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Graphics processing units (GPUs) play a crucial role in modern-day gaming and video editing. A graphics card helps offload intensive tasks from your computer’s CPU, allowing users to experience faster processing speeds when performing video editing, playing games, and doing more. Graphics cards come in two primary types: blower-style and open-air. Blower-style graphic cards feature a shroud with an enclosed fan, which pulls air over the heatsink and expels the hot air outside of your computer case through a rear-facing exhaust. On the other hand, open-air cards use two or three fans to draw air over the heatsink and circulate it inside your computer case.
Blower-style graphics cards tend to be more popular in industrial settings, where they’re used in servers and workstations. They have their unique set of advantages, including suitability for liquid-cooling, accommodating multiple cards, and air intake isn’t compromised even when installing multiple cards. Blower-style cards are also efficient in systems with poor airflow and those that place the GPU close to other components like motherboards and RAM. Open-air graphics cards, on the other hand, let you install after-market cooling solutions and tend to have better ASMR levels than blower-style designs. In this article, we’ll be focusing on blower-style graphics cards, and how optimal fan speed can affect their performance.
How does temperature affect blower-style GPU performance?
Temperature is a critical factor that can significantly impact the performance of any GPU, including blower-style graphics cards. All GPUs come with a “Safe” temperature limit, which can vary from one graphics card to another. The “Safe” temperature refers to the highest temperature at which the GPU can operate smoothly without throttling performance or risking permanent damage.
Most modern GPUs, including blower-style graphics cards, come with advanced cooling solutions designed to keep temperatures within safe limits. The fan is one of the most important components in a GPU’s cooling system since it pumps air over the heatsink and drives heat away from critical components like the GPU and VRAM. When the fan or any other cooling component isn’t working correctly, the temperature of the GPU rises, and its performance can gradually decrease as a result.
Overheating can cause several issues, such as reduced performance, screen artifacts, and crashes. As such, it’s crucial to keep the temperature of your GPU within its safe range. When the temperature exceeds the safe limit, the GPU will automatically throttle its performance, which can result in frame drops in games and reduced speed when running resource-intensive applications. Since the fan is one of the most crucial components responsible for keeping GPU temperatures in check, adjusting its speed can positively affect your GPU’s performance.
What is the optimal fan speed for blower-style graphics cards?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this question since optimal fan speed for your GPU will depend on several factors, such as your specific GPU model, room temperature, airflow in your computer case, and your system’s configuration. Typically, however, most blower-style graphics cards have a base fan speed of about 35 to 40% of the maximum speed.
When your GPU is idle, it’s usually not using much power, and hence, generates less heat. As such, the fan speeds are slower, producing a near-silent operation. The temperature of the GPU might inch up slightly when it’s under heavy load, which causes the fan speeds to jump significantly. When this happens, the fan noise will become more noticeable, and the GPU itself would be louder.
If you’re experiencing temperature-related issues, you would need to adjust the fan speed to ensure that the GPU temperature stays within safe limits. To do this, you can use specialized software, such as MSI Afterburner or Nvidia’s GeForce Experience, that allows you to adjust the fan curve of your GPU. A fan curve is simply a chart that maps fan speed to temperature. By customizing a fan curve, you would be able to set a specific fan speed at different GPU temperature ranges.
Most modern GPUs come with custom fan curve settings that increase fan speeds gradually as the GPU’s temperature increases. The default fan curve settings aren’t always optimal, as they might not adequately cool your GPU, causing its performance to suffer.
How to customize your fan curve settings?
To customize your fan curve settings, you need to use a specialized GPU monitoring software like MSI Afterburner, EVGA Precision, or Nvidia’s GeForce Experience. These tools come with detailed instructions that guide you through the process of adjusting fan speeds. Here’s how you can customize your fan curve settings using MSI Afterburner:
1. Download MSI Afterburner and install it on your computer.
2. Launch the program and click on the Settings button at the bottom left corner of the screen.
3. Navigate to the Fan tab and click on the Enable User Defined Software Automatic Fan Control checkbox.
4. Click on the Auto button under the Fan Speed (%), and select the temperature range you want to adjust from the drop-down menu.
5. Use the sliders to adjust the Minimum Temp, Maximum Temp, and Fan Speed (%). You can test different fan curve settings and observe how they affect your GPU’s temperature and performance.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the optimal fan speed for your blower-style graphics card will depend on several factors, including your room temperature, airflow, and your system’s configuration. Setting the fan curve manually can optimize your GPU’s cooling and increase its performance while reducing noise. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that manually setting the fan curve can cause more noise than the default settings. As such, you should ensure that your GPU’s noise output is within acceptable levels while maximizing its performance. Lastly, always ensure that your blower-style graphics card’s fan speed keeps the temperature within the safe range to prevent overheating and the resultant performance issues.
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