Motherboard utility and HWMonitor reporting different temperatures?

[yozo67]

As the title says, HWMonitor and my Motherboard (ASRock 970M Pro3) utility are both reporting different CPU temps. I decided to check on the temps in my mobo utility after my fans were getting pretty loud in BF4 on med. settings. My Mobo utility reported 69 C, so I promptly closed the game. After downloading both Speccy and HWMonitor, and them reporting mid 20s-mid 30s, I am not sure which to take.

I am using an AMD FX-8320 at it's stock clock of 3.5 GHz, with the stock cooler. Below is a screenshot of the two monitoring utilities side-by-side.

 

[GhislainG]

HWMonitor isn't very good with AMD FX processors; use AMD Overdrive to check the thermal margins (distance to throttling). The stock fan is loud at full speed, but it cools the VRM on the motherboard and it meets this requirement: "* For cooling the CPU and its surrounding components, please install a CPU cooler with a top-down blowing design."

 

[yozo67]

HWMonitor isn't very good with AMD FX processors; use AMD Overdrive to check the thermal margins (distance to throttling). The stock fan is loud at full speed, but it cools the VRM on the motherboard and it meets this requirement: "* For cooling the CPU and its surrounding components, please install a CPU cooler with a top-down blowing design."

What is a decent temp. for the thermal margin?

 

[Karadjgne]

Max temp on the 125w FX cpus is supposedly 62°C. That number is impossible to accurately assess however since amd doesn't use on core temps but uses temps read from motherboard mounted components. So what you'll get is package temps etc or core temp readings that can be 5-10° different. That said, if an fx reaches @70°C, you need to really start considering a much better cpu cooler. In normal ac environments with ambient temps in the low-mid 70s F, idle temps should be around 32-34°C and heavy usage should see mid-high 50s°C at best.

As far as software goes, take it with a grain of salt. It's written to cover a variety of motherboards but won't always line up exactly. TMPIN0 could just as easily be the Northbridge or cpu package or Southbridge chipsets or in some cases a sata connection. I have 2 readings on my MSI board, one is 249°C, the other -127°C, both of which are physically impossible. Amd Overdrive and HWinfo64 do the most accurate readings on the fx cpus that I've found.

 

[GhislainG]

HWMonitor isn't very good with AMD FX processors; use AMD Overdrive to check the thermal margins (distance to throttling). The stock fan is loud at full speed, but it cools the VRM on the motherboard and it meets this requirement: "* For cooling the CPU and its surrounding components, please install a CPU cooler with a top-down blowing design."

What is a decent temp. for the thermal margin?

10°C or more at full load.