temp. monitors

[steven1110]

I'm building new comp. and am wondering should I buy some kind of temperature monitor so I know what I'm running at. If so, what do you suggest?

 

[LV38_Eagle]

‘Should you’ is a hard one, they are not necessary as the inbuilt monitor on P4 and AMD chips will shut it down if it overheats, I do like it though, gives you a better idea of what’s happening.

Most (maybe all) new chipsets/moboÂ’s/processors already have temperature monitoring built in, I have tried a number of windows based temperature monitoring packages, and none of them tell the truth.

If you want to know the true CPU temperature, check the BIOS.

Otherwise there are a number of companies who make temperature sensors, Vantec, Lian-Li, etc. most are coupled with fan controllers and high temperature alarms, I have the Hardcano 12 from Thermaltake and would recommend it.

 

[steven1110]

Thanks sound good but there's only one hitch...I don't know a thing about bios. I know what it is but that's as far as my knowledge of it goes. help me out here!!

 

[Bleep]

As LV38_Eagle said... Intel CPU's have a temp. feature built in to the chip that won't let you "cook" the processor. If the temps get too hot, it will slow down. If the temps get to a certain point, the processor will shut itself down. Not sure if AMD has this or not...

Depending on the motherboard, most come with some sort of software program that monitors all sorts of specs in your computer, including temps. They also sell cases that have temp reading that display right on the front, in a small lcd panel.

 

[LV38_Eagle]

Sorry Bleep, you are quite right, the AMD’s do not have the ‘thermal slowdown’ idea of the Intel’s, but there is a BIOS option to sound an alarm if the processor gets above a temperature of the users choice, (between 60 and 90 degrees Centigrade).

The Hardcano 12 I mentioned is a device that fits into a 5.25 inch bay, and monitors 4 different temperatures, 4 fan speeds and sounds alarms if it sees anything exceed its presets.

 

[LV38_Eagle]

Oh, and the BIOS, (though different on most mobo’s), is normally accessed at start-up, on the Gigabyte version I have you press ‘Del’, it should say as you turn it on 'press something to enter setup/bios'. Then look for ‘Status’ or something.

Be warned, donÂ’t change any values in BIOS if you are not sure what you are doing. Nasty things may happen as a result.

 

[steven1110]

Ok, thanks a lot guys.

 

[steven1110]

Actually I was thinking about it and something doesn't make sense. If you enter BIOS at startup, how can you read your temp(from bios) right after a hard gaming session. Or can you?

 

[ekÆsine]

If you want to know the true CPU temperature, check the BIOS.

not true my asus a7n8x dlx BIOS reports my cpu temp at 35F at normal operation, my thermaltake hardcano 9 reports a 10F higher difference if i put the sensor dead center uner the cpu die. if i put the sensor where the instructions tells me (which is offcenter and wrong) it reports only 5F higher difference.

even asus probe temp monitor that runs in windows is off from bios i think. in my specific scituation i would trust that whatever my BIOS tells me is 10 degree farenheit lower than the actual cpu temp. so my point is use a hardware temp monitor to double check temps, don't trust BIOS readings unless you are sure it's right.

 

[Bleep]

ekÆsine is right about the bios and software monitoring of temps...any software that comes with the mobo, will read temps from bios. He is also right about it being a bit off, the mobo calculates the CPU temp via a mathematical function, which is less than accurate. The most accurate way to measure the temps of the CPU is by using a thermal probe...some cases come with this feature.

If you aren't OC'ing, I wouldn't worry about it.