Quote Originally Posted by Spanki View Post
1. Temperatures being reported for the new E6x50s are way off - obviously 85C is no longer the proper Tjunction value to be used for those.
I compared the reported load temps of my B2 E6400 to a new G0 E6550 and at the same MHz, core voltage and room temperatures, our load temps were almost identical. For both processors, TjMax is assumed to be 85C.

The idle temperatures for his E6550 were being reported below ambient which is impossible but my B2 E6400 can also report idle temperatures below ambient. That doesn't prove that the maximum Tjunction isn't 85C. It might just be that the data coming from the on chip digital temperature sensors isn't accurate at low temperatures. These sensors are designed and calibrated for managing the thermal throttling and thermal shut down of the processor. No where does Intel document their use for measuring idle temperatures.

My opinion based on readings from an IR thermometer is that they are very accurate from 50C to 100C. Below 50C they lose accuracy and when used to report idle core temperatures, will usually report readings that are too low.

I believe the TjMax for the new Q6600 is likely 100C as CoreTemp 0.95 is assuming but without any documentation from Intel, I'm only guessing and so is anyone writing temperature software.

None of the above matters if you set CoreTemp 0.95 to "Show Delta to Tjunction temp." CoreTemp is accurately reading that Intel documented register and displays it in real time.

If you're doing some serious overclocking and you're running stable you really don't have to worry too much about temperatures. When fully overclocked, you'll lose stability before you reach the throttling point and you won't get anywhere near the THERMTRIP# shut down point.