[tytlyf]

I'm trying to monitor my cpu temp when I overclock. In bios there is a section labeled "PC Health Status" where it has temperature readings. My cpu shows running 45c at idle. When running Motherboard Monitor, it shows at 35c. My brand of motherboard has issues with its bios and temperature readings. Is the pc health temperature always accurate, or should I trust alternate programs for correct temperatures/readings? Each different program I have MBM5, abit-EQ, have my temp at 35c. My question is, regardless of whether a mobo has bios issues with incorrect readings, is the PC Health Status always accurate? This would really help cause under load my cpu reads 46-50c with MBM5, and I would only expect it to be 10+ if the PC health is correct. I don't want to be running 60c!!! Thx everyone..

[nstabl]

i would trust bios in this case, bios is the true reading, the progs are just bumming info off your chipset, any objections?

[telexen]

the one shown in the BIOS may be a CPU diode sensor that you just don't have configured to read in MBM (look through your temp sensors list). The BIOS reads the same sensors MBM5 does...they should be the same...unless they're reading different sensors

[snakeman300]

Mine does exactly the same bios is a lot higher than mbm5 or speedfan etc like the previous post some motherboards bios is read off the diode and others off the socket if your bios is around 50 - 54 without tremondous load on it then it is reading off the diode which will equate to around 29 - 32 off the socket which MBM5 would use.

[tytlyf]

I've heard that in bios your cpu is running at 3/4-full load. hence the higher temps. Alot of people on another forum confirmed this. Anyone have another way of checking if your stock heatsink is too high? How bout touching with a finger, what's too hot, or what's normal?

[snakeman300]

Don't believe that for a minute.. While i just browse these forums with nothing else in the back ground my temp with speedfan is 32c, if i shutdown and boot straight into the bios the temp reads 54c. if i run prime95 and get the temp up to max of around 43c then shutdown and reboot straight into the bios the temp reads 63c. I can set the warning in the bios at either 60c - 70c - or 80c. I set mine at 70c because when it was set at 60c the alarm bell went off while priming which said 44c in speedfan and 65c in the bios. So now if ever the temp gets above 70 in the bios i will get the alrarm go off.

In conclusion if you are at 45c in the bios you are fine.

[mitro]

Originally Posted by tytlyf

I've heard that in bios your cpu is running at 3/4-full load. hence the higher temps. Alot of people on another forum confirmed this. Anyone have another way of checking if your stock heatsink is too high? How bout touching with a finger, what's too hot, or what's normal?

Thats what I've always read as well. Every motherboard I have (AXP, A64, P4) will read lower once you get into Windows and idle for a minute than sitting in the BIOS.

[tytlyf]

I've talked to other people with a lot of experience, they mention the cpu runs 3/4 or 60% in bios. Which makes sense, I believe them. Why would a game like UT2004 make my cpu hotter than superpi. I ran the 32m superpi for like 30 minutes, and it never got over 46c. But when I run a game, my cpu gets up to 50?!? Any opinions?

[d]g[ts]

Originally Posted by tytlyf

I've talked to other people with a lot of experience, they mention the cpu runs 3/4 or 60% in bios. Which makes sense, I believe them. Why would a game like UT2004 make my cpu hotter than superpi. I ran the 32m superpi for like 30 minutes, and it never got over 46c. But when I run a game, my cpu gets up to 50?!? Any opinions?

Cus when running 32meg pi your CPU is NOT at full load the whole time. If you watch your taskmanager during the PI run you will see the the CPU useage drops when the pagefile is accessed during the run which gives the CPU breaks to cool. Now during the game your cpu is calculating things for the AI of everthing going on. And this does not stop. therefore CPU is ustilized constantly during games.

[tytlyf]

what would you recommend as a good program to bench maximum cpu temp, voltage, etc? Prime95? I didn't really like that program..

[ps2cho]

3dmark2001 combined /w Prime ultimate disregard the score you get.

[tytlyf]

Thats a nuclear meltdown, ahhah. I prefer superpi over prime95, any reason why it might be beneficial to run prime?

[douglasb]

Originally Posted by tytlyf

Thats a nuclear meltdown, ahhah. I prefer superpi over prime95, any reason why it might be beneficial to run prime?

Lots of reasons. Superpi does not have any type of built-in torture test; Prime95 has 3 different ones, 1 which only taxes the CPU (small FFT), one that taxes mostly the CPU and generates lots of heat (large FFT), and one that tests a little of everything (Bled). Superpi does not utilize 100% of the CPU time, or even close. Prime95 does. Prime95 also checks for errors and reports a failur if a calculation is done wrong. I'm not sure that SuperPi does that either. SuperPi is more of a benchmark than a stability test. It doesn't stress the CPU near enough to be useful for stability testing purposes. Foldin@Home or SETI utilize a lot more CPU time, almost as much as Prime95, but they rely on accurate data to be reported back to them and they don't have anything to check it against, so don't use those unless you are 110% stable. Hope that helped.

[laynlow]

Tytlyf,

Are you running an MSI board? My 915 Neo2 Plat bios temp readings are usually spot on with my speedfan readings. They are normally less than 3 degrees apart.

[douglasb]

Originally Posted by laynlow

Tytlyf,

Are you running an MSI board? My 915 Neo2 Plat bios temp readings are usually spot on with my speedfan readings. They are normally less than 3 degrees apart.

Speedfan and MBM5 typically read directly from the motherboard diode, at least that has been my experience.

[tytlyf]

abit board, check sig

[Enablingwolf]

I have always gotten my idle temps from BIOS. Yes, it does load the CPU up a bit. So it isn't a true idle. But if it is sitting there running at a good temp you know the CPU will run safe in most situations.
I have a theory. That it allows you to adjust the settings in a mid to high -level load enviroment. While keeping an eye on the settings vs. temp returns. That will keep a safe operating range in most cases. A benifit is, it idle-loads higher on POST/BIOS for the CPU fail safe feature. Then the CPU don't burn out, and it will do its shutdown faster.

Edit: It seems to give a 10°C range for true idle and load. My BIOS shows 40°. My actual idle/full load in windows is 30°/50°. So I can get a pretty good guess what I can expect. I am using a A64 2800 @ 2033Mhz with stock cooling.