Intel Xeon X5680 (Westmere) - Core Temp unusual?

brobins · 13 Jul 2011 at 22:54

Hi all,

I am after some advice.

I have just assembled a dual Xeon X5680 machine and it is all up and running and working but I have installed Core Temp to see if the temperatures are normal and noticed the Frequency's of the CPU's seem a bit strange?

They are fluctuating at around 132.99 so 133 x 15 / 15.5 / 16 / 16.5

The highest I have seen it go is to 2195.5Mhz.

Am I wrong in thinking that these should really have a clock multiplier of 25?

What is going on?

They are definitely 3.33 chips. The BIOS shows 3.33 and so does Device Manager.

Hmm

Thanks for any advice.

Ben

brobins · 13 Jul 2011 at 23:01

Ah, I have just monitored it whilst rendering in 3ds Max / Vray and it shot up to 133 x 26, so 3458Mhz.

Is it normal for it to fluctuate like this?

Also, does anybody have any ideas of what normal temperature ranges are for these processors?

If I have my way they are going to be maxed out for long periods of rendering time so I wont them to stay stable etc

Many Thanks,

Ben

Luke_De · 13 Jul 2011 at 23:34

Have you got Cool'N'Quiet on, not knowing if this is even applicable here :S

hibernian1875 · 14 Jul 2011 at 00:32

This is normal. It means you have CPU Management On in BIOS. The actual option name changes from motherboard to motherboard due to different BIOS. When the system is doing less intensive tasks it reduces the core multiplier and core voltage, when doing intensive tasks (rendering/stress testing/gaming) it will increase it to the top speed so nothing to worry about.

*Edit* With temperatures, looking at 80C as a max ideally with stock cooler under load, 5-10C lower with after market coolers, should sit a little lower if not overclocked, around 75C. I use CPUID to monitor my hardware, speed fan for temps and Prime95 to stress the CPU to make sure it's stable and run it for a few hours to see what the temperature peaks at.

brobins · 14 Jul 2011 at 08:44

Hi,

Ah that's great, thanks for the clarification.

I ran Prime95 to see what my temps would peak at and they didn't go above 66C so guess i'm in the right ball park there

Cheers