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Lower than expected CPU temp...should I believe it?

Rob!

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I just set up my new rig last night and am messing with it today. I'm monitoring temps with ATITool for the video card, and trying both Everest and SpeedFan for the CPU. Everest only shows the HDD and Aux temps, while SpeedFan shows a bunch but doesn't label what they are. From what I can tell, one of the Temp1 readings is the Aux temp and one is the CPU.

Judging from SpeedFan and the temp in the BIOS, my CPU temp idle is about 22C on average (seen it as low as 17C!). The Aux temp is between 18-20C on average. I thought it was ridiculous, so I got a mercury thermometer and let it sit on my case for probably an hour and a half now. I was even doing some gaming, and I just checked that thermometer and my room's ambient temp right now is about 66F, which is 19C.

I've never seen a CPU in the low 20c Celsius on air before...should I believe it, or do you think my temp sensors are off?

The setup is in my system specs. CPU heat sink is an Alpine 7 that I lapped with 800 and 2000 grit sandpaper pretty damn smooth with thermal paste that is comparable to AS5. I don't have any crazy cooling in my case yet; only two 80mm fans (one in one out).
 
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I wouldnt trust those readings at all... Most motherboards have really dodgy/faulty motherboard temp monitors. You rarely ever get a motherboard with a temp monitoring chip that is calibrated correctly.. in this case my one is only a few degrees off the actual temp.

Use core temp to measure the temps of your CPU.
 

Rob!

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Well in Core Temp I'm getting 0C for one core and 8C for the other core.

Hmph.

In Speed Fan my "Core" temp is 9C. Temp1 is 17C. HDD is 30C (which is expected as that's what they usually are with a case setup such from other rigs I've done for myself).

The CPU is also at 1.25V exactly.
 

panchoman

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not possible unless your room is under 0C, the lowest i've got with my blue orb on my 4600 on stock is 18C, which is real.
 

Rob!

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Any other suggestions for monitoring CPU temp? I don't want to have to go out and by a physical sensor I have to plug in there somewhere.
 

von kain

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most reading from mobo's are faulty enough to trick you try to stick an thermometer and you sell see the difference
 
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best I have found is S and M even though it is torture test, leave it off.. but then go to monitering and see, att tool by Ray Adams for GPU also.. my core temp is low 12-15C!!!
 

Rob!

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most reading from mobo's are faulty enough to trick you try to stick an thermometer and you sell see the difference

What kind of thermometer? And where to I put it? Shim it under the heatsink or something?
 

Mussels

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What kind of thermometer? And where to I put it? Shim it under the heatsink or something?

i personally have an infrared (laser) thermometer, it lets me get readings without having to touch the nasty-hot heatsinks like those on my GTX :toast:
 

Rob!

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i personally have an infrared (laser) thermometer, it lets me get readings without having to touch the nasty-hot heatsinks like those on my GTX :toast:

Well where exactly do I measure? Just the bottom of the heatsink or something? I've never had to do this before as I was never in such doubt of onboard temp sensors.
 

wolverineI

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is that a brisbane 4000,if so the mobo wont read right without a bios update.had the same
issue with my biostar.none of the temp programs will read right especially cpu core.would help if you put mobo maker and model.with the mobo specific monitoring utility and the latest bios, if available,it will read correctly.
 

von kain

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mussels have a point with the laser thermometer,another is to have a sensor install and have the reading in you frond panel, but don't put a glass thermometer
 

Rob!

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is that a brisbane 4000,if so the mobo wont read right without a bios update.had the same
issue with my biostar.none of the temp programs will read right especially cpu core.would help if you put mobo maker and model.with the mobo specific monitoring utility and the latest bios, if available,it will read correctly.

I have a Biostar NF520-A2 motherboard. I'll see what I can do about updating the BIOS...I've never done it before. :ohwell:
 

Necrofire

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Temps can be off, just ask around for people who have the same cooler and processor what their temps are, and average it. I know my second core always seems to be 6-8 C hotter than the first, no matter what load is on it. Don't worry about updating the bios, it won't work for temp sensors.
 

Frick

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If you haven't the latest Coretemp, get it. I got wierd readings as well before I installed the latest revision..
 

Wile E

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The on-die temp diode is supposedly broken in the Brisbanes. Nothing I found gave an accurate reading on my 4000+. Everything reads low. BIOS updates did not help at all.
 
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so what laser thermo is the best i searched google and looked through a ton and suggestions welcome
 

von kain

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this i thing is out off this topic.but i guess how much are the money you want to spend
 
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20-100 i wantnsomething thats going to be accurate and durable more than anything dont care about battery life
i use rechargable
 

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Ahh.. It's a Brisbane.. Does Coretemp even work with those processors?
 

Mussels

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20-100 i wantnsomething thats going to be accurate and durable more than anything dont care about battery life
i use rechargable

i got mine for $50 au, and its only accurate to the C (no decimal point)

but really its harder than it seems, on my tower heatsink, the CPU reads 72C, the heatpipes read 55-65C and the heatsink all the way up to the top just gets colder and colder. so it REALLY matters what you're looking at since say... a bad grease job could leave your heatsink at 40C and your CPU at 80C.

they're useful, but just beware they arent magic :)
 

wolverineI

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Temps can be off, just ask around for people who have the same cooler and processor what their temps are, and average it. I know my second core always seems to be 6-8 C hotter than the first, no matter what load is on it. Don't worry about updating the bios, it won't work for temp sensors.

the biostar bios update is specifically for temp sensor misreading of the brisbane core.
where do you get the idea it wont work for temp sensors? there have been many bios changes for mobos from asus to soltek that involved fixes for temp sensor readings.abit nf7s
v2 comes to mind.as well as the entire nf2 platform in the original versions.as to your second core always being 6-8 hotter,this is usually from the temp program such as speedfan
listing your northbridge temp as a core temp. core temp the program even with the latest
cannot read the brisbane core correctly.as you can see from his reply,he does have a brisbane and he does have a biostar,this is a known issue already being corrected by bios updates.
 

Necrofire

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I have a biostar, and a windsor.
So I was wrong about the temps being wrong, but none of the 4 or so bios updates on 4 different mobos fixed any temp sensors.
Hell, there's no bios update that will make my mobo correctly read my 6000+.

Speedfan, Everest, and a couple of other programs that can read cores all say that my second core is roughly 6-8 C hotter than the first.

Right now, Everest is telling me 31 and 38 C for the cores, and 20 for the CPU (yes, it's really cold in my room). Hell, I could be wrong, though. I've only seen my dual-core (6000) and two of my friends' dual-cores (4800 and a 5600) give the same readings, with different mobos.
 

Wile E

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I have a biostar, and a windsor.
So I was wrong about the temps being wrong, but none of the 4 or so bios updates on 4 different mobos fixed any temp sensors.
Hell, there's no bios update that will make my mobo correctly read my 6000+.

Speedfan, Everest, and a couple of other programs that can read cores all say that my second core is roughly 6-8 C hotter than the first.

Right now, Everest is telling me 31 and 38 C for the cores, and 20 for the CPU (yes, it's really cold in my room). Hell, I could be wrong, though. I've only seen my dual-core (6000) and two of my friends' dual-cores (4800 and a 5600) give the same readings, with different mobos.
A 6-8C difference isn't unusual at all. Both cores won't run at the same temp.
 
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