A method and system are provided for thermal management of a CPU. Both hardware and software data are used to periodically calculate a power consumption index. An internal database is provided to convert power consumption data to rotational speed of an associated cooling fan for the CPU. Based upon a change in the calculated power consumption, the rotational speed of the fan may be adjusted to accommodate the change in power consumption. Accordingly, the method and system monitors and adjusts the rotational speed of the cooling fan based upon available hardware and software data.