A Little About Temperatures (Just A Tad)

[MantaBase]

Nice job...Hmmm....I recognize a few of those parts!

Manta

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by screwballl

since they are Intel procs, why not try Intel TAT??

Running TAT comes up the same as CoreTemp. Invalid Processor. I think TAT is designed to work with the newer Dual Core and Quad Core processors (Intel). It won't work with the dual core Xeons I am running.

When I have the time I might try and find out what this 7525 board uses for the SMBus. Once I get a handle on the hardware monitor chip I may be able to find some software to read from it.

Ron

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by MantaBase

Nice job...Hmmm....I recognize a few of those parts!

Manta

Thought you might notice the little Dataq A/D.

I use that thing for all sorts of projects. I have another idea to share with you. Once I get a handle on things here I will drop ya an email.

Ron

[screwballl]

ok what about CPUID?
other than that I can't think of any other software programs that can do that within windows

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by screwballl

ok what about CPUID?
other than that I can't think of any other software programs that can do that within windows

Still screwed. CPUID does ID the processors, chipset and all else correctly. I also called the processors wrong. Actually the Xeons are not dual core but rather single core HT 3.6 GHz processors. Hell actual multi-core was not around when I built this thing.

Ron

[halutzparilla]

those are some wicked project Ron...
programmer or not, you got some nasty skills there... i wish i have some of your talents

A+ Write up btw

Hal

[Beetle Bailey]

Originally Posted by Reloadron

Still screwed. CPUID does ID the processors, chipset and all else correctly. I also called the processors wrong. Actually the Xeons are not dual core but rather single core HT 3.6 GHz processors. Hell actual multi-core was not around when I built this thing.

Ron

Then TAT should work for you. I think you might be having some conflict in your software. JM.02

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by Beetle Bailey

Then TAT should work for you. I think you might be having some conflict in your software. JM.02

TAT works on the same principal as CoreTemp. Well actually CoreTemp is based on TAT I think. The problem is to measure the core temp they rely on a signal from the newer chips. Goes a little like this:

The Innovation

Both Intel and AMD, realizing that the way things were done until now was probably not the best, made up a new way to monitor CPU temperature. This way includes a thermal diode; however, a thermal diode is an analog device and the readings have to be converted to digital data. This is done by an ADC (Analog to Digital Converter).
A thermal diode that is connected to the ADC creates something called DTS (Digital Thermal Sensor). Basically the way it works is very simple - in theory. A circuit in the CPU core samples a reading from the thermal diode and writes the digital value to a specialized register in the CPU, which allows any software to read this value at will. The benefit of this way of measuring temperature is that all this is done internally in the core and converted into digital data instantly - digital data does not lose accuracy when it's passed from place to place, unlike an analog signal that is prone to interference and attenuation.
Another advantage of this system is that you can integrate several sensors into the same die. Both Intel and AMD integrate such a DTS in each of their processing cores, which means that you can see the temperature of each core in your CPU. If you put, for example, a load on a dual core processor and set affinity to one of the cores, you will see that only one core gets hotter - and fast! Of course, the temperature of the second core will also go up, as they are physically connected and share the same silicon, but not as much as the loaded core.
Both Intel and AMD use the DTS to determine an overheating and protect the CPU from damage by either throttling or completely shutting the system down, depending on the threshold that the temperature has crossed. The DTS was first officially introduced in the Core Duo (Yonah) processor by Intel and it was carried on into the Core 2 Duo series. AMD officially introduced DTS with the release of Rev F chips - however after some testing, it became apparent that DTS was there since the first Athlon 64 chip!

Taken from: Core Temp

The problem I have is that the Xeons I have were developed and manufactured before Intel included the feature in their processors.

Other programs like Speed Fan read from the SMBus (System Managment Bus). SpeedFan communicates with a system monitor chip over that bus. In the case of the motherboard I am using (Intel 7525) SpeedFan and like programs can't ID that chip.

The workstation runs just great and always has. The only problem is short of the BIOS I can't monitor temperatures of the processors. Considering the thing has run great going on 3 years just about 24/7 I am not about to overly worry about it. Though it would be a nice to have.

Ron

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by Reloadron

That card was $2,000 new when I bought it. Now I will share my lesson in stupidity further. When I built the workststion it was to replace my older Dell 530 MT workststion. That unit had a perfectly good Wildcat II graphics card in it. I could have used that card but nope, I opted for the new card. The old card would have worked just fine. When I built I used the newest and latest and greatest of everything.

Ron

I know how much they run ya :P. You have to be a real CAD fiend to make that purchase worth it. Which doesn't seem like you, since it looks like you have a bit of remorse from buying that monster.

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by polobunny

I know how much they run ya :P. You have to be a real CAD fiend to make that purchase worth it. Which doesn't seem like you, since it looks like you have a bit of remorse from buying that monster.

Naw, my big remorse was that 3D went and got bought by Creative. Though the XP support and XP64 support was great I don't see anything else on the horizon. The card itself is great, even today about 3 years old it is a great card. In fact, when XP64 came out they were among the first to have good solid drivers for the card. The card performs great for rendering. Unfortunately, it will never run under Vista. Not that I plan Vista for the workstation anytime soon anyway.

I could have saved a good buck by continuing to use the 3D Labs Wildcat II that was in the older Dell. That card as well as the old Dell still works just fine. Just not the Realizm by a long shot.

Generally I look to replace the workstation every 3 years. This year with home remodeling (hell we have about rebuilt the house) I don't quite see a new workstation on the horizon.

Other than the house I am also getting a little gun shy with spending. I want to retire in about 5 years. The rule is now No Debt.

Ron