So is the motherboard faulty?

Merlin5 · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:06

I've really been trying to get to the bottom of this for a while now. Got new heatsink on, excellent. Temp under load is 23c core, which is amazing. It used to be 43 to 44c under load with stock cooler. So I have a feeling I can probably trust my core temp? My concern is that people tell me the other temps are too high and I probably have 'bugged' sensors. It seems that hard drive temps, cpu temps and motherboard temps are reading too high. Apparently hard drive temps should only be a few degrees above ambient. While I don't know my ambient room temp, (buying a thermometer tomorrow) I'm pretty sure it's in the late teens early twenties right now. I know london temp right now is about 18C. So I'm wondering if this is down to the motherboard sensors and if so, should I be keeping the board or not? I just took this screenshot, how does it look to you regarding temps, compared to core temp?

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/8215/screenshot531.jpg

PermaBanned · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:08

Try using CoreTemp, it uses the sensor on the chip instead of the motherboard.

Merlin5 · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:10

Superewza said:
Try using CoreTemp, it uses the sensor on the chip instead of the motherboard.

This was at idle.

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/8338/coretemp.jpg

I'm asking about the other temps, cpu/bios, motherboard, hard drive.

DavyBoy · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:15

Have you tried using a newer BIOS?

I've heard of some mobos reporting wrong temps before, and that flashing to a newer version can fix it.

Merlin5 · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:31

DavyBoy said:
Have you tried using a newer BIOS?

I've heard of some mobos reporting wrong temps before, and that flashing to a newer version can fix it.

Well, I've got the latest bios davy, and have been through all 3 of them. Even been back to the original bios where the temp went down again. And I'm back on the latest bios now. I did 5 bios flashes in all. The original bios that came with the board showed lower bios temp, and the second and 3rd bios show higher temp. But in all cases, the core is always lower than all other temps. Just doesn't seem right. People say temps can be 'off', but these seem completely off the wall.

Merlin5 · 21 Sep 2009 at 21:42

Btw davyboy, you got MSN? Want to speak to you about something.

SMAndy · 22 Sep 2009 at 13:30

I've seen some random temps on boards too. 80°C is killer for anything except a graphics card, as far as I'm aware. There may well be some Intel chips that can get this high and not burn, but I don't have much experience with this.

What I do know is that sometimes there are diodes on the board for safety of circuitry, but sensor programs like coretemp, speedfan etc may pick them up and try to read a temperature from them.... Even if its not a temperature sensor.

What you can try is open your case, and feel around on the heatsinks. Northbridge could be anywhere from warm to really hot... If you can keep your finger on it for about 10 seconds, but its getting uncomfortable, thats fine. If there is anything you touch that makes you jump and say "ow" then you've probably got a problem... never touch the board itself though, as you may short a connection!

I reckon its fine and you can ignore that temperature, but don't quote me on that!

Also, Hard Disks. 35°C is perfectly fine for these. You'll never find them "just a degree or two above ambient"... If you have a front case fan that points at them, then you should get about 28°, but anything up to about 45 or even more should not kill them.

Also, does that temp change when you're not torturing the system? If it stays at 80 whatever you do, then that proves that its just a diode thats being read as a sensor.

Merlin5 · 22 Sep 2009 at 14:15

Motherboard is ok, I now believe it's a faulty core temp sensor on processor from what people have told me.