Do cpu fans spin at different speeds?

Question

Occasionally my computer makes a louder noise for a few seconds, and the stops. I found it to be the cpu fan. When the noise starts, that fan is spinning faster. Is this normal? My last computer never did this.

Answer 1

im thinking that it is actaully your hard drive because when your doing something that the computer need to get something off the hard drive it will spinn faster making it sound like a fan. most cpu fans only spinn at one speed (2500rpm) although you can go ingo settings and change this. i doubt that it is randomly just starting to spin faster.

Answer 2

Some fans come with a heat senor and it will spin faster as more heat is detected. Some motherboards can also control the speed of the fans too.  

Answer 3

It's getting older and running hotter. If you're doing a heavy load of work that puts more burden on the CPU. The motherboard knows this, and will speed up the fan to keep the CPU from overheating. Try buying a can of compressed air duster, open the case, take it outside, and "dust" out as much as you can, especially in the fins of the heatsink underneath the CPU fan.

When you're done, make sure your computer is well ventilated and not stuffed somewhere in an air-tight box. It needs to be able to breathe and stay cool.

Answer 4

The newer fans spin faster, and are controllable by the motherboard, depending on how hot the CPU is getting.