speedfan for linux

[hg088]

hi

is there an app that allows me to monitor and control the cpu, gpu and ohter fans speeds like speedfan does in windows

[Ms. Daisy]

Ubuntu Software Center has the following apps. I haven't tried them so I can't comment on their effectiveness.

XSensor uses a GUI to display hardware health like temp, voltage & fan speed. Looks like you might need to also install lm-sensors adn run sensors-detect to make it work.

Psensor also uses a GUI to display temp, speed of fans & sensor of a remote computer.

[Bobhuber]

hi

is there an app that allows me to monitor and control the cpu, gpu and ohter fans speeds like speedfan does in windows

Lmsensors for the monitoring and Screenlets has a program called Meter that allows you to setup custom display.

[3rdalbum]

You can monitor fan speeds with the 'sensors' command (in the lm-sensors package). I don't think there is any manual fan control facilities in Linux. I find it a bit pointless - you have a computer that can make a billion decisions every second, designed to make your life easier, yet you're not trusting it with the mundane task of controlling its own fan speed?

Your BIOS should be able to do a fine job of controlling its CPU fan speed, as long as you have that option enabled in your BIOS settings.

[aasdfasdfg]

After installing the lm-sensors package, you'll want to install indicator-sensors as well. It is available from a ppa here

[Bobhuber]

You can monitor fan speeds with the 'sensors' command (in the lm-sensors package). I don't think there is any manual fan control facilities in Linux. I find it a bit pointless - you have a computer that can make a billion decisions every second, designed to make your life easier, yet you're not trusting it with the mundane task of controlling its own fan speed?

Your BIOS should be able to do a fine job of controlling its CPU fan speed, as long as you have that option enabled in your BIOS settings.

fancontrol is a linux program for fan speed based on temperature .For those folks with an older bios and fixed fan speeds that dont want to listen to all the noise unless needed .

[hg088]

thanks guys, great suggestions

apparently my problem now is that sensors-detect wont find the drivers for my main rig's mbo, but thats another story

thnaks again

[Mark Phelps]

Just to add one caution -- too many folks come here complaining about the "noise!" their fans make, and are only interested in slowing the fans down, to make less noise.

What they entirely fail to understand, is that the fans in modern PCs are variable speed, and their speed is driven the the need to keep the processors down below a certain temperature threshhold.

Forcing a fan to run slower runs the serious risk of burning out the processor it is trying to cool down.

An alternative, and better, solution is NOT to force the fan to run slower, but instead, to force the processor to run slower. That will generate less heat, and the fans will automatically run slower as a result.

So, if you DO find a way to slow down the fans, it's really a BAD idea to do that.

[Ms. Daisy]

just to add one caution -- too many folks come here complaining about the "noise!" their fans make, and are only interested in slowing the fans down, to make less noise.

What they entirely fail to understand, is that the fans in modern pcs are variable speed, and their speed is driven the the need to keep the processors down below a certain temperature threshhold.

Forcing a fan to run slower runs the serious risk of burning out the processor it is trying to cool down.

An alternative, and better, solution is not to force the fan to run slower, but instead, to force the processor to run slower. That will generate less heat, and the fans will automatically run slower as a result.

So, if you do find a way to slow down the fans, it's really a bad idea to do that.

+1

[Bobhuber]

Just to add one caution -- too many folks come here complaining about the "noise!" their fans make, and are only interested in slowing the fans down, to make less noise.

What they entirely fail to understand, is that the fans in modern PCs are variable speed, and their speed is driven the the need to keep the processors down below a certain temperature threshhold.

Forcing a fan to run slower runs the serious risk of burning out the processor it is trying to cool down.

An alternative, and better, solution is NOT to force the fan to run slower, but instead, to force the processor to run slower. That will generate less heat, and the fans will automatically run slower as a result.

So, if you DO find a way to slow down the fans, it's really a BAD idea to do that.

Different strokes for different folks but that statement is totally wrong on a modern system. On an older system with fixed bios maybe.
If someone wants to monitor fan speeds and temp they have a reason and it's not necessarily a BAD idea to control fan speeds. I like speed - cool - and quiet and have all three on an moderately overclocked setup. I also monitor cpu temp and fan speeds to achieve this which is what the original post was all about.
My Bios allows base settings for CPU fan speeds (32%-100%) as most of the newer boards do and will automatically increase the fan speed as needed . So unless I want to set the base speed at 100% (4500 rpm) and listen to a freight train all the time I most certainly need and want a way to monitor and control these speeds and temps.