SpeedFan

Designed for hardcore users who frequently hog the system's resources (such as video gamers and graphic designers), SpeedFan offers a simple and effective solution to keeping track of the hardware's temperature level and change the fan speed when it gets too high. It is capable of evaluating S.M.A.R.T. attributes as well.

Installing SpeedFan takes minimal time and effort, since there are no customization options available. The utility is packed in a classical interface made of a single window split into multiple frames, where users may seamlessly examine information and make the necessary changes concerning the fan speed.

At startup, it creates an icon in the notifications area which displays the current GPU, hard drive and core temperatures when hovering the mouse; the icon's color indicated the current temperature status. The first panel monitors these components and allows users to enable the automatic fan speed based on the app's own optimization parameters.

When it comes to the system clock, users may select the motherboard and clock name, pick a configuration from the list and enable automatic control by setting rules based on low CPU usage and time limit. S.M.A.R.T. attributes can be investigated in the last tab to find out various indicators of reliability and anticipate system failures.

It is possible to select the exclude components shown in the system tray area, tweak fan, voltage and speed settings, point out fan controllers to take into account, customize the tray icon colors and font, as well as pick the temperature measurement unit between Celsius and Fahrenheit. Program activity can be recorded to log files, a feature which comes in handy when planning to leave the PC unattended. They can be immediately sent via email.

SpeedFan has a very good response time and shows accurate information. It offers extensive details concerning the hard disk and CPU temperature levels, allowing users to adjust settings to suit their own preferences. Due to the technical nature of the app, only experienced users should work with SpeedFan, since they might otherwise damage the PC.