Deciphering Thermal Sensor Data

[RJCorbett]

Hi,

I'm trying to decipher the thermal sensor data reported by SpeedFan and HWMonitor, specifically, Temp1, which is the highest temperature reading I get and the only one to get a little flame next to it in SpeedFan when I'm playing X-COM.

I have a Pegatron M2N78B-LA motherboard, AMD Athlon II X4 620 CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 graphics card, and two hard drives.

In SpeedFan, I get the following while idling (the max temps hit after an hour of X-COM are in parentheses):
GPU: 33C (51C)
Temp1: 47C (55C)
Temp2: -128C (-128C)
Temp3: 24C (41C)
HD1: 31C (35C)
HD0: 30C (35C)
Core: 30C (47C)

Temp2 is clearly a nonfunctioning sensor. In HWMonitor, I get two readings from the motherboard, the temperatures of which match on to Temp1 and Temp3, labelled TMPIN0 and TMPIN2, respectively.

So, I'm trying to figure out what Temp1/TMPIN0 measures to see whether the 55C it hits in X-COM is anything to be concerned about (I suspect it could go higher under enough strain). I've seen some speculation that Temp1 is the top of the CPU rather than the core, but then it should be cooler than the core, even if I did not set the heat sink or apply the thermal paste properly, right? I'm concerned that it might be the motherboard chipset temperature, since 1) my graphics card extends over the motherboard's dinky passive heatsink and so might block airflow and 2) I don't know whether it could handle the same kind of temperatures that my CPU can. I mean, it did get a little flame icon next to it. Fire bad.

It would also be nice to know what Temp3/TMPIN2 measures, but since it is the lowest non-polar temperature measured, I'm not too worried about that.

Thanks,

 

[Raiddinn]

More like the program is malfunctioning rather than the sensor malfunctioning.

Any processor on the market can handle 55c without any problems.

Video cards can handle much more temperatures than processors can. Some even go over 100c and still function. I wouldn't suggest anyone run a processor that hot.

Download HWMonitor from CPUID and see what the temperatures from that say.

BTW, what case do you have?

 

[InvalidError]

The 55C could be from the VRM or chipset. Not worth worrying about in either case.

 

[RJCorbett]

I have a Cooler Master HAF 912. Why?

HWMonitor shows the same temps, but only two sensors on the motherboard. It has nothing that would correspond to Temp2, though since it shows TMPIN0 and TMPIN2, but no TMPIN1, I bet it drops the -128C reading as clearly wrong. Other people have noted a negative temp in these boards, too.

 

[Raiddinn]

Do you have the optional side fan installed?

If you do, unplug it and see what happens to temperatures.

If not, then put one on there and see what happens to temperatures.

 

[RJCorbett]

I think I have figured it out. Apparently, other people have found the NVIDIA GeForce 9100 chipset runs hot for a motherboard. I saw other people posting their temperatures where it was hotter than the core. So, Temp1 northbridge, Temp3 southbridge, and Temp2 connected to nothing at all, I think.

 

[RJCorbett]

Best answer selected by RJCorbett.