SpeedFan 4.52

Winner Best software in 2014 - System info.

Overview

In a nutshell, SpeedFan is a smart freeware designed to give information about the voltages, temperatures of your computer and the speed of your computer’s fans. SpeedFan is able to access your computer’s temperature sensors and change the fan speeds which will help to reduce noise. This is because it will regulate the fans so no excess of energy is being used unnecessarily. However, the average computer user will not know how to use this program or be tempted to learn, but it can be very useful to those who have undertaken their computer system maintenance seriously.

Installation

At a tiny size of 1.97 MB, you won’t even realize you have installed SpeedFan but this little program can make a huge difference to the way your computer runs or uses energy. SpeedFan is supported by all Windows operating systems (Win95, 98, 98SE, Me, 2000, NT, XP, Vista, 7) too.

Interface

SpeedFan has a very simple looking tabbed interface with a variety of data giving Readings, Info, Clock, SMART and Charts options. There are also a variety of other options to access and it can be configured to suit your needs. Although the interface looks simple, the information it provides is very technical and detailed.

Pros

You can easily know the temperature of your computer hard drive with the simple icon displayed in your system tray. This app features a tool for you to reset the motherboard clocks and is also able to display SMART data. SpeedFan compares the data from your hard drive with a database and offers information of any potential problems that can be acted upon if necessary – this is certainly helpful.

Cons

SpeedFan has been known to cause computer systems to crash upon launching. And this can cause other problems on the computer such as registry changes. Some programs may also not function properly after this crash and may need re-installation (my face is turning green now). In addition, SpeedFan is difficult for the novice to even consider using without extra help and guidance as most of the information is data. It would be more useful to include a short manual to clarify some of the tool data. This would make it a bit more popular to those who are technology challenged.

Alternatives

Open Hardware Monitor is a free alternative program similar to SpeedFan. It monitors the internal temperatures within the computer but does not have the superior facility to access and control the fan speeds as well as SpeedFan does. Coretemp, Realtemp, AIDA64 Extreme Edition are all alternatives but they are not designed with features on fan control.

Conclusion

SpeedFan is great as a freeware tool but you wouldn’t buy it if you were a novice. It can give a good indication of your computer’s running capabilities and you can prevent the overuse of fans when they do not need to run at their full capacity. This reduces noise and energy usage. SpeedFan scans the whole motherboard and other drives to show you the temperatures obtained from information about the voltages and digital temperatures. This can provide useful information that can be used to correct or reduce the functioning of the fans for certain tasks. For some people, this may also increase the computer's speed.

Winner Best software in 2014 - System info.