Speedfan - Recommended?

A few simple questions that I expect might have less than simple answers -

Should Speedfan be trusted? Why would a third-party developer know better than the OEM when and how fast my fans should run?

On my old Dell laptop, I used to run speedfan, and everytime I opened it, the fan speeds would drop drastically (I could hear them slow up). I had all settings to default, but I was naive enough to think that Speedfan just decided that the fans didn't actually need to be going that fast. Anyway... over the course of a year, my laptop developed permanent discoloration on either sides of the touchpad as a result of the heat, which lowered its resell value by about $50.

That was about 3 years ago, newer versions of speedfan are out now, should I give it a second chance?

 

question being - why do you need it?

 

Speedfan was designed for desktops.

 

I don't need it, just like I don't neeed a laptop. Are daily tasks facilitated by my owning one though? Yes. I guess the best answer to your question is the even more obvious answer to a different question: what is speedfan used for?

But I am glad you asked that, because it does in a way tie into my question. Maybe someone who has or does use speedfan will tell me that I don't need it, etc.

With respect, a lot of programs were designed for one thing and evolved for use in other things. Remember ARPAnet 2? Designed for military use. Yeah... today it's called the internet. More to the point, I think the fact that Speedfan detects laptop specific MB's makes what it was originally designed for less relevant.

Anyway, I'm asking if, in its current state, I should give it a second go. I also use a few gadgets that have extended functionality when speedfan is running, etc. Maybe a few answers from people who do or have used it recently?

 

I do not use speedfan because I know it lies about the temperatures

 

I use SpeedFan as a tool to monitor and compare with some other system readings. Some has good experience with it, some does not. I am neutral in this tool.

Try different tools (RMClock ..) and see if it works for you and your comp.

Since using Vista, I tend to leave the power management to Windows, just keeping my chipset and drivers up to date.

cheers ...

 

What do you use instead?

I have it installed not that I used it, but have hwmonitor to which I use, the temps are the same in both except the acpi temp in speedfan is wrong, it just stays at 25 and doesn't move.

 

HWMonitor is what I use.