SpeedFan is Windows application that is able to monitor and control temperature and fan speed inside your computer. This app caught my eye since the summer is coming and I just set up a new Home Theater PC — sometimes I may want to quiet the case, and on hot days I may want to keep an eye on the system’s temperature to avoid hardware damage.
SpeedFan works with Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista and Vista 64 bit. You can download it directly from the SpeedFan download page. Once you have the application up and running, there are a number of different tabs that give various readings regarding your system’s internal temperature and fan speed.
Main Readings
The main readings tab gives you a high level overview of your system status. You can see CPU usage, fan speed, the temperature of both your system and any hard drives that were found by SpeedFan. You also have the option to change the speed of your system’s fans from this tab.
S.M.A.R.T. Tab
The S.M.A.R.T. tab gives you insight into the health and performance of your hard drives. S.M.A.R.T. is a monitoring system for hard disks that aims to help predict and/or prevent failures. For more information on S.M.A.R.T. you can take a look at the Wikipedia page for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology.
Charts
The last tab you will find in the SpeedFan interface is called “Charts”. Here you can get a visual look at everything that SpeedFan is monitoring. In this screenshot, you can see a graph of my HTPC’s system and hard drive temperatures.
Be careful when changing fan speeds
If you plan on using SpeedFan to change fan speeds, be sure to know exactly what you are doing. A system that is not properly cooled can overheat, possibly resulting in hardware damage and/or data loss.
Link via “4 Applications That You Do Not Know (But Should)” by gHacks.net.
