SpeedFan

System monitor for Microsoft Windows that can read temperatures, voltages and fan speeds of computer components.

- SpeedFan

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System monitor

Hardware or software component used to monitor system resources and performance in a computer system.

System monitoring software like SpeedFan on Windows, lm_sensors on Linux, envstat on NetBSD, and sysctl hw.sensors on OpenBSD and DragonFly can interface with these chips to relay this environmental sensor information to the user.

A fanless CPU cooler based on heat pipe technology

Quiet PC

Personal computer that makes very little or no noise.

This passive heat sink in a Power Mac G4 relies on large surface areas

Passively cooled northbridge chipsets help reduce noise.

Antec P180, with isolated chambers for more segregated airflow

Another example of the Antec P180, this one demonstrating the use of the Scythe Ninja, a fanless CPU cooler

Silicone grommets in a computer case for mounting a hard drive to reduce vibration.

Reduce fan speed. For newer computers, the speed of fans can be varied automatically, depending on how hot certain parts of the computer get. Lowering a DC fan motor's supply voltage will reduce its speed while making it quieter and lowering the amount of air the fan moves. Doing this arbitrarily could lead to components overheating; therefore, whenever performing hardware work it is advised to monitor the temperature of system components. Fans with Molex connectors can be modified easily. With 3-pin fans, either fixed inline resistors or diodes, or commercial fan controllers, such as the Zalman Fanmate, can be used. Software like speedfan or Argus Monitor may allow fan speed control. Many newer motherboards support pulse-width modulation (PWM) control, allowing the fan speed to be set in the BIOS or with software.

Full tower computer cases may contain multiple cooling fans. At the top of the case is a fan controller.

Computer fan control

Management of the rotational speed of an electric fan.

SMSC EMC2102 rotational-speed-based fan controller with hardware thermal shutdown

A fan controller with LEDs indicating fan status and potentiometers and switches to control fan speeds

Two such programs are SpeedFan and Argus Monitor.

Motherboard Monitor

Utility designed by Alexander Van Kaam for Microsoft Windows.

Current alternatives to Motherboard Monitor include Open Hardware Monitor, Argus Monitor and SpeedFan.

An ATX power supply unit with top cover removed

Power supply unit (computer)

A power supply unit (PSU) converts mains AC to low-voltage regulated DC power for the internal components of a computer.

PCB of a power supply from an IBM XT clone

A typical XT PSU power switch, which is an integral part of the PSU.

Voltage converter for 80486DX4 processors (5 V to 3.3 V). Note the heat sink on the linear regulator, required to dissipate the wasted power.

A typical installation of an ATX form factor computer power supply

12 V only connector on a Fujitsu mainboard

Various connectors available from a computer PSU

A semi modular power supply to the left and a non-modular power supply to the right

Pinouts of ATX 2.x motherboard power connectors, 24-pin (top) and four-pin "P4" (bottom), as viewed into mating side of the plugs

24-pin ATX motherboard power plug; pins 11, 12, 23 and 24 form a detachable separate four-pin plug, making it backward compatible with 20-pin ATX receptacles

A formerly used AT PSU, mechanically of the same size as the ATX PSUs

PS3 power supply, shorter than ATX, only, 300 W maximum (not to be confused with the PlayStation 3)<ref>Evercase UK: Power Supply Measurements, retrieved 1 June 2016</ref>

An adapter allowing an SFX PSU to substitute an ATX or PS3 PSU

$Ripple tests are performed with an external load and monitoring equipment<ref name="SFX12V23">intel (formfactors.org): SFX12V Power Supply Design Guide, Version 2.3 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414133547/http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/SFX12V_2_3dg.pdf |date=2016-04-14 }}, p. 19 (PDF; 366 kB) April 2003</ref>$

This can often be done through a section within the BIOS, or, once an operating system is running, through a system monitor software like lm_sensors on Linux, envstat on NetBSD, sysctl hw.sensors on OpenBSD and DragonFly BSD, or SpeedFan on Windows.