Onboard Temperature Monitors

OLtimrNewbie

Member
Jun 21, 2003
129
0
0
I'm getting fairly high CPU and M/B temp readings, although the room is cool and the cases are well cooled. I don't necessarily trust the onboard monitors and wonder if anyone has tried Motherboard Monitor v.5.3 ? Or can suggest any other good proven utility to monitor Temp's. I have ASUS A7N8X-DX with AMD 2800+ @ 58C ; an ASUS A7N8X - E with AMD2800+ @ 57C ; an MSI KM2M with AMD 2400+ @ 58C. Room Temp is 20C and M/B temps are all in the 27-29C range. All this seems a bit high to me.
 

pirred908

Senior member
Jul 1, 2004
629
0
0
None of those programs out there are accurate. Neither are your BIOS. Spend 15 bucks and get a thermal sensor that can be mounted into your case. I ripped the thermal sensor off my old hardcano 9 and mounted it into a 5.25 bay cover. Its the only way to get accurate temps.
 

OLtimrNewbie

Member
Jun 21, 2003
129
0
0
Thanks 'pirred' I'll see if I can find somekind of Thermal sensor. Any suggestions as to where I should start my search? Thermal sensors available at Computer parts stores or where?
 

Navid

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2004
5,053
0
0
Keep in mind that you can never measure the internal temperature using a probe. There is a diode on the CPU. This diode is on the same semiconductor die as the CPU. The temperature of the die is almost identical to the temperature of that diode. The voltage accross the diode is what is used to determine the temperature.
Obviously, there may be inaccuracies in the way MBM5 calculates that temperature.

A probe will measure the temperature of the plastic (IC package), which is cooler than the internal die.

Each of these techniques has pros and cons. Just keep those in mind.
 

pirred908

Senior member
Jul 1, 2004
629
0
0
Originally posted by: OLtimrNewbie
Found: a local disributor for a Hardcano9 Temp & Fan Monitor. $42 cdn. I shall invest !

No, thats way to much. Go to pcmods.com and check out there thermal sensors. You can get one for around 20 bucks.
 

OLtimrNewbie

Member
Jun 21, 2003
129
0
0
I looked at PCmods.com...took me to Frozencpu.com; didn't find a hardcano9. $20 US dollars is $25.50 Cdn + shipping + Duty brings it back to close to $42 Cdn. Still about the same if I buy locally; and easier to return or replace if there is a problem. Again; Thanks for the advice.
 

pirred908

Senior member
Jul 1, 2004
629
0
0
yah sorry, pcmods.com IS frozencpu.com, i just think typing the first one is easier. You don't HAVE TO use the hardcano 9, thats just what I use. They have alot of choices.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
20
81
Motherboard Monitor (and the BIOS) may not be 100% accurate, but they give a pretty good idea of what the temperatures are.

None of those programs out there are accurate. Neither are your BIOS. Spend 15 bucks and get a thermal sensor that can be mounted into your case. I ripped the thermal sensor off my old hardcano 9 and mounted it into a 5.25 bay cover. Its the only way to get accurate temps.
Thing is though, those thermal sensors use the same thing to measure temps that the motherboard uses - thermistors. Most components like that usually have a 5% tolerance, so their readings may vary.


Keep in mind that you can never measure the internal temperature using a probe. There is a diode on the CPU. This diode is on the same semiconductor die as the CPU. The temperature of the die is almost identical to the temperature of that diode. The voltage accross the diode is what is used to determine the temperature.
Obviously, there may be inaccuracies in the way MBM5 calculates that temperature.

A probe will measure the temperature of the plastic (IC package), which is cooler than the internal die.

This diode, at least on AMD CPU's, is not readable by external software, at least not as far as I am aware of. What is more typically displayed is the temperature read by a thermistor in the center of the processor socket on the motherboard. So if Motherboard Monitor says your CPU is 60C, the die may actually be over 70C.


You report room temps of 20C (wow, you like it cold. I prefer about 24C in the summer, 28C in the winter), and case temps of about 28C. That's not bad. Room temp here is 24C; case temp reported as 29C, and 46C for the CPU. That CPU is an Athlon XP 2100@2.1GHz, cooled with an Alpha 8045 heatsink, which is fairly large.
What cooling do you have for your CPU's?
 

OLtimrNewbie

Member
Jun 21, 2003
129
0
0
Jeff7
I think I must have a high internal thermostat. I feel warm when my wife and most others are putting on sweaters; and I'm wearing a T-shirt!

Both XP2800+ Bartons have Vantec Aeroflow VA4-C7040 Copper Core Cooler w/TMD fan's; at 5500rpm. The XP2400+ is cooled by an Evercool CUD-725CA.; at 3600 rpm. There is Arctic Silver 3 on all 3 CPU's. The cases have 2 intake fans and 2 exhaust fans and the power supplies are of the dual fan type. So there should be plenty of air flow.

Pirred; Thanks for the connection. The Digital Doc 5+ kinda turns me on; but the price in Canada is an OBSCENE $74.00 ! One price I saw US was $51.95 so shipping; customs duty; and exchange on the dollar would be even higher if ordered from the US. Most of the prices for components made in Asia are cheaper in Canada than the same item in the US; because of different import duties in our respective countries. I think most US customers would benefit from buying online from Canada. Your dollar is worth about $1.20 today. (ie) a $100 item in Canada would cost you $79.29 today.
 

MornNB

Member
Oct 3, 2004
26
0
0
This diode, at least on AMD CPU's, is not readable by external software, at least not as far as I am aware of. What is more typically displayed is the temperature read by a thermistor in the center of the processor socket on the motherboard. So if Motherboard Monitor says your CPU is 60C, the die may actually be over 70C.

That's not actually true anymore, it was true back in the KT266 and AMD 760 days, but more modern chipsets read the temp from the CPU's diode directly. Infact I doubt that most current boards even bother with a thermistor in the processor socket.
The problem was that the thermal diode was new to the athlon xp, so support was not aviable for motherboards and chipsets originally designed for the thunderbird.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
20
81
Originally posted by: MornNB
This diode, at least on AMD CPU's, is not readable by external software, at least not as far as I am aware of. What is more typically displayed is the temperature read by a thermistor in the center of the processor socket on the motherboard. So if Motherboard Monitor says your CPU is 60C, the die may actually be over 70C.

That's not actually true anymore, it was true back in the KT266 and AMD 760 days, but more modern chipsets read the temp from the CPU's diode directly. Infact I doubt that most current boards even bother with a thermistor in the processor socket.
The problem was that the thermal diode was new to the athlon xp, so support was not aviable for motherboards and chipsets originally designed for the thunderbird.

Really? Great, I'm glad to see they've actually made progress there. They should have a big warning or something in the manual (or on the box rather - people actually read that) that says "reads CPU die temps directly, so expect higher temperature readings!!!"
Or, since it's translated, it'd say something more like:
"CPU Die temp read direct to you monitor. Higher temperatures expecting showed."
:p