Core Temp - FAQ
Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 2:34 pm
- What is TjMax?
Tjunction Max (TjMax) is the maximum temperature the manufacturer has rated their processor at. This value represents the maximum temperature the hottest part of the processor core should not exceed.
This value should not be confused with the TCaseMax rating, which indicates the maximum temperature the top-center of the processor's heatspreader should not exceed.
If your CPU is rated for 100C TjMax, and it was nearing the 100C value in the temperature fields, that is a sign of overheating. The temperature should not exceed this value, or it may cause instability, shorten the life of the CPU and cause massive performance issues.
A rule of thumb dictates that the temperature should be kept around 20C or lower below the TjMax value while under full load. - What is considered to be a safe temperature for my processor?
For processors with the "TjMax" value being shown in Core Temp it is usually considered best to keep the temperature 15-20C below that value when the processor is under full load.
For chips which don't provide a TjMax value, such as the AMD K8 family of chips, it's best to keep the temps under 70C full load. - Should I get the 32bit or 64bit version?
If you are not sure which version to get, my suggestion is to get the installer. It will install the correct files for your system, this way you don't have to worry about it.
If you still prefer to download the standalone version then you can select the proper download the following way:
If you have a 32bit OS, then the 32bit version is the only one that's going to work.
On a 64bit OS, both version will function, but since the 64bit version is native for the OS it should run faster - or more efficiently, and this is my recommendation.
32bit OS - 32bit Core Temp.
64bit OS - 64bit Core Temp. - I can only see a single temperature reading.
AMD processors based on the Phenom and Phenom II (Athlon II, Sempron II, Turion II, etc.) and all of AMD's new CPUs such as the FX and APU series only have a single thermal sensor.
Thus Core Temp will only display a single CPU temperature reading. There is no way of getting a per-core reading on these processors. - Why doesn't Core Temp display all of my processor's cores/threads?
The first thing to do is launch 'Task Manager' and go into the 'Performance' tab. Look at the processor load graphs, you should see the equivalent amount of graphs as there are threads in your processor (4 for a Core 2 Quad, 8 for a Core i7 with HT enabled). There could be two reasons for Windows not to use all of the available cores/threads:- An incorrect BIOS setting.
- Incorrectly configured OS, or OS related software problems or limitations.
First, make sure that none of the cores are disabled in the BIOS.
If all cores are in fact enabled, then the problem is most likely to do with the OS settings.
You would have to go into 'msconfig' by pressing the Windows Key + R keys and typing "msconfig" (without the quotes) in the window that pops up and then clicking on 'OK'.
Go into the 'Boot' tab ('Boot.ini' under XP) and then click on the 'Advanced' button.
Make sure that 'Number of processors' ('/NUMPROC' in XP) check-box is unchecked.
OK all of the windows and restart your computer. - Why does my AMD processor's temperature always read 0C/32F?
On older processors based on the Athlon 64 core (K8) this is usually caused by a problematic thermal sensor in the processor, this is a pretty uncommon issue.
On CPUs starting with the Phenom architecture AMD has introduced the ACC function, it allowed the early Phenoms to achieve higher overclocks, and on the Phenom II based processors it allowed unlocking of extra cores and L3 cache.
Some motherboards include a Core unlock feature, which is based on ACC as well.
In most cases disabling these features in the BIOS will bring temperature readings back. - Why does my FX series processor or A-series APU only show half the cores than in previous versions?
In Core Temp version 1.17, a change was introduced which accurately enumerates physical and logical cores/threads in the system.
FX, Opteron and many of the A4\A6\8\10 APUs (bulldozer based) processors are composed of groups of "modules", which consist of 2 integer processing units and 1 floating point unit.
Core Temp is now aligned to how AMD themselves enumerate the processing resources in these processors, and these modules are now considered a "core" by Core Temp, meaning that from now on it will detect the processors as having n Cores and 2n Threads.
For some more details please read the following articles:
https://www.techpowerup.com/251758/bull ... -haunt-amd
https://www.anandtech.com/show/14804/amd-settlement - Why is the temperature of my FX, Phenom, Athlon based processor lower than the ambient temperature?
From the AMD 10h and up to the 16h family of processors (Phenom, FX, A-series APUs), the digital thermal sensor did not report an absolute temperature value anymore, but a reading with a certain offset, which is unknown. It is estimated that this offset is between 10 - 20c. - Installing a plug-in.
If your plug-in does not come with an installer, you will have to install it manually.
There are a few simple steps to follow:
- Create a "plugins" folder where 'Core Temp.exe' is located.
- Inside of "plugins" folder, create a folder for your plug-in, you can give it any name.
- Put the plug-in files in that new folder.
- Restart Core Temp. - Installing a new language.
- Create a "languages" folder where 'Core Temp.exe' is located.
- Put the language file in this folder.
- Restart Core Temp.
- Go to Options --> Settings and pick your preferred language, then click OK. - Uninstalling Core Temp.
- Go to to Start --> Control Panel --> 'Programs and Feature'/'Add or Remove programs'.
- Select Core Temp from the list and click Uninstall. - Core Temp displays '(!)' next to the temperature value, what does it mean?
(!) represents a warning notifying the user that his processor has reached a critical temperature at least once while Core Temp has been running.
This is an indication to a severe overheating issue and should be attended to as soon as possible to prevent instability and damage to components. - Core Temp displays '(?)' next to the temperature value, what does it mean?
(?) represents an invalid temperature reading.
This is uncommon on AMD processors, and is most often seen in the issue covered by section #5 of this FAQ.
On Intel processors it sometimes happens when the thermal sensor is not functioning properly or is simply disabled.
When an Intel CPU has reached the TjMax and the temperature keeps climbing, the reading will also indicate an invalid value provided by the sensor, but it is usually still functioning properly. Situations such as these will most likely to also display the (!) next to the temperature as well, indicating severe overheating.
In cases when the sensor in disabled, Core Temp may wrongly report an extremely high temperature of close or over 150C with a (?) sign next to it, but not (!). This is usually an indication to disabled sensor, since the processor would shut down at much lower temperatures to protect itself against damage. - What is the G15 applet in the Tools menu?
The G15 applet is designed to be used with the Logitech G15 and G19 keyboards. It displays Core Temp data on the keyboard's LCD display.
On systems not using the keyboard, this applet is always disabled. - Why does Core Temp require administrator privileges to run?
Core Temp requires direct access to hardware to be able to read temperature and other processor information.
In Windows you can only access hardware using a kernel mode driver. Since Core Temp doesn't install anything permanent on your system, it loads the driver at run time, this task requires administrator rights to achieve. - I have just downloaded a new version of Core Temp and now my anti virus software has flagged it as containing a virus or trojan!
Core Temp does not contain a trojan. Core Temp contains 2 driver binaries (32bit and 64bit) as part of the executable, Core Temp extracts the drivers and starts them at run time, as discussed above. This may bring up a red flag in some antivirus scanners triggering them to believe that Core Temp contains a virus or trojan code.
Usually AV companies patch this kind of thing up very quickly and the warning goes away after an update.
My systems use the latest updates of AV software and the files are scanned before being brought online on http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp. Most other respectable download sites use protection as well and scan the software before putting it online as well, although I can't vouch for anybody else. - Why does Core Temp say that my processor is not supported?
Core Temp supports all AMD processors starting with the Athlon64 family.
Intel processors are supported starting with the Core series. Pentium 4, D, M and older processors do not have the required digital sensor integrated to allow Core Temp to properly function.
Same goes for the Xeon processors, only CPUs starting the Xeon LV (Yonah core), Xeon 3000 series and Xeon 5100 series and up are supported. - Core Temp doesn't display VID for my processor.
Voltage ID (VID) is not supported on any of Intel's "Core iX" series of processors predating the Sandy Bridge architecture. - Core Temp reports incorrect vcore in the VID field.
VID is not the same as VCore. VCore is the actual voltage the processor is being fed by the motherboard.
VID is the recommended voltage the processor should be running at at the current power state, this is a predetermined value, programmed by the CPU manufacturer. When the processor settings, especially the VCore is kept at default settings, Core Temp will provide a good approximation of the real VCore, but if you change the setting using the BIOS or by other means, Core Temp's VID readings should be ignored. - Does Core Temp implement overheating protection?
Yes, please see the Options menu. - Does Core Temp allow to customize the Notification area (system tray) display?
Yes, please see the Options menu, then go to Settings and Notification area. - Does Core Temp support the new Windows 7 taskbar features?
Yes, please see the Options menu, then go to Settings and Windows 7 Taskbar.