NVIDIA Aggressive Fan Control

A Python-based fan control daemon for headless NVIDIA GPUs, designed for high-power AI workloads.

Features

• Multiple fan curves - From quiet idle to maximum cooling
• Headless operation - Works without X11/display (uses NVML directly)
• Multiple modes - Choose between quiet, aggressive, performance, or max cooling
• Systemd service - Runs automatically on boot
• Graceful shutdown - Restores automatic fan control when stopped

Fan Curves

Quiet Mode (default)

Matches NVIDIA default at idle, ramps aggressively under load.

Temperature	Fan Speed
≤40°C	30%
45°C	40%
50°C	55%
55°C	75%
60°C	90%
65°C+	100%

Aggressive Mode

Temperature	Fan Speed
30°C	40%
40°C	50%
50°C	65%
55°C	75%
60°C	85%
65°C	95%
70°C+	100%

Performance Mode

Temperature	Fan Speed
25°C	50%
35°C	60%
45°C	75%
50°C	85%
55°C	95%
60°C+	100%

Max Mode

Always runs fans at 100%.

Requirements

• NVIDIA GPU with fan control support
• Python 3.8+
• pynvml package
• Root/sudo access (required for fan control)

Installation

1. Install pynvml

sudo apt install python3-pynvml

2. Copy the script to system location

sudo mkdir -p /opt/nvidia-fan-control
sudo cp nvidia-fan-control.py /opt/nvidia-fan-control/
sudo chmod +x /opt/nvidia-fan-control/nvidia-fan-control.py

3. Install the systemd service

sudo cp nvidia-fan-control.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

4. Enable and start the service

sudo systemctl enable nvidia-fan-control.service
sudo systemctl start nvidia-fan-control.service

Usage

Check service status

sudo systemctl status nvidia-fan-control

View live logs

journalctl -u nvidia-fan-control -f

Stop the service (restores automatic fan control)

sudo systemctl stop nvidia-fan-control

Restart with different mode

Edit the service file to change the mode:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/nvidia-fan-control.service

Change the ExecStart line:

# For quiet mode (default - silent idle, aggressive ramp):
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /opt/nvidia-fan-control/nvidia-fan-control.py --mode quiet --interval 1

# For aggressive mode (always audible):
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /opt/nvidia-fan-control/nvidia-fan-control.py --mode aggressive --interval 1

# For performance mode (louder, cooler):
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /opt/nvidia-fan-control/nvidia-fan-control.py --mode performance --interval 1

# For max cooling (100% always):
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /opt/nvidia-fan-control/nvidia-fan-control.py --mode max --interval 1

Then reload and restart:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart nvidia-fan-control

Manual Usage

You can also run the script manually:

# Run once and exit (fans return to auto after a few minutes)
sudo python3 nvidia-fan-control.py --once

# Run as daemon with custom interval
sudo python3 nvidia-fan-control.py --mode performance --interval 2

# Show help
python3 nvidia-fan-control.py --help

Command Line Options

Option	Description
--mode, -m	Fan curve mode: quiet (default), aggressive, performance, or max
--interval, -i	Poll interval in seconds (default: 2.0)
--once	Set fans once and exit (don't run as daemon)

Uninstall

sudo systemctl stop nvidia-fan-control
sudo systemctl disable nvidia-fan-control
sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/nvidia-fan-control.service
sudo rm -rf /opt/nvidia-fan-control
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Troubleshooting

Service won't start

Check logs:

journalctl -u nvidia-fan-control -n 50 --no-pager

Permission denied errors

The service must run as root. Check that the service file has User=root.

Fans not responding

Ensure NVIDIA persistence daemon is running:

sudo systemctl status nvidia-persistenced

Fans reset to default after stopping

This is expected behavior - the script restores automatic fan control when stopped.

License

MIT