I created a script to control the fan speed of nvidia gpus in linux using a custom fan_speed vs temperature curve. I found this feature in msi afterburner really useful when conducting long renders or preview sessions in cycles. Unfortunately no such feature exists in linux. I’ve decided to share this script now after a while, and created a video explaining how to set it up.

Some situations where you might want to use this:

your gpu is too loud, more than it needs to be

your gpu is getting hotter than you’d like it to. this script can force it

to run cooler, which is great for longer renders. AFAIK Running your card cooler can

reduce the wear, and increase its lifespan.

http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/des_s99/electronic_electrical/#main_stress

to run cooler, which is great for longer renders. AFAIK Running your card cooler can reduce the wear, and increase its lifespan. http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/des_s99/electronic_electrical/#main_stress When you are using:

cards with stock cooling

cards in sli (although I havn’t added support for multiple gpu’s yet)

small case

are usually a good indication when you need to check how your card is performing thermally.

cards with stock cooling cards in sli (although I havn’t added support for multiple gpu’s yet) small case are usually a good indication when you need to check how your card is performing thermally. no need to adjust the fan speed manually, script adjusts it according to situation.

web page:

http://code.google.com/p/nvidia-fanspeed/

video tutorial:

also, you might notice that my current triple slot card runs at 65c when using default nvidia fan settings. This is probably fine, and this script is not needed. But my previous card, with it’s stock cooler, and small case easily approached 75 degrees during long renders and on hot days.

If you want the script to work well, I highly recommend taking the time to adjust the curve to suit your own card and your own preferences about heat and noise levels.

Please feel free to post if you have a fix for some of the smaller bugs that exist in it, but it should be very usable if the instructions are followed.

The instructions are fairly specific to the 500/400 series, so I’m not sure whether it will work with earlier cards, but one can always give it a go (I’m pretty sure you might not even need to edit xorg.conf with 200 series cards).

I forgot to include explanation about how to edit the fan curve yourself, but there is a lengthy comment in the code for that, which will hopefully suffice. I’m considering creating a simple pyside interface for doing this at some stage if this tool is popular enough