Is running my CPU fans and System fans at full speed all the time bad?

[ZeekAncient]

I have been doing this for years and I never really had an issue, but I was just wondering to myself if this could be bad for some reason.

I pretty much have my CPU fans and System fans running at 100% all the time. Fan noise has never really bothered me and I always wanted to just have the best thermals I can get. I don't run my GPU that way, but I do have a pretty aggressive fan curve profile on my GPU nonetheless.

I never really questioned this, but I was just thinking about it, and was wondering if this could be bad in the long run. It is not so much for me as I do turn the speeds down once in awhile and can create new profiles if it is an issue. But I was just thinking of my Dad. I am letting him use my old PC and I have the CPU fans and system fans set at maximum, except the GPU, which has an aggressive fan curve.

So, can this be bad for some reason? Or is the only thing to worry about excessive fan noise?

[_I_]

it can wear out the bushings in the fans
but standard case fans are fairly cheap to replace

better to let the mobo control fan speeds
off to 50-60c, and 100% at 80c

[ZeekAncient]

Ok. Thank you.

[Trollhammer]

What are your specs and your temps ? Because running the fans at 100% all the time is useless.

[Autumn_]

Perfectly fine, done it on nearly all of the PCs I've had.
Fans don't wear down as fast as people claim -- they're rated to run at 100% for tens of thousands of hours. (2 to 5 years usually.)

It's not useless, but there isn't really much reason to do it, but in my eyes it doesn't matter why, so long as it works.

If you have good fans, they shouldn't make much noise at 100% anyway.

[Trollhammer]

Publicado originalmente por Autumn_:

Perfectly fine, done it on nearly all of the PCs I've had.
Fans don't wear down as fast as people claim -- they're rated to run at 100% for tens of thousands of hours. (2 to 5 years usually.)

It's not useless, but there isn't really much reason to do it, but in my eyes it doesn't matter why, so long as it works.

If you have good fans, they shouldn't make much noise at 100% anyway.

Yes, it's absolutely useless. There's no point in wearing out your fans for nothing even if they can last years like that. Set a custom fan curve, it'll be way more efficient than running them at 100%.

And you can have the best fans in the world, with just the noise of the air flow, it'll be noisy at 100%...

[Decathect]

Publicado originalmente por _I_:

it can wear out the bushings in the fans
but standard case fans are fairly cheap to replace

I wouldn't so much worry about this, and besides its easy to re-oil the bearings if they run dry, they typically use fluid-dynamic bearings, sleeve bearings, or ball bearings not bushings.

Op don't worry about wearing anything out, as I'm sure you know heat is your components enemy right. So if you want to run your cooling as aggressive as you want you can, fan curves are useful in the event that sustained high rpm fan speeds perhaps annoy the user.

[Autumn_]

Publicado originalmente por Trollhammer:

Publicado originalmente por Autumn_:

Perfectly fine, done it on nearly all of the PCs I've had.
Fans don't wear down as fast as people claim -- they're rated to run at 100% for tens of thousands of hours. (2 to 5 years usually.)

It's not useless, but there isn't really much reason to do it, but in my eyes it doesn't matter why, so long as it works.

If you have good fans, they shouldn't make much noise at 100% anyway.

Yes, it's absolutely useless. There's no point in wearing out your fans for nothing even if they can last years like that. Set a custom fan curve, it'll be way more efficient than running them at 100%.

And you can have the best fans in the world, with just the noise of the air flow, it'll be noisy at 100%...

No. It's not.
Fans last for years anyway.
You haven't used good fans then.

Publicado originalmente por Mind:

Publicado originalmente por Autumn_:

If you have good fans, they shouldn't make much noise at 100% anyway.

Air forced through a heat sink will make noise. Personally, I don't see the point in running them maxed out myself. I prefer the near silence from high quality big fans on a tweaked fan curve, but then again I have no idea what the OP is using his computer for.

Not really - open air case, max fan speed, no difference to acoustics.

And yeah, if it works for you, not gonna tell you it's wrong.

Publicado originalmente por TeamGunstar:

Publicado originalmente por _I_:

it can wear out the bushings in the fans
but standard case fans are fairly cheap to replace

I wouldn't so much worry about this, and besides its easy to re-oil the bearings if they run dry, they typically use fluid-dynamic bearings, sleeve bearings, or ball bearings not bushings.

Op don't worry about wearing anything out, as I'm sure you know heat is your components enemy right. So if you want to run your cooling as aggressive as you want you can, fan curves are useful in the event that sustained high rpm fan speeds perhaps annoy the user.

Bearings are a type of bushing, so he's not wrong.

[Decathect]

Publicado originalmente por Autumn_:

Bearings are a type of bushing, so he's not wrong.

Bushing is a type of bearing, only not used in PC fans. The types of bearings used in PC fans are: fluid-dynamic bearings, sleeve bearings, or ball bearings.

[Decathect]

Publicado originalmente por Autumn_:

If you have good fans, they shouldn't make much noise at 100% anyway.

Yeahhhh you may want to get your ears checked little buddy if you can't tell the difference between 600rpm and 1200rpm lmfao.

[ZeekAncient]

Publicado originalmente por TeamGunstar:

Publicado originalmente por Autumn_:

If you have good fans, they shouldn't make much noise at 100% anyway.

Yeahhhh you may want to get your ears checked little buddy if you can't tell the difference between 600rpm and 1200rpm lmfao.

Lol, they are definitely louder at 100%. My three front intake fans are Cooler Master Sickle Flow V2 which run at around 1800rpm. My exhausts are Cooler Master MasterFan Halo which run at around 1700rpm. And the fan inside my CPU cooler, a Cooler Master MasterAir MA620M, runs at 2000 rpm when maxed. So, yea they are much louder when they are at 100% than not. But it really doesn't bother me. So, while gaming I will put them on full speed, but when I am not, I will put them on the standard or performance profiles. There is also a quiet profile I a can use. And I can create my own if I want, but the profiles that standard with my motherboard are pretty good.

The PC I am letting my dad use has 4 120mm Cooler Master SickleFlow fans that run at around 2000rpm when maxed, and 2 200mm CM MegaFlow fans that run at 700rpm when maxed. I like those 200mm fans. They push a lot of air. 110 cfm.

[Trollhammer]

"No. It's not.
Fans last for years anyway.
You haven't used good fans then."



What kind of magical good fans do you use ? I'd really like to know the brand able to make fans who beat the laws of physic.

[ZeekAncient]

Publicado originalmente por Trollhammer:

"No. It's not.
Fans last for years anyway.
You haven't used good fans then."



What kind of magical good fans do you use ? I'd really like to know the brand able to make fans who beat the laws of physic.

Well, the fans in my Dad's PC, CM SickleFlows and MegaFlows have been running strong at 100% for well over 6 years, maybe more to be honest. When I used the computer sometimes I would run the fans slower, but for the most part they were at 100%. And I just did a check up on the PC and they are still tip top. I asked if he wanted me to put the fans slower, to put a fan profile on there that didn't run the fans at 100, and he told me he didn't. He said he didn't mind the noise and he wants everything as cool as can be. So I said alright, if one, or multiple, crap the bad, we will just replace them. But, like I said, it has been a long time and they are still running strong. I don't think people have enough faith in their components, and how well constructed they can be. I see it all the time with PSUs. People think they will crap out after 5 years or something like that. I have seen some go strong for well over 10 years without issue.

[ZeekAncient]

Publicado originalmente por Trollhammer:

What are your specs and your temps ? Because running the fans at 100% all the time is useless.

I don't think it is useless to be honest. Thermals, even when idle, are much lower when the fans are at 100 than not. So, considering that heat is your components enemy, having them the coolest they can be can't hurt.

Oh, and see my profile page for my specs. Lol, I don't feel like typing them.

[MoonC A T]

It's really easy to formulate effective fan curves in BIOS. What is preventing you from doing this?

[Decathect]

Publicado originalmente por ZeekAncient:

Publicado originalmente por Trollhammer:

What are your specs and your temps ? Because running the fans at 100% all the time is useless.

I don't think it is useless to be honest. Thermals, even when idle, are much lower when the fans are at 100 than not. So, considering that heat is your components enemy, having them the coolest they can be can't hurt.

Oh, and see my profile page for my specs. Lol, I don't feel like typing them.

I get it brother, I let the bios control the CPU fan but I use a fan hub to keep my 5 case fans at 1100rpm. Never had my gpu get above 65c, hotspot 76c iirc.