CPU temperature readings from lm-sensors - seem too high?

[champagnemojo]

For those of you who remember me talking about wanting to buy a new mobo and cpu, I did finally take the plunge a little while back. I decided to go with an XP 2800+ and an Albatron mobo with the nforce2 chipset. Anyways, I have lm-sensors installed now and have been watching my temps (probably too much). I get the two socket temps that the BIOS shows, and those stay around 40 at idle and 50 under load for the CPU (about 34 for the system). But I also get what I understand to be the diode sensor, which is registering about 10 to 15 degrees higher than what the socket temps show. So the diode reading varies between 50 and 63 or so.

This seems high to me, if I can trust the diode readings...which are the more accurate right? I did upgrade my PSU to a 350W, and I think I installed the heatsink correctly and everything. My case is very, very cramped though. This mobo is rather large, and I can't even mount my cd-rw drives flush because they then smash into the third DIMM slot on the mobo. And the ribbon cables are all over the place...and there's no mounts for any extra fans The saddest part is that the temps I mentioned above are with the side off and a small desktop fan blowing towards the CPU. With the side on and no fan blowing in (obviously) the diode temp under heavy load gets into the low 70's.

Should I be worried about these temps? Do you think this sounds like my CPU is faulty or installed incorrectly or would a larger case with more fans and maybe round IDE cables drop my temp into an acceptable level? I figure the temps I'm getting now with the fan blowing into the side are as good as I'm going to get, so are the diode readings of about 52 at idle and 62 or so under heavy load acceptable?

[firebyrd10]

Getting a bigger case would probably help you alot. From what you described it sounds like there is almost no airflow.

[windos_no_thanks]

Should I be worried about these temps? Do you think this sounds like my CPU is faulty or installed incorrectly or would a larger case with more fans and maybe round IDE cables drop my temp into an acceptable level? I figure the temps I'm getting now with the fan blowing into the side are as good as I'm going to get, so are the diode readings of about 52 at idle and 62 or so under heavy load acceptable?

The on-chip sensor will usually show higher values and I'd say 62 is still not very high. I've seen a dual CPU box run with both CPU:s at about 78 for several weeks with no noticeable damage.

[champagnemojo]

Ok, thanks...I guess I won't worry too much then. I'll upgrade the case when I can. It just seemed high...the die temp is supposedly 85, and it gets up to 73 or so with Flight Gear running. I spose it doesn't matter...I can't actually fly the dang plane anyways.

[Cuddles]

ChampagneMojo,

I don't have any spftware to "monitor" the CPU/BIOS temps running in Knoppix, but, when I was having the memory problem, back a few months ago, I "did" view the temps from within the BIOS...

Having a "very" comfy case, and the motherboard is actually very small in the case... I would notice temps around 70 degrees F on a "cold" system, and, as the system was left running, I easily saw the temps get up to a "standard" "normalized" temps of around 80 to 89 degrees F. No problems have been detected, and my BIOS has an "emergency" shutdown "cap" of around 120 to 130 degrees F... So, if you are seeing 70's, you have more cooling capacity than I have...

Does the BIOS have a "cap" setting? What does it say should be the "maximum" it should "ever" get to, before the system will "force" a shutdown???

Cuddles
PS - not having the BIOS monitoring enabled, and already have Knoppix h/d installed, how would I get these "temp monitoring" services viewable in my install? (just curious)

[windos_no_thanks]

Having a "very" comfy case, and the motherboard is actually very small in the case... I would notice temps around 70 degrees F on a "cold" system, and, as the system was left running, I easily saw the temps get up to a "standard" "normalized" temps of around 80 to 89 degrees F. No problems have been detected, and my BIOS has an "emergency" shutdown "cap" of around 120 to 130 degrees F... So, if you are seeing 70's, you have more cooling capacity than I have...

At least I (and I assume ChampagneMojo too) was talking about degrees CELSIUS, keeping the CPU at 70 degrees fahrenheit without heat pumps would require a gigantic cooler.

[windos_no_thanks]

PS - not having the BIOS monitoring enabled, and already have Knoppix h/d installed, how would I get these "temp monitoring" services viewable in my install? (just curious)

Not sure about how to do it the debian way but the main project is here:
http://secure.netroedge.com/~lm78/
It requires some kernel modules (which I don't think are present in the default knoppix system) to run.

[Cuddles]

Windos_No_Thanks
Cool - thanks for the site -=- was able to d/l the i2c source and the lm_sensors, compile, and insert - perfectly... (considering I tried the "normal" approach of apt-get install of xsensors and lm_sensors -=- which died and refused to run for me - glad I didn't have to reinstall with a muck-up of my system -=- again )

Nice thing is, the xsensors apt-get install is working excellently with the source compiled "back-install"

ChampagneMojo
My readings from xsensors - considering I leave my system running 24/7, this is readings from more than six days of being powered up...

SYS Temp: 43.6 deg C
CPU Temp: 34.6 deg C
CPU Fan: 4963 RPM

Other readings of concern:
Voltages:
*** +2.5v : 0.32v [?????]
*** +12v : 12.52v [is this too high?????] -=- it is also shown in RED

Temps:
*** SBr Temp : 21.1 deg C [not sure, but I don't think I have this?????] -=- it is also shown in RED.

Fans:
*** P/S Fan : 0000 RPM [I know I have a power supply fan, I guess it isn't being read, or a sensor is not available on it?????]

I like this, but as you said ChampagneMojo, I think I might end up watching too much now. Especially now that I can watch them...

Cuddles

[champagnemojo]

I've been using GKrellm to monitor my sensors. I'll have to see what xsensors is like.

My socket temps aren't bad...they're about like yours Cuddles. I just worry about the diode readings sometimes...it's so much higher than the socket reading. Are you sure about your temp labels Cuddles? Shouldn't the CPU temp always be higher than the system temp? I don't know...I just thought that was true.

The more I read about all these temps and such, it seems like as long as you're running stable you don't have to worry about it too much. The voltage reading of the +2.5v looks odd...but if you're running good I guess it's no biggie probably. I looked the SBr thing up, cuz I'd never heard of it either. It's apparently just another system temp, that's located in a cooler region of the board (I assume the South Bridge).

I'm still gonna buy a bigger case sometime soon...my mobo is a bit larger than the standard ATX...so I need one of the big 19" deep cases I think.

[Cuddles]

Thanks for the other sensor program -=- gkrellm -=-

And, yes, my labels were wrong...

XSensors is not as "customizable" as gkrellm, I dropped down to my BIOS and took my readings from its labels...

In gkrellm, you can change your labels to what they are... In xsensors, I guess it sets the labels to what "it" thinks they are...

My readings are, as you suspected, SYS Temp is running approximatelly 8.5 deg C "lower" than my CPU Temp...

Another thing I found out about "xsensors" - even though you can provide a command line option of "-f" to translate readings into deg F, the display labels change, but not the readings themselves, they still display temps in C, but with a label saying they are in F. (I think someone didn't "program in" the switch yet...

As for your thought, yes, I agee, a larger case will provide more "breathing" space for everything - your temp settings should reflect lower values in a larger case. If a larger case is not available, I am sure that an additional fan would provide more "ambiant" air flow, as well.

I only have one case cooling fan, below the power supply, and "exhausts" the heat flow. My case is rather "roomy" inside, and the case does provide for an "additional" cooling fan to "pull" air from the front of the case, and blow across the mainboard, towards the back "exhaust" fan - but, considering my temps, I didn't feel I needed it. If I had a "dual" processor motherboard, and two "screaming" procs installed, I might have gone with the dual fan setup.

Thanks again for the "gkrellm" program, I like it much more than xsensors - a lot more options, and far more customizations

Cuddles