How do I install an external thermal probe on my CPU?

(Lol god I'm such a newb)

See system specs...

Anyways, I have a temperature probe with one of those digital readout things on the front of my comp and I am unsure of how to install it correctly. (No, I don't have any manual or anything... I've been searching on google and nothing can help me.) Where should I put the actual sensor thing (diode?) ? In between the fins of my SK-6? Or do I have to take off the heatsink and put it underneath there? I can't fit it underneath by trying to slide it under.

You're going to have to sit it next to the core, but use some electrical tape on the insulated part to hold it in place. The sensor should be covered in Thermal compound, which touches the CPU. Of course, you're going to have to get your HS off there to do this. Which means reapplying your thermal compound as well.

If you are looking for accurate temperature readings, you may not want to bother with it. Any diode inside the chip will be far more accurate than a thermal probe placed outside the chip. Think about it, how accurately can you tell the temperature of an oven or a refrigerator with a thermometer mounted outside on the door? For more info read Why Many Thermal Measurements Are Not Valid.

Here's an interesting heatsink round up that illustrates the point.

Somehow or other, but the main conclusion is this: for hardcore overclocking, the readings of external thermal sensor are absolutely useless since they don't reflect the factual processor core temperatures.

Click to expand...

You may find Temperature Sensing Technologies a good read too.

Now that we have figured out the best place to read the temperature is inside the CPU die, another problem pops up. With PII and PIII CPUs, the sensor was in the hottest part of the chip. Here's what Intel has to say about PIII diode placement. With P4s and Athlons the diode is no longer in the hottest part of the chip. A little more reading from Intel on the subject. We have the same problems measuring temperatures inside the core when the diode is not in the hot spot as those outlined in Why Many Thermal Measurements Are Not Valid.

The only accurate CPU temperature measurements are from PII or PIII internal diodes provided you have a motherboard that can read the internal diode. There is no way for the end user to get an accurate temperature reading from an AMD CPU or a P4.

thats very interesting colin... so ummm what about all the measurements other people have been getting...? are they all wrong?

Colin, while it is fairly impossible to get a truly accurate reading of internal die temp on P4/AMD CPU's, is it safe to say there is some standard differential in temperatures from a certain spot on the edge of die, to the hot-spot? In this way one could install a thermal probe on the edge of the die (concealed) and, knowing the difference to internal die temp, logically determine the "real" temperature of their CPU?

For example, true core temp on an AMD might be 10c above edge of die, so at 32c by reading true internal die temps would be 42c. Has there been any substantial research on this, or are the factors involved too dynamic to be considered worthwhile across different systems/setups?

stan03 - You got it.

Tekime - Excellent question. Refer to the bar chart in the heatsink review linked to in my earlier post. Depending on the heatsink used, the External Burn and Core Burn temps vary by 3C or 4C or 6C or 7C or 8C or 6C or 5C or 7C or 2C or 13C or 11C or 12C or 6C or 12C and finally by 6C.