New Dell XPS 410, have question.
 

Hi all. I just bought a new Dell XPS 410 Desktop. I like it a lot. Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, GeForce 8600 GTS, 256 MB, etc. Pretty sweet. Big upgrade from my Amd Barton 2500 OC'd to 2.3 GHz, 1.25 GB RAM, ATI 9800 Pro 128 MB.

Also, got my first LCD. 19 inch wide-screen. Very nice.

My question is this: At idle CPU temp is 45 C. I've noticed that the fan is running much faster at POST than while in Win XP Pro. I'm sure Dell thinks that the temps are within specs but I would like to make the CPU fan run full tilt. I've gone through the BIOS and can't find any settings for fan speed. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

You can probably crank it higher with speedfan or ilk but really, 45c isn't that high. Hot isn't until the high 60s, at which point the system will have cranked up the fan. Fan speed is always a tossup between noise, temperature, and fan life.

I'm guessing you know this, but part of the POST is to test the fan at 100% which is why it sounds like it's taking off.

Nice system, BTW.

The fan speed is determined by a temperature sensor on the motherboard, AMD calls it "Cool 'n Quiet" and I'm sure Intel has an equivalent. if you want to just run the fan full bore you can try pulling the yellow/blue lead out of it's power feed, then it's just on or off (wouldn't recommend it without testing, some motherboards will get REALLY pissed about not being able to monitor the CPU fan).