While the highest CPU fan speeds offer a higher performance and health but a lot of noise, optimum speeds give you the best of both worlds: low CPU temperatures, longer-lasting components, unrestricted CPU performance and a mostly inaudible fan. If that doesn’t drive you nuts, freezing windows, lag, and frequent shutdowns and restarts probably will. In comparison, lower fan RPMs may result in thermal throttling, which will make your CPU underperform and risk overheating. You can always replace your stock PC fan with something custom that runs quieter at high RPMs, so no annoying noise.

The upside of higher Fan RPMs? Your CPU will run much cooler and last longer, and you can overclock it for better performance. You’ll also have to clean them often as they’ll accumulate dust faster. If you’re running stock CPU fans, higher RPMs will have you replacing them frequently. If they’re too high, you might have to deal with jet engine-like noise which is no fun. If you’re a heavy PC user, PC gamer, or professional creative using it for high-end rendering workloads, you want optimum CPU fan speeds that get you just the right amount of performance. If you care about the performance and health of your CPU, you’ll pay close attention to your fan speeds.

How exactly does your CPU fan work, though? Can you monitor and control it?

Your CPU fan spins at different speeds, which helps keep your processor cool enough to run all your tasks efficiently.

Msi control fan speed