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i've a problem im facing sometimes, my friends' PC had an intel pentium D dual core (3Ghz at 800Mhz FSB)was very slow, fan (3pin cooler master) running at ~1550RPM, ram 4gb running 35% load.

i noticed after checking his specs that his MB supports up to 1333 FSB cpu, so i recommended him a quad core processor. and since he's on budget i bough for him a 2nd hand Q9400, and system was like heaven 5x faster!

but recently, while only browsing, i noticed that sometimes, pc gets less fast than before, so 1st thing i checked the ram was not full, barely half..but temp was at 80dgree -supprised- beause i wasnt doing anything heavy like playing games and stuff. (pc is not used for gaming, but mainly browsing and studying)

later on i realized that, maybe the fan speed is slow for the quad core (fan not catching up with cpu heat to cool it down), becuase i only upgraded the CPU for him but kept the same fan from previous pentium D..

i tried using speed fan software to set fan to max, as well as at MB bios disabled power saving. and everything i could (except i didnt touch anything related to voltage settings cuz im not expert).

pc is running fine and ok for the time being temp is around 50 degree idle and goes up to 60 when browsing.

so in the end, my question is: is the fan speed of 15500rpm good enough for core 2 quad? or must i upgrade it to a higher speed fan?

i did some research, and got no direct answer for my problem because most users of the cpu i mention are using it for games and high end stuff so they're having a fan of 2500 -3000+ rpm. which i find not direclty related to my problem.

current PC specs are:

  • MB: Gigabyte G41m combo
  • Ram: 4gb kingston 1333mhz
  • CPU: Intel quad core Q9400 2.4Ghz FSB 1333Mhz
  • FAN: basic fan running around ~1550RPM (cooler master)
  • GPU: GMA 41m express (came with MB)
  • HD: 1T 5400rpm

any help is much appreciated regarding the heating and thanks for your time reading.

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  • It's not just the fan speed that matters. The size and design of the heatsink can make a big difference to the cooling capabilities. Normally a cooler will have a max TDP rating that indicates what kind of CPU's it is suitable for. The Q9400 is listed as 95 watts TDP which is higher than a lot of lower end coolers can handle.
    – James P
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 16:25
  • Fan speed is not a meaningful metric, save that when it starts to drop it may be indicative of an immenient failure, but thats only valid if you have established a baseline, and see the figures consistently drop below it. Instead focus on CPU temp. any fan or fanspeed is sufficient as long as the CPU temp remains in the healthy zone regardless of the load placed on the system. So, just watch the temps. if it exceeds 70C while doing a virus scan or some other long running intense activity, then start considering improving your cooling system.
    – Frank Thomas
    Commented Oct 8, 2015 at 16:30
  • James: oh i see, never thought heatsink would matter, i'll look into it. @FrankThomas hmm, thats a good perspective..so to conclude, existence of whatever kind of fan can the job as long as heatsink is right for absorbing heat from cpu..i guess i'll have to look into the heatsink..i'll look into your advices. but why didnt any of you guys write your suggestions as answer so i can rate them as best? i cant do it in comments u know.
    – Abdulaziz Hamdan
    Commented Oct 9, 2015 at 20:29
  • @James & Frank Thomas could you post your comments as an answer, so i can rate them?
    – Abdulaziz Hamdan
    Commented Feb 6, 2016 at 20:27

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