Bios Temps vs Coretemp temps? which one is accurate?

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dbaaz

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Mar 3, 2013
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Hello guys,

I am in a dilemma whether to buy a new cpu cooler or not.

My BIOS reports the CPU temperature as being ~50C just after starting the PC. However just after booting Coretemp reports the temperature as being around 30C.

Also, I have set the cpu temperature alarm in the BIOS to go off when the cpu temp touches 90C. When the cpu is at load the alarm starts beeping in short intervals while core temp only reports around ~50 or 60 C

Which of these is the correct reading?


AMD FX 6100 on stock cooler
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2PT

Thanks.
 
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satyamdubey

satyamdubey

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Jun 19, 2012
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both are correct and differ because they read temps under different situations. Most of the cpu's advanced power saving features are not invoked when you are in BIOS. This means that Speedstep/Cool&quiet and processor C states are not activated. BIOS is a simple program loop which runs for indefinite period as it always waits for the user's input. As it is also not a parallel threading program, so it runs one busy loop on one cpu core at the core's default speed.

my cpu is an i5 2400 with a default clock speed of 3.1 GHz. Taking the above into account, in BIOS, I have one core running at 3.1 GHz. In summers, I can get as high as 62C in BIOS, with about 33-34C ambient with a closed case.

When I enter windows, all the energy saving features are enabled. Now, speed step can clock my cpu down to 1.6GHz under idle or low loads and my core temp cpu temp read out hovers around 38-40C mark. SO both these temps are accurate but are being reported under different situations. obviously, core temp is more "relevant" as it is in Windows, that you actually perform load operations like gaming, benching or simple number crunching on a BOINC software.

hope this clarifies a few doubts.

good luck
-Satyam
 
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EPiiCFAILx

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Oct 22, 2013
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I was wondering the samw thing. Since i read the about tab on coretemp and it says it can be 10-20 degrees inacurate for AMD CPUs if this is true what is an accurate way of finding out the true temp?
 
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satyamdubey

satyamdubey

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Hey Epic,

AMD temps can be off by a huge margin sometimes. No one knows for sure if it is an issue with optimization of the temp monitoring programs for AMD sensors or whether AMD sensors are at fault themselves.

One thing that some of us who have discussed this issue before agree on is that the temp read outs seem to stabilize and get accurate with load when it come to AMD. Consider this for an example, The FX 8120 that I've had a chance to use, reports 16-19 C with an ambient temp of ~30 C, but with gaming/rendering load, it hovers around 40-45 C mark. It seems to get more linear and accurate with load.

-Satyam
 
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