Intel D975XBX & Temp Issue

[Xathagorra]

Hello all,

I just wanted to confirm whether or not the Intel D975XBX CPU temp readings are indeed actually off.

I'm running a 3.6GHz CPU (not o/c'd) with a Zalman 9500 cooling, and the BIOS (the version it was shipped with; not sure which) is reading my CPU temp at 60C idle... which cannot be accurate.

I've heard that people running 3.6 CPU's sometimes cant get their temps below 50C, but in my old ASUS board, with the Zalman, the BIOS read 40C idle.

So... not sure whether to believe that BIOS or this one, though I know FCG (whom I emailed... thx for the info) said the BIOS on the Intel D975XBX reads only the CPU temp wrong.

Am I running that hot due to the power of this particular board? Or is it simply reading 20C hotter than what I'm actually running?

If anyone else can confirm this, just so I can double-check that I'm safe (don't want to burn anything out), please let me know.

I'm using air cooling through my entire modded Lian Li case, and my ambient temp (in the summer) is being read the same, at 40C roughly, by both the BIOS and Riva Tuner.

Thanks much in advance, your help is appreciated.

[eva2000]

i think they're way off as if you notice everyone with bad axe and conroe never show or report cpu temps hehe

[Esparco]

i'm running a 920D stock cooling no OC.. and the bios SHOW 60 C`
and everest show 50 C` IDLE

i'm sure that the processor sensor is screwed cause 65nm will never idle at 50C` its got to be 30C or something

[Xathagorra]

So you guys are having the same issues then?

Have you, or anyone else, heard for certain that the CPU temp is off?

It obviously seems to be, even by my own deductions... but again, just want to be sure in order to keep very expensive component safe ;)

Since it probably is the sensor, does anyone know exactly how far off it is (for them or in general)? And will a BIOS update fix the issue?

Thanks again.

[shogan191]

I sure hope it's off. I was showing 60C idle at 1.50Vcore. I know they run hot but that seemed a little warm. I also saw 80C while overclocking yesterday. I tried not to focus on it. haha Is there a temp utility that's any good for this board yet? I guess not.

[grimREEFER]

ok, maybe this will blow ur minds:
maybe none of our old boards had accurate temp monitors and this thing is telling us the truth!!!!

[Xathagorra]

Heh, yeah... it's a conspiracy of all other boards but Intel that have lied about our CPU temps ;)

To the guy above... are you using the Intel D975XBX? You have an ASUS board in your sig.

Seriously though...

Considering how many people are now using this board, I was hoping for some more responses to try to clarify this issue for both myself as well as others... so, please speak up, for those who use this board and have been having the same issue.

My CPU temp reads 60C at idle and I know that just simply cannot be right (I would hope!) but it's a concern because I'm sure many if not most here have spent a great deal of time and money building high-end systems.

I've read, briefly, in two different places from consumers that this board reads CPU temps hot, but w/o a little more confirmation about the Intel D975XBX reading CPU temps speficially wrong, it's a little nerve-wracking.

I've just been "assuming" that I'm actually running around my normal temps with this CPU, which was around 40C on my "old" ASUS board (the P5N32 SLI Deluxe) considering I'm still using the Zalman 9500, mounted with AS5 and plenty of airflow... but it's a "touchy" assumption to make, when you're talking about such an expensive CPU and mobo.

Anyway... any further "confirmation" in one way or another about this issue would be greatly appreciated, by both myself and by others who I know have also been worried about the issue.

Thanks & Cheers.

[Esparco]

my cpu is idle at 48 C` in everest... i checked with third party sensor and it was 10 degress less.. like 38 so i guess the sensor on the mobo is not accurate

[toddm27]

i'll let you know what my board shows, I'll have it tomorrow

[Tyrou]

temp reading on mine is quite accurate, I mean +/-5c difference with the thermocouple I have on the IHS, what's new is that it works even at very low temps, and stays rather good, it reads ~-120 for -105 real temp :woot:

[[XC]Atomicpineapple]

My XBX shows stragely high temps, 70 degrees C on watercooling with 25 degree ambient air? Dont think so! Fortunately my T-Balancer fan controller gets back from RMA tomorrow so I'll be able to have a temp sensor touching the side of the IHS, from that I suppose its possible to make an educated guess at the core temperature, or at least tell if the boards feeding us a load of c**p.

[toddm27]

you could always try using this (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=103638) program to compare temps, but I'm not sure it works for anything under conroe, yonah or merom

[Xathagorra]

My XBX shows stragely high temps, 70 degrees C on watercooling with 25 degree ambient air? Dont think so! Fortunately my T-Balancer fan controller gets back from RMA tomorrow so I'll be able to have a temp sensor touching the side of the IHS, from that I suppose its possible to make an educated guess at the core temperature, or at least tell if the boards feeding us a load of c**p.

Well, going by your set-up, I'd say it definitely is off, w/o a doubt.

It'd be great if you could post just how much of a difference there is when you recieve your new sensor, so looking forward to that...

...but with you're running, most assuredly the D975XBX is giving seriously wrong CPU temps by reading way too high.

I'm in the same situation as you, with the BIOS reading 60C idle temps, which is impossible, and since I've gamed extremely hard the last few days and left my system on for at least nine hours yesterday, both w/o crashing or system shut-down, I'd say that would also back up the fact that this board reads, at the very least, 10C higher, such as posted by Esparco.

Good to see people jumping on/working with the issue... great feedback, so keep it coming as you find out more.

Cheers!

[[XC]Atomicpineapple]

Ok, running 333x8=2664MHz 1.5 Volts shows 71 degrees full load with good contact between CPU and waterblock using Intels temp monitoring software. My thermal probe touching the IHS says 33-34 (all in 25 degree ambient air). I know that IHS and core temps can be a lot different, but 37 degrees different????!!!!

[sierra_bound]

The BIOS temp readings on the Bad Axe have little correlation with reality, IMO. If the readings were accurate, my CPU would have melted by now. :D

[G H Z]

Very true, 1.575V on Tower 120 and I have no idea what the real temperatures are ;)

[Supertim0r]

as long as its stable :P

I'm running a 631 until conroe arrive, 48c idle stock speed/volts/cooler (19c ambient) :stick:

who think conroe throttle at high temp ?

[Xathagorra]

The BIOS temp readings on the Bad Axe have little correlation with reality, IMO. If the readings were accurate, my CPU would have melted by now. :D

:D ... exactly.

I'd ask if updating the BIOS would help, but since most of you are running 304 in preparation for Conroe and having the same temp monitoring issue, the answer to that is obvious.

Ah, well... just going to have to trust it's reading CPU temps way off, and as long as the system stays stable (such as said above) that there's no problem.

After around five hours of BF2 in a 90 degree apartment last night, if my system stayed on and stable (which it did) than I think I can safely assume my CPU temp is just fine.

Just out of curiosity... what 3rd party monitoring are some of you installing and how/where exactly on the board? Is it even accurate in itself?

I considered using Intels software from the other disc to try monitoring, but since the BIOS temps are so off, I figured it wouldn't be worth the time... unless someone has found that it actually does work and reads properly (i.e. different (lower) than what the BIOS is reading).

Cheers.

[sierra_bound]

I think the Intel Utilities program is a little more accurate. A friend who has the Bad Axe ran some tests. Temp in BIOS was 60C. The Utilities program said 45C. A thermal probe had around 35C, if I recall correctly. Of course your results may vary.

[musmus]

hi i have the same thing my bios temp show at startup of the computer 75

and dos any one hear a beep on there system when you start up the pc

thanks

[Xathagorra]

I think the Intel Utilities program is a little more accurate. A friend who has the Bad Axe ran some tests. Temp in BIOS was 60C. The Utilities program said 45C. A thermal probe had around 35C, if I recall correctly. Of course your results may vary.

Ah, well then... maybe I'll give it a shot.

Any idea if the software is "buggy" at all, meaning causing any conflicts with any other programs?

Either way, it's apparent that the BIOS is definintely off in temps, just further confirmed by what you just told me, so I thank you.

I'm sure I'm running around 45C highest at idle, which is excellent, as far as I'm concerned, especially considering what I'm running.

[adamant415]

I have problems with the intel software after I open cpu-z. I think I read somewhere that there is a new version out that corrects this though.

[icesalmon]

I just put my system together this past weekend

D975XBX "badaxe"
intel pentium D 930
Thermaltake Bigtyphoon (air)
2 gigs pqi turbo mem
Antec true power 550

After the Big Typhoon my cpu temp from the intel utility software read 10 degrees cooler roughly on idle than the stock heatsink fan, so I cranked it a little and I saw the temps raise which worried me. I didn't know if I had just put the heatsink on wrong or not

thanks to this post I realize now that it might just be a bad reading

anyone with those badboy air overclocks care to respond on teh sensor being off or not ?

[gone_fishin]

The heatspreader on the 9xx series is indented with the edges being the only contact with any heatsink. With the stock heatsink Intel provides the thick thermal adhesive pad fills all the voids. When enthusiasts remove this and apply paste as they are used to in a thin layer, the results are poor as the paste works rotten when real thick or too thin to make contact.

Since you already applied an after market sink, take it off and look at the tim pattern on the spreader, I bet it is making little contact if any in the center.

Lap it (and lose warranty) or apply thick goop, your only options.

[icesalmon]

well I orignally had my stock heatsink on there, and the temps I was seeing is what made me go out and buy the aftermarket cause I assumed I had a hot running processor for some reason.

I removed the intel pad/paste that was on there and applied about a big rice grain sized glop of the thermaltake thermal greese.

[gone_fishin]

Best thing to do is take it off and see how well the rice grain sized drop spread out and worked. Adjust your next application accordingly.

[sai]

Same problems for me here, with voltage on 1.45v I get 60°C idle with a Scythe Ninja. Heatsink doesn't get really warm though. I tried refitting and and lapping the IHS, nothing helped.

[zdogjones]

I built my system a couple of weeks ago... Bios reads 45-47 at idle but only 53 after an afternoon of gaming. Very strange. Intel said that the desktop utilities arent really ready for conroe yet and that they will be coming out with a new version soon.

I was thinking that it might be the way the HS is on there too. I have an Asus silent square and I would have thought that the cpu was much cooler than it is.

I might take the cooler off and look at it...


Z

[millzee]

For the record, mine read 38°C idle and 51°C both cores loaded

[zdogjones]

I took the HS off last night and checked out the way the guys who put things together did things.

a) My HSF mounting bracket was VERY loose. I would say 4-5 full turns to tighten it to the mb.

b) The paste while spread out appeard to have a gap in one spot near the center of the chip.

I have reassembled and when I get my rig back together tonight I will post some new temps...

Z

[Lesterp]

The IHS on my E6400 is slightly concave - a real drag since lapping it is the only way to make it right, but with the obvious consequences no warranty and lower resale - might do it anyhow since the only chips I ever had died on me were old tbirds with chipped cores.