randomizer: I think it was rge that had a theory that perhaps TJ Target and the actual TjMax were very similar during early manufacturing but as the process matured, the actual Tj Max for the B2 processors might have been bumped up a few times by 5C notches. Intel has been telling us since day 1 that we can't use these sensors to report accurate core temperatures and if TjMax was being quietly adjusted then that might explain the big secret. I haven't played with the Clock Modulation settings with C1E enabled yet. I'll give it a try.

IanB: You make some good points. It was always my belief that if you did a RealTemp calibration at a fixed low power level that you would end up with some reasonably accurate temperatures from idle to 60C where most users run their CPUs most of the time. rge's work and recommendations improves upon that.

assuming the TjMax value used to fix the top end is legitimate.
And there is the problem. The latest IDF news release has shown me that Target TJ values and TjMax may not necessarily be the same thing. The RealTemp calibration will automatically minimize a couple of degrees of error in TjMax but it can't compensate for a 20C error in TjMax.

For most of the mainstream 45nm processors that Intel says are TJ Target 100C, we now have two fixed points on the temperature curve and with a calibration, you can get accurate core temperatures from idle to TjMax.

Unfortunately the whole calibration concept really hasn't caught on even amongst the hard core community at XS. It's very rare that I see a screen shot posted where the calibration feature is being used. The majority of users seem comfortable accepting the fudged up DTS sensor data as is and don't want RealTemp fudging their data to make it look nice.

100% accurate temperatures aren't that important with Intel Core processors anyway. If you're overclocking and not stable at full load because of too much heat then you need to buy a bigger super cooler or reduce your MHz and / or core voltage so that your Distance to TjMax headroom increases. If you're stable and not thermal throttling, you can safely ignore your core temperature.