitely not the least, we have the HWMonitor. This fan speed controller software has been around for some time now, and it’s a favorite amongst fan controller software users.
This fan speed controller software can help you monitor your system’s temperatures, voltages, and of course, fan speed monitor. You can also view your drive’s SMART vital stats and even monitor your graphics card. You can also track your PC power usage, motherboard voltage, and CPU voltage.
Just like the other PC fan control software on this list, HWMonitor is a straightforward program and is a decent fan speed controller with other features apart from just controlling computer fan speed.
If you’re not bothered by the clunkly UI, then the HWMonitor should help you monitor all your fans. If you just want something that adjusts fan speed without too much tinkering, HWMonitor is worth considering.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, some of the best fan control software out there for CPU, GPU, or both. It goes without saying that keeping an eye out if your fans are working is important. You want all the fans to function as intended, or you could end up damaging your hardware severely.
Getting any of the Windows-based of Mac fan control software on this list will not only help you control fan speeds, but also let you know when and which fans are not functioning properly.
