CPU temp readings

Actually I have two issues:

I have a Celeron D 2.4 running on a SOYO SY-P4i865PE Plus v 1.0 with XP PRO
SP2 fully up to date.. I've replaced the retail box fan with a Thermaltake
P4 Spark 7+. I used the included thermal paste and I've checked to make sure
all the fans are running, the thermal paste is applied properly and the CPU
is seated correctly.

First, all the various temp monitors (MBM 5, Aida32 and SiSoft Sandra)
indicate a cpu temp of 70 C at startup and while idle. Several hours of
heavy cpu usage ( PVR work or coding and burning while surfing) bumps the
temp up to 72C. During these operations the CPU usage is almost 100%.
However, the BIOS temp indicates 42C at idle. The heat sink is not even warm
to the touch at heaviest usage and the CPU is running very near it's stated
rating of 2.4. These same monitors indicate correct chassis fan and CPU fan
speeds and they are consistent with the BIOS reading.

Second, my Soyo i865 board has the LED (AGP monitor - I think) lit.
According to the manuals this indicates a wrong voltage and the system
shouldn't work. The AGP card is an older ASUS 4x v8170 with a nVidia
GeForce4 MX420. It is running at 4X and, according to the manual diagram, it
appears to be a 1.5 V card.

While my system seems to be working fine, I'd some suggestions as to what
might be causing the abnormalities.

Wayne

GuessWho wrote:
 > Actually I have two issues:
 >
 > I have a Celeron D 2.4 running on a SOYO SY-P4i865PE Plus v 1.0 with
XP PRO
 > SP2 fully up to date.. I've replaced the retail box fan with a
Thermaltake
 > P4 Spark 7+. I used the included thermal paste and I've checked to
make sure
 > all the fans are running, the thermal paste is applied properly and
the CPU
 > is seated correctly.
 >
 > First, all the various temp monitors (MBM 5, Aida32 and SiSoft
Sandra)
 > indicate a cpu temp of 70 C at startup and while idle. Several hours
of
 > heavy cpu usage ( PVR work or coding and burning while surfing) bumps
the
 > temp up to 72C. During these operations the CPU usage is almost 100%.

 > However, the BIOS temp indicates 42C at idle. The heat sink is not
even warm
 > to the touch at heaviest usage and the CPU is running very near it's
stated
 > rating of 2.4. These same monitors indicate correct chassis fan and
CPU fan
 > speeds and they are consistent with the BIOS reading.
 >
 > Second, my Soyo i865 board has the LED (AGP monitor - I think) lit.
 > According to the manuals this indicates a wrong voltage and the
system
 > shouldn't work. The AGP card is an older ASUS 4x v8170 with a nVidia
 > GeForce4 MX420. It is running at 4X and, according to the manual
diagram, it
 > appears to be a 1.5 V card.
 >
 > While my system seems to be working fine, I'd some suggestions as to
what
 > might be causing the abnormalities.
 >
 > Wayne


Wayne,

The Asus v8170 video card may be a problem, the card is notched to work
with 1.5V systems. But this card will also work in AGP1X which is
3.3Volt. These cards were auto sensing the power requirements of the
motherboard. The improper voltage warning light is being tripped most
likely because the card is operating close but not exactly to the
required 1.5V spec. This in time could cause you motherboard problems
and I would recommend a newer video card that supports AGP8X, you will
see some that support AGP2X,4X,8X these are fine as well. As long as it
supports AGP8X you know its working with the correct power specs for
the board. Plus in 8X your getting more bandwidth out of your video
card.

As for your temp readings I would believe the BIOS temp reading. Aida32
& SiSoft Sandra free versions have been known to give false readings.
The only true way to get a correct temp reading is by installing a
thermal sensor between the cpu and fan. In your BIOS settings you can
set the board to shut down when it reaches a set temp. If your really
worried just set it to shut down at 50c or 55c. Even though I have
installed the thermal sensor I still have my P-4 set to shut down at
50c in the BIOS and it's never been tripped.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->