Why does the CPU / GPU fan spin more when memory use is high

o5gmmob8 · Guru Joined: 17 Oct 2003 Posts: 507

The fans continue to run when memory use is high - I copied files into memory (about 14GB, the system has 64G of ram). With no load, why do the fans need to spin?

Banana · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 1:53 pm Post subject:

If you have the ability to watch your mainboard temps, it could show that something is getting hotter and needs more air.
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NeddySeagoon · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 2:18 pm Post subject:

o5gmmob8,

How much CPU involvement there is in a copy to RAM depends on the source.
If its USB Bulk mode, the PU moves every byte.
If DMA can be used, the CPU only sets up the DMA controller, which is probably a corner of the CPU these days as the DRAM controller is a piece of the CPU.
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o5gmmob8 · Guru Joined: 17 Oct 2003 Posts: 507

I copied from a USB disk to memory, but after that operation has completed hours ago and the machine is idle, the fan is still spinning. I'm just wondering if keeping data in memory is causing that?

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 6:42 pm Post subject:

o5gmmob8,

Data is kept in memory (DRAM) by refreshing it. It happens all the time regardless of the content of memory.
Once the silicon cools down after the copy, the fans should slow down too.
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NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.