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    Hardware Monitors (Temps)

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by sirmetman, Jul 10, 2008.

  1. sirmetman

    sirmetman Notebook Virtuoso

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    I wanted to know, how do these programs (RivaTuner, HWMonitor, etc) actually detect temperatures? Are there actual temperature sensors built in to the hardware, or are they somehow measuring voltage/amperage drops across hardware components then calculating impedance and deriving heat (forgive me if I sound stupid, it's been a while since I was covering electronics in physics class)? Or are they doing something completely different?
     
    sirmetman, Jul 10, 2008
    #1
  2. NAS Ghost

    NAS Ghost Notebook Deity

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    I believe there are actually heat sensors in certain parts; thats why after overheating you computer is supposed to shut down.
     
    NAS Ghost, Jul 10, 2008
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  3. Nirvana

    Nirvana Notebook Prophet

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    yup there are actual sensors.
     
    Nirvana, Jul 10, 2008
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  4. sirmetman

    sirmetman Notebook Virtuoso

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    Ok, well, if they are reading from sensors, how come people report that some applications don't get accurate temps, and different tools see different temps from the same machine? Is it just a matter of sampling rate or something?
     
    sirmetman, Jul 10, 2008
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  5. Zero

    Zero The Random Guy

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    It depends on the sensor. They report back in such a way, that the correct temperature depends on the software that is being used. Sometimes, manual corrections need to be entered such a permanent increase (or decrease), so that the correct temperature can be shown.
     
    Zero, Jul 10, 2008
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  6. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    Yes, there are on-die sensors for the CPU and GPU which the temp info are fed to the ACPI (which controls the fans)

    HDD has one inside too and info being fed into SMART
     
    flipfire, Jul 10, 2008
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