How to Check Graphics Card Fans Not Spinning | Causes & Fixes

Graphic cards fans are required to cool down the temperature of the gaming PC. No extra fans are needed if you have an AC room setup because GPU has the features to cool them down. However, a hotter environment, due to the high temperature in the room, needs to have extra fans. GPU fans can run on 5V to 12V.

There can be a big fan for the GPU or two fans. They must have the quality to reduce noise. Three fans GPUs allow the system to cool down immediately during intensive gaming, but they can only be connected to ATX motherboards. Triple fans GPU has 12.13 x 2.24 x 4.45 inches dimension. It delivers up to 14000MHz clock speed. The games can run best on 1200 to 2400 RPM.

What If GPU Fans Not Spinning & Overheating?

If you detect an overheating in your GPU, this can be a significant problem that must be tackled as soon as possible. It is because of a few reasons.

• Your GPU may have varying fan speeds.
• It may be because of graphics intensive process.
• There can be some applications or softwares running on the background of the PC.

You must go with the default settings of the GPU to solve this problem or check each one in more detail.

Why is My GPU Fan Not Spinning?

If the graphics card fan is not spinning, your GPU may affect its performance. It is a fact that GPU fans may not run all the time. It starts spinning when there is a need to cool down the temperature. 

You must look for the problem again, as I have told you that GPU fans only spin at a specific temperature. They start turning when the system is used for playing games or rendering videos.

GPU Fans Not Spinning On Startup

The graphic card unit generates much more heat that is reduced or relaxed by a Heatsink with fans so that necessary heat dissipation can be arranged to cool the GPU. Sometimes fans do not spin. The fan does not always spin because it saves energy.

The fans will start when the load increases or doing something intensive on your system, playing a game, or graphics work. Then the card temperature will ramp up then the fan starts automatically when the GPU has reached a specific temperature range of 55 – 65 C°.

What If GPU Fans Spin then Stop?

It can be an excellent step to check that all of your system’s connections are adequately fixed. The GPU fan spins on startup and stops after a few seconds due to security. When electricity arrives on the PC to prevent overheating, the ventilator starts and is regulated after a moment. This is the function of most graphics cards.

What If Graphics Card Fans Not Spinning No Display?

• It means that PCIe is not connected with the GPU and the PSU. It won’t get the power to spin the fans. That is why it does not show the display too.
• If the GPU is not shown connected on display, but the fans are spinning, then the driver needs to be updated.
• If the GPU is running, but the display does not show it, then cable connections must have problems.  

Check for the Working of GPU Fans

If you wish to check the fan spinning, then follow these steps.

• If you have a glass PC case and can see the GPU fan, it is ok. Otherwise, undo the PC case as you could watch the fan.
• Now restart your PC.
• When it is on Reboot, watch out, GPU fans.
• For this process, they must spin at full speed.
• If they are turning, then they are working perfectly.
• If they do not spin at that time, they must have problems. 

GPU Fan Test

Now they need to undergo a stress test. There is various software that can stress the GPU fans for checking.

• You can use SpeedFan, which is more powerful to detect the GPU fan’s performance.
• Open Hardware Monitor can also stress the GPU to see the working of the fans. 
• HWMonitor is also used to analyze the fan speeds of the GPUs.
• MSI Afterburner may also be suitable for watching out for the performance of GPU by detecting its temperature variations.

Other Reasons for GPU Fans not Running

There are some other reasons that you must keep in your mind before replacing it.

• Grime may also be the reason to failing of the fans. It is dust particles that have made their place in the GPU fans. They can block the smooth running of the fan. Cleaning up the inner case and components of your PC On and off is recommended. You can also use GPU fan lubricant to give it a better go.
• The PSU of the GPU may also be the reason for not spinning GPU fans. The working will be affected if it does not provide proper electricity to the components.
• You can check for your GPU performance by GPU-Z software. If the GPU is not working correctly, the fan will not spin too.
• Check for the PCIe slots if they are correctly connected. If 6 data pins are not connected accurately, then GPU won’t run properly.
• It can be possible that your GPU needs an update in its software or driver.
• You can also change the default settings on the specific softwares of the GPU fans to alter their fan curve.
• Finally, you must check the GPU on any other PC. It will give you a conclusion to keep the card or replace it. Here you may contact the manufacturer to replace or fix it. Many brands provide the best after-sale services.

RTX 3060 Fans not Spinning

MSI GeForce Gaming RTX 3060 possesses TORX fan 4.0 that gives airflow in the cooling system of the GPU. RTX 3060 is one of the GPUs that does not spin the fan continuously. It starts spinning at higher temperatures during extreme work. The power cable or PCIe is not connected if it is still not reeling. Lastly, you can give it a stress test. 

RTX 3080 Fans not Spinning

The same thing happens when RTX 3080 fans are not spinning. You must load a game and start playing it for more than 15 minutes. Now check the GPU fans. They may begin to spinning. Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 works with advanced cooling due to its 11 blades triple fans. The software can also customize the fan spinning individually. 

Tips to Keep the GPU Fans Spinning

Here I will guide you through some tips to keep your GPU fans spinning.

1) Clean and Maintain

It is better to clean up the components of your PC after every 2 months. It will give your PC a smooth performance without any hurdles. Take out your graphics card and dust it. Clean it with an air duster spray. Once it is clean, you can restore the card. Now recable it and restart your PC.

Now load a graphically intensive game and wait for the fans to kick in. keep in mind that all the graphics cards and fan bearings can stay on a bit. You can use specific lubricants for your graphics card to oil it. Never use WD-40 for cleaning up your graphics card.

2) How to Lubricate Video Card Fans

Follow these steps for this procedure for the video card fan not spinning.

• Remove the fan casing by unscrewing the back of the GPU.
• Unplug the fan from the GPU.
• Now unscrew the fans from the casing. Each fan has 3 screws holding it down.
• Separate the fan blades from the fan motor gently.
• Now use a cotton bud to oil the motor of the fan. Remember not to leave any cotton particles inside it.
• Then lubricate the fan blades with oil properly.
• Reinstall the fan blades to the motor.
• Reassemble the GPU in the PC. It will work amazingly with the cleaned fans. 

3) Adjust Fan Speed

For this purpose, restart your PC and press the delete key to enter into its BIOS in the motherboard’s UEFI, navigate to the hardware monitor tab. Click on advanced settings. In the Q fan Turning option, watch for the lowest operating RPM of a fan. You will see a graph with multiple line segments.

The X-Axis shows temperatures in Celsius, and Y-Axis shows the fan duty cycle. Each of the points represents the target fan speed for a given temperature. Here you can slide the dot upward to adjust the fan speed.   

If the GPU fans are not working correctly and you may feel some unforeseen issues, you must not use your PC in extreme conditions. It may spoil the graphic card if overheated. GPU is an expensive component of the PC. If only the fan is not working, you may replace it quickly, but if the GPU is damaged, you may spend a good amount of money on replacing it. Go beyond the instruction given above in the article to keep the graphics card fans spinning.

Conclusion