pg wrote:
> On Feb 18, 10:52 am, Pennyw...@DerryMaine.Gov wrote:
>> pg <pen...@catholic.org> wrote:
>>> In other words, Core Temp totally bombed.
>>> And I am _still_ looking for a utility that can report the CPU
>>> temperature reading to me. Is there such a utility available?
>> Might try Everest, one of it's many reports is your CPU temphttp://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
>> --
>>
>> Lineage ][http://flashgame.plaync.jp/dwarfcomplete.jsp
>
>
> Thanks ! I'll try that out !
>
> Thanks again !!

There are two kinds of interfaces on processors, for measuring
temperature.

The old way, uses an analog measurement method. There is a diode
on the processor silicon die. A hardware interface in the SuperI/O
chip on the motherboard, measures the voltage developed across
the diode, and that reading is converted to a temperature. A
program you can use, to read out that kind of info, is Speedfan.
It has the ability to work with a number of different chips. The
download is the link here.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan433.exe

On the newer Intel processors, there is an additional
method. There is a digital interface on the processor.
It provides a numeric readout of the temperature. The
interface is some kind of serial bus (PECI). The readout
is actually a "delta" temperature, and is measured with
respect to the defined overheat point for the processor.
To accurately read out a temperature from that
digital interface, requires a proper value for the
max temperature (the overheat point), as the PECI value
must be subtracted from the allowed max temperature value.
Coretemp is a program that can do that, and there is an Intel
program (TAT?) available to system integrators (which is
floating around and can also be found for download).

Since the Pentium D doesn't have PECI, as far as I know,
then your best choice would be to try Speedfan. Some
motherboard manufacturers provide their own utilities,
that also read out temperature.

In addition, the motherboard readout can also
be viewed in the BIOS. So, at least, you can use
the values there, as a sanity check of your Windows
based programs. If the BIOS doesn't have a goofy value,
like 255C for the sensor, then you know it can work right.
Then, it is just a matter of finding a Windows program
that has been tested with the motherboard. (The processor
power level, while sitting in Windows, is not the same
as the power level sitting in the BIOS. So the temperature
shown in the BIOS will not match the value seen in
Windows. So the BIOS check, is purely for "sanity" -
don't expect an exact match :-) )

Temperatures are notoriously difficult to measure
correctly in a computer. A consistency check, is to
touch the CPU heatsink with a finger, to see if the
value being read out in software, bears any resemblance
to reality. If the heatsink is properly fastened,
and seems to be pretty cool to the touch, then if the
CPU temp read a really high value, you might have some
doubt that the value was correct. (Note - Using your
finger is not really a good method, but my point here,
is to use common sense when using one of those
Windows programs. If the numbers don't seem to be
consistent with what you can observe yourself, then
chances are the program is wrong.)

HTH,
Paul