Incorrect (low) CPU temps

[rking12345678]

I've run SpeedFan, HWmonitor, CoreTemp, and Everest and each one tells me my CPU's two cores are running at 18-20c while my case is at 30c (all idle temps). My room temperature is about 80f so the case temp does make sense. I have an MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 motherboard and CPUID identifies my processor as an "AMD Athlon(tm) 5000 Dual-Core Processor as does Everest, CoreTemp identifies it as an "AMD Phenom II X2 55000 (Callisto). The CPU has stock cooling and is not overclocked as well. After a restart a check of my BIOS tells me it's running at 35c currently, which I'm not sure if I can believe or not.

I know I can't believe the temps reported by those various programs, can I believe the BIOS temp? I assume this is hardware error since numerous programs report the same incorrect temps, is this a sensor on the CPU which could be fixed by an upgrade I'm planning on anyway or on the motherboard which I can't upgrade for some time due to having an OEM version of Windows 7? Thanks for any help.

 

[john3850]

When you in the Bios you cpu is under more load then windows at idle.
Many fan controllers change speed as windows loads.

 

[rking12345678]

When in Windows my temps are 10c lower than the room, case, and HDD temp and 15c lower than my GPU temp. This seems like an error.

 

[Smoove910]

maybe you have one of those 'hidden' Deneb core X2 5000's? If so, unlock those other cores!

 

[rking12345678]

I've read about people doing that but I can't find any info on how to actually do so, or if my processor was one or not.

 

[richierich1212]

what does the BIOS identify your cpu as? Phenom II 550?

 

[Smoove910]

I've read about people doing that but I can't find any info on how to actually do so, or if my processor was one or not.

Yea, after re-reading your posting I see you have an Nvidia based chipset on your mobo. You need an AMD chipset (SB710 I believe) to make the unlock work.

Sorry man!

 

[richierich1212]

Yea, after re-reading your posting I see you have an Nvidia based chipset on your mobo. You need an AMD chipset (SB710 I believe) to make the unlock work.

Sorry man!

Not entirely true. Some Nvidia based mobos can unlock with the NCC option

 

[rking12345678]

My BIOS reports it as an "AMD Athlon(tm) 5000 Dual-Core Processor".

 

[richierich1212]

Have you updated your BIOS to the latest version? What cpu exactly do you have?

 

[rking12345678]

I don't know what processor I have, and I don't have any thermal paste to replace it if I removed the heatsink to check. I also don't know about the BIOS, this was a prebuilt from a local computer shop so I'm not sure exactly what they did/didn't do.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Not sure if this adds anything to the thread or not, but abnormally low core temps were often reported from programs like CoreTemp when monitoring Brisbane CPUs. The info provided by CoreTemp makes me think that your chip is not a Brisbane, however, so I am confused as to why the core temps are coming in so low.

Nevertheless, those temps can not possibly be accurate. If your BIOS is reporting a CPU temp of 35C then that is probably much closer to being accurate.

 

[Ben90]

Im probably a complete idiot here, but why wouldn't you just use a program that reads the TJMAX directly like real temp? Or does AMD not do TJMAX the same as Intel?

 

[rking12345678]

I'm bored so I'm trying to find information on the Athlon x2 5000+ 2.2ghz CPU in my board via google or any other programs I can think of. FreshDiagnose gives me this information off of the "motherboard" tab:

Motherboard
This module contains information about your motherboard.



Motherboard Information
Motherboard Model K9N6PGM2-V2 (MS-7309)
Motherboard Vendor MSI
Motherboard Version 2.0
Motherboard Serial Number To be filled by O.E.M.

System Enclosure or Chassis
Manufacturer MSI
Chassis Type Desktop
Chassis Lock Present No
Version 2.0
Serial Number To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Asset Tag Number To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Boot-up State Safe
Power Supply State Safe
Thermal State Safe
Security Status None

Processor Info (from BIOS)
Socket Designation CPU1
Processor Type Central Processor
Processor Family Error: Unknown Family
Manufacturer AMD
Processor Version AMD Athlon(tm) 5000 Dual-Core Processor
Serial Number To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Procesor ID 00100F42-178BFBFF
Asset Tag To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Part Number To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Supported Voltages 1.5 Volts
Current Voltage 1.5 Volts
External Clock 200 MHz
Maximum Speed 2200 MHz
Current Speed 2200 MHz
Processor Status CPU Socket Populated, Status Enabled
Processor Upgrade Other
L1 Cache Handle 0x05
L2 Cache Handle 0x06
L3 Cache Handle 0x07


_______________________________________________________________________________
Generated by FreshDiagnose (c) 2010, FreshDevices, Corp.
Thursday, Jul 15, 2010 07:54:25 pm


I googled the processor ID and found
http://homepage.virgin.net/roy.longbottom/whatcpu results.htm
which shows an AMD Phenom II 64 3.0 GHz processor having that number. Am I confused or is it just the software?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Have you tried running CPU-Z yet? And yes, it is possible that your x2 is a Phenom II (Deneb) with locked L3 cache and two locked cores.

 

[rking12345678]

CPU-Z says the same as the rest, perhaps it's just wishful thinking and I should probably accept that I do just have a boring CPU but it'd be nice if I could do something about it...

 

[Vette73]

Go here...

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=downloadindex

And use that to update the BIOS and other items that MSI has for that board and try again.