MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 2009/2010 Fan Control (Now Version 2!)

[Inconsequential]

NOTE: Does not work on 2008 and earlier Mac Pros (1,1, 2,1 & 3,1)!!

Changelog:

V2b1
CPU Heatsink fan and Intake/Exhaust Fans now controlled separately.
Target fan speeds are now shown in the control panel.
Limits on max/min fan speeds (Simply resets to the lowest allowable value!)


This is what it looks like:

As you can see, the CPU Fan and Intake and Exhaust fans are completely independent!

This software is based on the MBP Fan Control by this guy: http://www.lobotomo.com/products/FanControl/

It is better than smcFanControl because it is set and forget. It will only ramp up the fans if the temperature reaches a set point and allows the SMC to take over if you've set it too low (it sets the *minimum* fan speeds the SMC can run the fans at, the SMC still controls the *actual* speed of the fans, so it is safe).

Use at your own risk, yada yada yada.

Feedback, as always would be great. However, hopefully there shouldn't be any bugs, as I throughly tested over the last 6 hours :/.

Have fun!

 

[wonderspark]

Nice! So it's not *just* for Lion, though... correct? I can use this in 10.6.8 to replace my old Fan Control?

Just noticed my current one is 0.7, and there was 1.2 out. Heh. It's been great since I installed it in 2010 or whenever it was.

 

[wonderspark]

Nice. I had it set to 500rpm base before, and now I pushed it down to 300rpm. I saw it go as low as 284rpm. Cool, thank you!

It looks like even if you set the base too low, it won't be a problem since it will ramp up from that base in order to get it where it needs to be. If I have lower threshold set to 111F, upper to 145F, it then bounces around 550rpm give or take to keep it within the temp range.

Likewise, I just set the upper and lower thresholds to the max ranges of 140F, creating a 90 degree wall of fan speed ramp at 140F, and the CPU hovers at 112-115F at 300rpm base. Seems like you'd have to try hard to make it dangerous.

 

[Inconsequential]

NEW VERSION!

V2b1
CPU Heatsink fan and Intake/Exhaust Fans now controlled separately.
Target fan speeds are now shown in the control panel.
Limits on max/min fan speeds (Simply resets to the lowest allowable value!)

This is what it looks like:

As you can see, the CPU Fan and Intake and Exhaust fans are completely independent!

 

[wonderspark]

Cool, I'm digging it. So far, I'm trying 300rpm and 108-140F intake & exhaust, 600rpm and 104-151F CPU A fan.

 

[wonderspark]

I think a better setting for me is 500, 108-140F and 600, 115-163F. It's keeping the fans close to their minimums and the CPU at 107F.

Thanks! This is really cool.

 

[wonderspark]

I like this version even better. Based on the settings above, when I render video files, my temps are 20F lower than with the other version! Normally, my CPU A temp goes to about 149F or so, and the fans blow very loud. With THIS version and settings, the CPU A only gets to about 129F, and the fans are at about half the speed as they used to... nowhere near max.

Very, very cool!

 

[Inconsequential]

I like this version even better. Based on the settings above, when I render video files, my temps are 20F lower than with the other version! Normally, my CPU A temp goes to about 149F or so, and the fans blow very loud. With THIS version and settings, the CPU A only gets to about 129F, and the fans are at about half the speed as they used to... nowhere near max.

Very, very cool!

To be honest, as long as the temp shown is under 67C (Throttling temp) then it is ok.

Tcase is where the CPU starts to not Turboboost, my W3520 didn't hit 67C there so sat at 2.8GHz all the time, but this W3680 hits it pretty quickly, so I've set it so it aims to sit at 64/65C in a cool room at 100% load. Basically, as long as the CPU is under 67C I want my fans as slow as poss!

The little heatsink fan does the most work and is the most acoustically damped, hence why we get more cooling per RPM!

HOWEVER, setting the intake/exhaust fans too low might cause re-circulation, I'm going to monitor the temperatures of the memory sticks with varying Intake/exhaust fans to see what impact they have on the memory sticks temps.

 

[wonderspark]

With the current settings in place for a few days now, I'm really happy. The fans are almost always at the minimums, and when I render, they only go half as fast as they did before. It seems to be a sweet spot for airflow now.

 

[handheldgames]

Great update! No better way to keep the noise down on the Mac Pro! The machine is dead silent running at 50(c).. nice! Brings me back to the days of 80(c) while playing an MP3..

 

[oripaamoni]

how do i completely remove this....

 

[Inconsequential]

how do i completely remove this....

Remove two things:

~/Library/StartupItems/FanControlDaemon (Folder)
~/Library/PreferencePanes/Fan Control.prefPane (File)

Why are you removing it?

 

[Toumak]

Wow !!
Awesome, big thank to you.

Tried this on the MP in my sig, works like a charm.

 

[Washac]

Installed this yesterday and was wondering why my CPU fan is running at 1700 ?

 

[Inconsequential]

Installed this yesterday and was wondering why my CPU fan is running at 1700 ?

2009 Mac Pro?

Given the target fan speed is correct, that means the SMC is forcing the fan speed to be 1700 RPM.

Download Bresink Temperature Monitor and post a screenshot.

I wonder if the north bridge temp is too high...

 

[handheldgames]

I run mine at 400/1000. (397/999/397) actual and I idle at 42.4(c). I'm running xcode, compiling, running iPad simulators, etc. That setting keeps my system cool and quiet. Running the CPU fan at 1000RPM still keeps it almost quiet whilst keeping the system cool all the time.

 

[Washac]

2009 Mac Pro?

Given the target fan speed is correct, that means the SMC is forcing the fan speed to be 1700 RPM.

Download Bresink Temperature Monitor and post a screenshot.

I wonder if the north bridge temp is too high...

Mac Pro 2.66 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

 

[handheldgames]

Mac Pro 2.66 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

That seems to be a normal temp for an air cooled north bridge. I would start worrying unless it's hitting the high 80´s:

"Intel® X58 Express ChipsetThermal Specification
Parameter Value
Tcase_max 100 °C
Tcase_min 5 °C
Tcontrol 95 °C"

Do you have ANY other fan control software left over from a prior installation that may still be messing with things?

 

[Washac]

That seems to be a normal temp for an air cooled north bridge. I would start worrying unless it's hitting the high 80´s:

"Intel® X58 Express ChipsetThermal Specification
Parameter Value
Tcase_max 100 °C
Tcase_min 5 °C
Tcontrol 95 °C"

Do you have ANY other fan control software left over from a prior installation that may still be messing with things?

No idea, sorry.

 

[C. Alan]

Very cool (pun intended )!

I just have one question: Is there a 64 bit version? I noticed all of your screen shots are of a 32 bit version.

 

[Inconsequential]

Mac Pro 2.66 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

Nothing really out of the ordinary there :/

When was the last time you cleaned the heatsinks in your mac? My heatsink was caked in dust when I replaced my W3520 (same as yours) with a W3680 (6 core - 3.33Ghz).

Clean it, reset the PRAM and make sure you haven't got iStat Menus or smcFanControl running somewhere?

Very cool (pun intended )!

I just have one question: Is there a 64 bit version? I noticed all of your screen shots are of a 32 bit version.

No, because I have no idea how to convert it to a 64-bit version.

That, I'm afraid, is WAY out of my depth (unless it's a simple find and change of variables or some such).

 

[xEradx]

CPU fan speed

So when I raise my Intake & Exhaust speed just for kicks my CPU speed goes way up. Any ideas why it doing this?

 

[Inconsequential]

So when I raise my Intake & Exhaust speed just for kicks my CPU speed goes way up. Any ideas why it doing this?

The SMC itself controls the CPU fan at 142.5% of whatever the intake/exhaust fans are at.

It's not something we can change.

Besides, from my testing the CPU fan does a lot more 'work' for given noise than the intake/exhaust do, so the condition where you have your I/E fans high enough for the SMC to control the CPU fan too shouldn't occur.

In the next beta I will put a note saying what happens.

Also, you have a 8 core correct? That means only your CPU 'A' is getting controlled by the CPU Fan Speed setting, I need someone with a 8-core to confirm the CPU 'B' sensor code so I can make a version for the dual socket machines!

 

[xEradx]

The SMC itself controls the CPU fan at 142.5% of whatever the intake/exhaust fans are at.

It's not something we can change.

Besides, from my testing the CPU fan does a lot more 'work' for given noise than the intake/exhaust do, so the condition where you have your I/E fans high enough for the SMC to control the CPU fan too shouldn't occur.

In the next beta I will put a note saying what happens.

Also, you have a 8 core correct? That means only your CPU 'A' is getting controlled by the CPU Fan Speed setting, I need someone with a 8-core to confirm the CPU 'B' sensor code so I can make a version for the dual socket machines!

Did not know about the 142%. Thanks

I can help with sensor code info if you would like. Im an IT guy so I know my way around a bit. I could follow instructions well.

 

[Inconsequential]

Did not know about the 142%. Thanks

I can help with sensor code info if you would like. Im an IT guy so I know my way around a bit. I could follow instructions well.

I'll give you a PM when I've done it, as with many things in life, they take precedence!