Temperature Sensor Placement

[Soundster]

Can anybody tell me where I should put my processor Temperature Sensor. and how do I do it?

The instruction said to place the sensor "adjacent" to the processor, not between the heatsink and processor core. where is "adjacent" to the processor? Do I tape it to the motherboard near the processor?

Help is much much appreciated!!!:(

[bluestreakLB]

What exactly did this sensor come with? and what are you going to be using it for?

[Soundster]

The sensor came with the ahanix dboX and the sensor will show the tempurature of the processor.

[NewOCerman85]

Originally posted by Soundster
Can anybody tell me where I should put my processor Temperature Sensor. and how do I do it?

The instruction said to place the sensor "adjacent" to the processor, not between the heatsink and processor core. where is "adjacent" to the processor? Do I tape it to the motherboard near the processor?

Help is much much appreciated!!!:(

If you were to just tape the sensor to the motherboard near the processor it wouldn't be in contact with the heatsink so your temp. readings wouldn't be accurate.I had to stick on one of these when I bought my thermaltake heatsink.If you need anymore help,or have questions,feel free to PM me.

You should place the sensor as close to your CPU as possible,Place it next to the CPU using the double sided thermal tape that should have come with it,But not directly on top between the CPU and Heatsink,Pressure is not good for these sensors.

I'll demonstrate with this:

edge of Heatsink:
===============
Temperature sensor goes here

Processor:
---------------------------
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
---------------------------

edge of heatink
================

[Soundster]

Originally posted by NewOCerman85


If you were to just tape the sensor to the motherboard near the processor it wouldn't be in contact with the heatsink so your temp. readings wouldn't be accurate.I had to stick on one of these when I bought my thermaltake heatsink.If you need anymore help,or have questions,feel free to PM me.

You should place the sensor as close to your CPU as possible,Place it next to the CPU using the double sided thermal tape that should have come with it,But not directly on top between the CPU and Heatsink,Pressure is not good for these sensors.

I'll demonstrate with this:

edge of Heatsink:
===============
Temperature sensor goes here

Processor:
---------------------------
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
ppppppppppppppppp
---------------------------

edge of heatink
================

Thank you! I think I have a good idea where it goes now!:D

[NewOCerman85]

Originally posted by Soundster


Thank you! I think I have a good idea where it goes now!:D


Your very welcome,Glad I could help.

[Colin]

I don't want to rain on your parade but 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. (http://www.arcticsilver.com/measurement1.htm) As most of us already know, in-socket thermistors will not give you anything resembling an accurate temperature. “Oh but I put the probe next to the CPU core, it must be accurate!” Think again. (http://http://www.arcticsilver.com/side_thermistor.htm[/url) Here's an interesting heatsink round up (http://www.digital-daily.com/cooling/athlon-coolers-2003q1-2/index08.htm) 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.

You may find Temperature Sensing Technologies (http://www.microchip.com/download/appnote/analog/adc/00679a.pdf) 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 (http://www.intel.com/design/pentiumiii/xeon/applnots/24509801.pdf). With P4s and Athlons the diode is no longer in the hottest part of the chip. A little more reading (http://www.intel.com/update/departments/initech/it04021.pdf) 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.

Furthermore for those of you with P4s, if you consider the last link from Intel, your CPUs are most likely throttling more often than you may realize.

[arabarabian]

When I first got a thermal sensor I made the mistake of placing it between the core and the heatsink. This raised my temps by nearly 10c. So the best place would be to tape it to the side of the die just barely touching the die. But if you are really concerned with temps then drill a small hole in the base of your heatsink, on the side and then fill with thermal epoxy such as Artic Silver and then place a temp. sensor in there. That will give you very good temps.

Thank You,
Daniel