How do I read my Fan Speed and CPU Temperature?

Apparently I have “Super I/O integrated monitoring of: CPU/chassis fan, MB/CPU temperature”

I tried to use GKrellM (I’m running Windows) (GKrellM its self works), but none of the temperature or fan sensor options will return anything other than 0 and 0.0C.

Any hints to make my Temperature and Fan speed sensors work?

Thanks

Never mind. It seems to be working. The CPU socket seems to think that it is melting (74C), the CPU diode thinks its freezing (-1), and the case is about right at 34C.

Could somebody report me for deletion? Thanks

I guess if you never post again, we’ll know you’ve been deleted.

Check the temperatures from the utility in the BIOS, this will let you know if the results you’re getting back from your program are correct. Some programs don’t give acurate readings, while the BIOS almost always does.

You may get better results from the “official” monitor for your motherboard. Check the company’s website, many major manufacturers have monitoring programs.

Yeah, I did that, and I’m still unhappy to find that my CPU is overheating. This is a three or four year old PC, so it has been overheating for all those years. F :mad: ck

What type of CPU do you have? Is it the stock heatsink/fan? Does the heatsink feel hot to the touch? What is the RPM reading of the Heatsink Fan?

Shouldn’t the heatsink ALWAYS feel hot to the touch?

FWIW, my CPU (Athlon 2600+) has supposedly been running at 126 deg. Celsius for the last three years according to four different fan/temp utilities, so I’d just go with the BIOS reading instead.

'Course, it will run hotter than indicated by the BIOS when the CPU usage is higher (during a game, for example).

It shouldn’t always feel hot, but maybe slightly warm. In my experiance if the heatsink is HOT, then its normally the fan not spinning fast enough. Totally possible, even somewhat common with the Socket A Athlon stock heatsink/fans.

My CPU is an Athlon XP 2800+ with stock everything. It does feel “hot” to the touch, but not really hot. It feels quite warm. The utility reported 56-57C, that is about how warm the heat sink felt. I pulled the side of the case off (for the heat, and because it won’t quite go back on snugly) and the temperature immediately dropped 15C.

With the side of the case on, and the CPU under load I get about 73C, and the alarm goes off at 70C.

The RPM reading of the fan is 1962

If I remember correctly, its been a little while since I was in the industry, 1962 RPM is a little low, I think it was suppost to be closer to 3000 to 4000. This overheating is a new issue correct? If so, I would bet that it is that fan.

I would suggest getting a new fan, you should be able to get one anywhere between $5 and $10. Normally they come as the entire heatsink/fan unit, but since you only need the fan, it would be easiest (if you have to buy it as a unit) to just take the fan off your existing unit, and place the new fan in its place. Its only held in by 4 screws. Make sure the new fan is blowing DOWN onto the heatsink, not up away from it.

Also, since your taking the fan off, take the time to clean out any gunk thats in the heatsink between the blades. And also if the old fan has the AMD logo and bar code on it, keep it, just in case you ever need to send it back to AMD. They won’t honor the warrenty if you don’t have that original fan.

The fan has a high and a low speed setting, but the high speed only comes on once its at 70C. I’m going to download SpeedFan and see if I can set the fan to go into high speed around 62C

One more thing (sorry) this may not have been a new problem. Only recently discovered that I could monitor my temperature, so I only last night went and found the monitoring tools. I think it is quite likely that this overheating problem has existed for quite some time without my notice.

Now for a brief PSA, don’t buy computers from Future Shop. Buy them from a small business, or from a sales-person that you trust. My family has a similar computer, but they bought it from (one specific sales person) at the co-op, and it came pre-installed with all this fiddly stuff (and none of the trialware crap). The cost savings is not worth it.

It’s been half an hour, and Speed fan seems to be doing a very good job at keeping the temperature at 50C, even with the case on. W00t w00t.

A general rule of thumb is that every 10 deg C above room temp cuts the expected life of the device in half, but this is only a very general “quick and dirty” kind of number. The reliability numbers really don’t take a nose dive until about 45 deg C, which coincidentally is right around the typical human pain threshold. If you want your computer to be as reliable as possible, then you shouldn’t have anything in the case that is painfully hot.

That said, your typical modern computer is designed to last about 7 or 8 years. Most people will upgrade long before then, so a lot of manufacturers will skimp on the cooling a bit and figure that you’ll upgrade long before the reduced reliabity comes into play. CPU temps up to about 55 or even 60 are common these days. I personally wouldn’t recommend running your cpu that hot, though.

56 deg C isn’t “quite warm”. 56 deg C is “ow ow ow I burnt my f-ing finger!” warm.

42 deg C is quite warm. 45 deg C is painful but tolerable. 50 deg C is where you start damaging your skin.

Having spent several hours standing outside in Oman on a day where the shade temperature was just over 50 degrees, I’d say those temperatures aren’t quite as hot as you make them out to be.

It just occurred to me that metals transfer heat more efficiently than air, which would probably account for the difference, so I take that back.

Remember that he is feeling the heatsink, not the CPU itself. The temperature that is being reported is from the temperature sensor located under the CPU in the socket, on most motherboards at least. From my experience the heatsink should be slightly warm, but not hot, when under load. If the heatsink feels HOT to the touch, then your CPU is probably FRYING.

Zany Zeolite Zipper , Just curious, have you checked the BIOS to make sure the temperature reported there is the same as your utility? Also, in the BIOS, if you have a setting labeled SpeedFan, Quiet CPU, Cool and Quiet, or anything like that, make sure its disabled. That should make your fan run at max speed all the time.

Personally, I would recomend building your own computer, or having a trusted friend build it for you. You can get a better computer for a cheaper price that way. Plus, you (or your friend) will know exactly what is in the computer, so you’ll have no surprises down the road.

It may also be time top reaply heatsink compound and reinstall the heatsink. A bad bond between CPU and heat sink can account for some extra heat. The fan speed sounds very slow, something over 3,000 RPM is normal. A new fan or better heatsink with a new fan, may help conciderably. Running in the 50’s C is normal. I start to worry if it reaches 60C and above 70C I wouldn’t run it at all.

A bad bond between the heatsink and CPU would cause the heatsink to be cool (because the heat isn’t transfering to the heatsink)

Sounds like the heatsink is plenty hot to me.

If the CPU cooled when the case was opened, then I would think an inward blowing fan in the lower front of the case would help alot. Also, make sure the power supply fan is still pulling air out of the case.

I found that reapplying a heat sink on a system that has had it in place for a year or so has in some cases dropped the CPU temp about 5 to 10 degrees C. I think it’s just because of vibration, heat, and gravity working over time to dregrade the bond. Some heatsink paste is better than others too. I don’t know that this computer has ever had a good contact between the heat sink and the CPU, and it doesn’t hurt to try. An extremely bad CPU and heatsink can leave the heatsink luke warm, but I would expect the CPU to have falled at that point. The heatsink needs to come off if the fan gets replaced. I don’t think the insides of the computer are getting the airflow they need in this case either way on the heatsink issue. I would be getting a new heatsink fan combo from a store. At a minimum get some new fans.