Editing Computer fan control (section)

== Need for fan control ==
As modern [[Personal computer|PCs]] grow more powerful so do their requirements for [[Electricity|electrical]] power. [[Computer]]s emit this electrical power as [[heat]] generated by all [[Computer hardware|major components]].  Heat production varies with system load, where periods of compute-intensive activity generate much more heat than the [[Idle (CPU)|idle]] time does.{{r|ieee07}}

Processors in most early x86-based computers, up to some of the early [[Intel 80486|486s]], did not need active ventilation. [[Power supply|Power supplies]] needed forced cooling, and power supply fans also circulated cooling air through the rest of the PC with the [[ATX]] standard. The byproduct of increased heat generation is that the fan(s) need to move increasing amounts of air and thus need to be more powerful. Since they must move more air through the same area of space, fans will become more noisy.

Fans installed in a PC case can produce noise levels of up to 70&nbsp;[[decibels|dB]]. Since fan noise increases with the fifth power of the fan [[rotation speed]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UocszU-e2WgC&pg=PA341 |title=Handbook of Noise and Vibration Control - Antony Barber - Google Books |isbn=9781856170796 |access-date=2014-01-01|last1=Barber |first1=Antony |year=1992 |publisher=Elsevier Advanced Technology }}</ref> reducing [[revolutions per minute]] (RPM) by a small amount potentially means a large reduction in fan noise. This must be done cautiously, as excessive reduction in speed may cause components to overheat and be damaged.{{Outdated inline |reason=Thermal protection is built into everything these days, by which I mean the past 2 decades.|date=December 2020}} If done properly, fan noise can be drastically reduced.