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MP 1,1-5,1 Fan Control
- Thread starter s.m.t.
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Macs Fan Control V 1.5.0.0.0 - latest Beta from Github https://github.com/crystalidea/macs-fan-control
I am surprised no one mentioned TG Pro. It is worth every penny. Multiple rules which can control all or specific fans in various ways ie. set minimum + increase fan speeds as temp rises, shows all thermo sensors, fan health, sensor warnings, email alerts and the list goes on. Also, its temp readings are more accurate than iStat's.
I also use iStat but only for voltage / electrical readings and weather forecasts/alerts.
Edit: added screenies
I also use iStat but only for voltage / electrical readings and weather forecasts/alerts.
Edit: added screenies
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Not the exact version I am using, because my own version do override the system protection. Therefore, I didn't post it. But you can download the latest public version from this thread (or the original source code, and mod it as you wish).
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ol-now-version-2.1340705/page-7#post-26926245
I never heard of that app, will have to check it out.
Will take a look, you mention a good point. Disabling system protection, how do you know if a program does that?
For those who use MacFanControl, why? Is there some function that is more effective? I have used it in Windows install, but never the Mac version.
the one thing that drives me nuts about the macOS version of MacsFanControl is it is ALWAYS on top, but this is not the case in Windows. as far as I can tell it is not a selectable parameter, there is no "window always on top" check box that I am aware of. otherwise I quite like how it functions with both macOS and Windows
It is not. Check preferences. Select as startup item (as it should be) and always background.
I like this app because it does what I need and its not overloaded with features. Sorry but weatherforecast for example is exactly what I dont need.
I would like more sensors, I think the nMP has some more.
Voltages would be nice but in a seperate app, but I think if any voltage is out of range, we wont be able to start the app anymore.
hmmm..... this is all I see.....(not my own screen shot, this is taken from google image search). as you can tell there is no "always background" check box. I would have the "autostart minimized with system (recommended)" checkbox enabled, and being in the good ol' US of A I do use the F* scale so that is enabled too. I'll toggle to C* scale as needed for comparison to the rest of the world lol
are you saying I need to make those changes within macOS System Preferences? that's a different story than having such control within the app. I was specifically talking about not being able to toggle that preference in the app.
MFC is one of the fan control software that will completely override the system protection. Many people love to use it because this software can fix some high fan speed "bug", however, that's simply because the system now no longer can spin up the fan even the hardware is overheating.
Of course, if the user setup a correct fan curve, nothing will hurt. But if use it improperly, that can be quite danger. e.g. I've seen few people set the fan speed base on the heatsink temperature. Which means, if the thermal paste performance is deteriorated, the heat can no longer transfer to the heatsink effectively. The heat will be trapped in the CPU. So that, the CPU is hot, but the heatsink is cool. However, the fan curve now base on the heatsink temperature, which also means, even the CPU is overheating, the fan still won't spin up.
So, it's powerful, but with potential danger.
AFAIK, there are only two popular fan control software can control the fans in that way.
1) MacsFanControl (AKA MFC)
2) TG Pro
For all other softwares, they all control the fans by modifying the "Minimum fan speed" SMC key. So that, the fan will spin up to match the min fan speed that the user ask for. But if anything is overheating, the SMC will command a higher fan speed by ordering a higher "Target fan speed".
But for MFC, it ALWAYS alter the Target fan speed directly. Which means, SMC overheat protection now also disabled.
For TG Pro, there is an option for the user to choose "system override", but this function is OFF by default. So, it's safe by default.
TG Pro can also setup complex fan profile, but MFC can only setup simple fan profile. IMO, TG Pro is more superior in any aspect. However, MFC is free, TG Pro is not.
For me, I only want assign target fan speed for PCIe and PSU fan, that's because the 2009 cMP has a bug in the SMC firmware, these two fans may spin up unnecessarily after cold boot, until the GPU is stressed. Therefore, I want a fan control software that can suppress high fan speed (rather than stress the GPU after each boot. By that time, Airout by CDF isn't available yet). But on the other side, I prefer to keep controlling the CPU related fan via min fan speed. So that if the CPU / NB / RAM... is overheating, SMC can still spin up the fan for me.
AFAIK, there is no such software exist on the world, even TG Pro, can only choose system override for ALL fans, but not individual fan. Therefore, I end up try to mod the open sourced fan control software to fit my own need.
TG Pro can override system protection on a per fan basis. I don't recall which tab it was under in the app's preferences but I clearly remember seeing it.
Thanks for the correction. I only submitted few suggestions to the developer, but not really using this apps
Skizzo, you can ckeck "autostart minimized with system (recommended)".
-In the MFC app itself.-
In this case you will never see the app.
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What I also like with MFC is that it does no copy software parts inside the system.
But I just realized that this thread only applies to the classic MP.
On a nMP the situacion may differ in some aspects as the Apple temp control in my case no reacts at all,
probably depending from my workload. And because there is only one fan.
Probably on a cMP another fan control (than MFC) is better recommended.
This doesn't appear to allow you to control fans based on temp sensor, or am I missing it?
It's base on the CPU diode temperature.
If you want to control it via other sensors, you can mod the associated SMC key in Xcode.
From memory, the original version only has the CPU diode's SMC key, but you can make use the following reference.
/***** Temperature key values *****/
#define SMC_KEY_AMBIENT_TEMP "TA0P" // Ambient Temperature
#define SMC_KEY_CPU_A_TEMP "TCAD" //CPU A Temperature
#define SMC_KEY_CPU_A_HS_TEMP "TCAH" //CPU A Heatsink Temperature#define
#define SMC_KEY_CPU_B_TEMP "TCBD" //CPU B Temperature
#define SMC_KEY_CPU_B_HS_TEMP "TCBH" //CPU B Heatsink Temperature
#define SMC_KEY_Northbridge_TEMP "TN0D" //Northbridge Temperature
#define SMC_KEY_Northbridge_HS_TEMP "TN0H" //Northbridge Heatsink Temperature
#define SMC_KEY_PCIE_TEMP "Te1P" //PCIe Temperature
#define SMC_KEY_PSU_TEMP "Tp1C" //PSU Temperature
/***** Intake Fan key values *****/
#define SMC_KEY_INTAKE_RPM_MIN "F3Mn"
#define SMC_KEY_INTAKE_RPM_CUR "F3Ac"
/***** CPU Fan key values *****/
#define SMC_KEY_CPU_A_RPM_MIN "F4Mn"
#define SMC_KEY_CPU_A_RPM_CUR "F4Ac"
#define SMC_KEY_CPU_B_RPM_MIN "F5Mn"
#define SMC_KEY_CPU_B_RPM_CUR "F5Ac"
/***** Exhaust Fan key values *****/
#define SMC_KEY_EXHAUST_RPM_MIN "F2Mn"
#define SMC_KEY_EXHAUST_RPM_CUR "F2Ac"
/***** PCIe Fan key values *****/
#define SMC_KEY_PCIE_RPM_MIN "F0Tg"
#define SMC_KEY_PCIE_RPM_CUR "F0Ac"
/***** PSU Fan key values *****/
#define SMC_KEY_PSU_RPM_MIN "F1Tg"
#define SMC_KEY_PSU_RPM_CUR "F1Ac"
I didn't write down all the SMC keys, but it's very easy to guest the key you want.
e.g. If you want to control the CPU A Heatsink booster target fan speed F4Tg (this will override the system protection, same effect as using MacsFanControl)
Or, if you want to control the PSU min fan speed (the way iStat control the fans, does NOT override system protection), then the key is F1Mn.
As I said, you can mod the source code as you wish, this is the whole idea of having this open source fan control software.
It isn't that hard, I never learn Xcode, but can still mod it fit my own need.
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Agree completely. I used iStat until I heard about TG Pro. At first, the original price of €20 felt too much, but luckily I caught the prize when they were offering like 60% off (in fact, they still are) and bought the license for my Mavericks machine with iStat 5 installed already. After using it for a couple of hours I like it better than iStats because it offers much more grained control - such as rules, and this granularity was added to iStat (likely, in response) only in the version 6 but to run it you had to have Yosemite or newer. The other reason why I prefer TG pro is that it doesn't have swathes of context pop-ups with graphs: you actually don't care about them routinely since they're useful only for specific random cases. That way UI is much cleaner, more Mac-like, visually pleasing, and less distracting. iStat lacks proper notifications and TG Pro offers all kinds of those - even if you run Lion with Growl installed.
I use MFC. With one exception, I run everything on AUTO, which (please correct me if I am wrong) allows the SMC to do its job. The exception: allow NorthBridge chip temp to control the corresponding fan, BoostA. This allows me to run the NB chip a little cooler than stock fan control does.