problem with temperature readings

Every time I play CS, Notebook Hardware Control reads my cpu tempas 80 degrees Celsius. Now, I know for a fact it's really not 80...palm rests feels like 60 Celsius. As I understand it, NHC reads the data from a mechanism/app and displays it. I'm pretty sure it's that internal source that's the problem because my fans keep triggering as well (unless NHC can trigger those by itself). So...any know how to fix this?

 

For now, I would try installing another program that can give you temp readings and see how they compare. Also, what CPU are you running, my Pentium M will get over 70C when gaming.

 

I'm running on a T5600...and this has only been happening within the last couple of weeks. Before this it was fine, so yea...weird.

What program would you guys recommend to read temp readings?

 

pc wizard... lots of useful info too

http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

 

I don't think that you know that for a fact. If your component wasn't in the laptop and you felt it, you would be able to say that, but you have to consider the laptop is insulating that heat from you, so I wouldn't be surprised by that discrepancy. It might be wrong, but your statement is too. Check with other programs (I like mobMeter), then see what you get.

 

Well, I said that I know for a fact because in the past I've had NHC display a 70+ C and compared it to the supposedly 80 C now...big difference (the 80C is nothing compared to the old 80C...and I doubt my laptop just got a lot better at insulating, so yea.) Oh and...The palm rests are barely hotter than when I'm just casually browsing through the net, and again, I don't think my insulating is THAT good lol.

I'm gonna try pcwizard and mobmeter and see what I get.

 

Alright well...pcwizard and mobmeter tell me my cpu gets up to 70C rather than 80C as NHC does. But weird thing is, RIGHT when I load up CS, my fan starts going...and my fan doesn't start til it's around 70C. So now I'm thinking maybe CS is sending some bad data and my computer thinks my temp is way high?

 

Use the Intel Thermal Analysis Tool and you will better understand the temperatures being reported by different sensors. Other software packages tend to read one of the sensors, but not all use the sam, which proably explains the difference between MobileMeter and NHC.

John

 

Ah, that's a handy tool. Thanks John. Unfortunately, the temp readings I get on it are still high. I went through some of the S/Z96j reviews and they state that the idle temp is around 50C...my idle temp is around 61C :-\

Also, I used the start the workload thing at 100% for both cpus using the ITAT. My temps IMMEDIATELY jumped to 79C and kept going up. As soon as I hit stop, my temps read 69C. Now, I'm not expert, but I know enough physics/chemistry to know thermal energy cannot be gained or dissipated that quickly without feeling the exothermic repercussions...and I didn't feel my notebook or the air around it getting hotter at all. So yea, I think there's something wrong with my CPU? The HD temps seem to be fine though. Maybe something's wrong with the thermal paste?

 

OK. Now we are confident that the temperatures you are reading are within the cores themselves (which respond very quickly to CPU load) then suspicion must move to the arrangements for head dissipation. The puzzling part is your reported change in temperatures a couple of weeks ago. Could a bit of a bump slightly moved the heatsink and broken the thermal connection?

A work-around is to do some undervolting. This should enable you to take 10C off the maximum CPU temperature.

John

 

Mmm, I was guessing something might have moved. I opened my notebook yesterday and as far as I could tell, nothing seemed out of place. I didn't wanna pull things apart though, lest I wasn't able to put them back together.

I haven't really "undervolted" per se...but I've had NHC set on dynamic switching. Most of the time, my CPU is reported at around 1ghz (max of 1.83). So...yea...maybe I should call powernotebooks' tech support? (I bought it there).

 

My supposition is that a very small movement of the heatsink would cause the bond, provided by the thermal compound, between the heatsink and the CPU to crack. The problem would not be visible without removing the heatsink.

The increase in normal CPU operating temperature plus the greater fan activity (which would result from the higher thermal gradient between fan and CPU), are the key messages to convey to technical support.

John

 

Ok..I feel really stupid. Apparently, the heat was just a result of accumulation of dust in the vents. I hit my vents with canned air and my temps have significantly dropped. Idle temp is around 50 and under gaming it doesn't get over 70. But strangely, my notebook feels the same temp to my palms. And I ran the Intel TAT thing under 100% workload and the temps jumped up a minimum of 10C IMMEDIATELY as I hit start and jumped down at least 10 IMMEDIATELY when I hit stop.

 

So maybe the sudden change in operating temperature wasn't so sudden, unless your computer sucked up a lot of dirt in one day.

A clean cooling system might actually make your computer feel hotter because the fan will be running less to do its work. Less fan operation may (depending on the internal airflow) cause the other parts of the computer, such as the hard disk, get a bit hotter.

John