Now that my system has had a chance to run with the case assembled (as opposed to my early open-side tests), I've found that under most circumstances my CPU fan runs around 2900 RPMs. I have Cool & Quiet disabled since I run SETI@Home 24/7, and use no software utilities that would impact fan speed. The BIOS reports 2900 RPMs on all available 3-pin fan headers. Note that I also have the CPU target temperature feature disabled so that the fan runs at full speed all the time. I also can verify all of my temperature and fan speed readings with separate programs in Windows (Everest and MBM). My motherboard's ambient temperature reports between 30 to 32C when the room is at about 20C; pretty much representative of the last couple of months. My CPU runs at about 50C under load. With recent (seasonal) increases in room temperature, I see the appropriate increase in motherboard temperature. The funny thing, however, is that when the motherboard temp rises to 33C or above, the CPU fan increases its rotational speed in order to keep the CPU temp around 50C. For example, as of right now the motherboard temp is reading 35C, the CPU is reading 50C, and the fan speed is ~3450 RPMs. A few minutes ago, when the motherboard was at 34C, the CPU was at 50C and the fan speed was ~3200 RPMs. On some warmer days here, I've seen the fan speed scale up to 3800-3900 RPMs with a motherboard temp nearing 40. The CPU, of course, stays around 50 at load. If I remove the load from the CPU, the fan speed still stays high, since the motherboard temperature is higher.. bla bla bla.....no answer needed. :P