Temperature Discepencies - Bios vs. CoreTemp

[Stimmer]

I just got my new system together this morning and I'm having a hard time figuring out what to believe with my temps...

Processor - AMD Athlon X2 - 5200+ (1MB L2 Cash version)

My bios on one hand says my CPU is running around 38-42C. While CoreTemp says:


Core#1 - 29C
Core #2 - 25C

So who do I believe? I've read the bios reading can be inaccurate, but that bad? I always thought it read cooler then it really was?
Apperciate any input. Thanks!

 

[The-Noid]

Core temp should be correct as it is a digital temperature sensor on the die.

 

[sutahz]

nevermind

 

[Duvie]

the odd thing in most cases I have seen the bios has been the low one (as if taken a temperature probe at the top of core below heatspreader) and the coretemp one being higher. With my DS3 board it was about an 8c discrepancy....my Asus P5B-del it was 10+....with my DFI975x board it is 8-10c range....

 

[ArchAngel777]

BIOS puts a ~50% load on the CPU.

Temps in BIOS will generally be higher than temps in Windows at idle.

To throw a loop into this - You have two different ways to measure the Intel's CPU's (You have AMD, so this does not apply). You have Tcase and Tjunction. If the BIOS reports Tcase, then even under load, it may be lower than Tjunction idle in windows. The reason is because the temperature is taken at different points.

Tjunction - The individual core and also the hottest part of the chip.

Tcase - This temperature is taken from the top of the CPU in the center. This is typically 10-15 degrees cooler than Tjunction.

BIOS generally reads Tcase, but not always. As of BIOS 12 of my particular motherboard (IP35-E), it measures Tjunction.

Hope this helps!

To simplify this response, I would say there is nothing abnormal with the temps in your origonal post.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

This is an AMD question, but it would seem obvious that the BIOS value should be for the AMD processor what the TCASE temperature is for the Intel processor.

The BIOS value should be lower. How much lower is a matter of the AMD processor thermal spec sheet data.