# HWMonitor, are the temps acceptable?



## gamblingman

So I finally got a temperature monitor after some thought and checking on which would be the best; I went with HWMonitor. I am monitoring temps with only a few things running: FireFox and HWMonitor, and I only did start-up about 10 minutes ago.

Here are my temps:

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ACPI hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0	_58°C (135°F)_

Secifies:
Min: 45C     Max 59C

The reading in italics seems high since the min is specified as 45C and the max at 59C. I am only one degree from the max, seems bad. 

What do you think about that?

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Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T7500 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0	59°C (138°F) [0x29] (Core #0)
Temperature sensor 1	60°C (139°F) [0x28] (Core #1)

HWMonitor Specifies:
Min: 44C     
Max: 61C for Core 1   &   Max: 60C for Core 2

(CPU seems high at startup, but I have a lot of programs loading at startup, and they are absolutely necessary programs.)

---
GeForce 8600M GT hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0	47°C (116°F) [0x2F] (GPU Core)

HWMonitor Specifies: 
Min: 43C    Max: 49C

---
SAMSUNG HM250JI hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0	31°C (87°F) [0x1F] (HDD)

HWMonitor Specifies:
Min: 31C    Max: 34

There doesn't seem to be a lot of leeway on the HDD temps. I don't imagine that it fluctuates much, but still... What do you make of this?
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BUT THATS NOT ALL!

After the computer has been on for awhile, say 30 minutes idle the temps come down by several degrees.

*ACPI drops from 58C to 47C

*Core 0 from 59C to 47C
  Core 1 from 60C to 47C

*nVIDIA from 47 to 44C

HDD _increases_  from 31C to 34C 

34C is the max HWMonitor shows that HDD should be. Should I be concerned, or is this normal?

Feedback is appreciated. If I have made this a little hard to understand, sorry.


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## The_Other_One

For a laptop, that's pretty typical.  Perhaps on the warm side, but still about what is to be expected.  How's it under stress?  Does anything exceed 60*C...or exceed by a large margin?


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## Fatback

This is on a laptop correct if so then those temps are perfectly normal. Your CPU temps are pretty good for a laptop same with your GPU temps. HDD temps I would say is a little below average for laptop. Are you using some type of cooling pad?


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## Cromewell

The HDD is fine, I've seen drives running pretty hot and they still work.

Do you know what the ACPI sensor is measuring?


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## gamblingman

*monitor*

I dont have the foggiest what ACPI measures! ha ha ha  I was hoping someone here would know.

I dont use a cooling pad, but I have my laptop on a wire rack. Its about 1.5" over the table, and the room I use my computer in is always cool, 70F or less.

And yeahhh, sorry. I forgot to even say the computer type, DUH! Its a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop, and about a year and a half old. I also just cleaned it the other day.

I havent tried it under stress yet. How would you recommend I do that? I was just going to play oblivion for awhile and see where I stand.


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## Fatback

gamblingman said:


> I dont have the foggiest what ACPI measures! ha ha ha  I was hoping someone here would know.
> 
> I dont use a cooling pad, but I have my laptop on a wire rack. Its about 1.5" over the table, and the room I use my computer in is always cool, 70F or less.
> 
> And yeahhh, sorry. I forgot to even say the computer type, DUH! Its a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop, and about a year and a half old. I also just cleaned it the other day.
> 
> I havent tried it under stress yet. How would you recommend I do that? I was just going to play oblivion for awhile and see where I stand.



Prime95 http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/ is perfect for putting a load on your CPU. Also good for checking if you computer is stable.

A $10 cooling pad would probably lower temps by a few Celsius.


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## gamblingman

*it*

I would use the program you mention, but its the first time I've heard of it. Also their site is a mess, it could be a demonstration of how not to design a web page, and that makes me wary of their software.

Besides I'm ultra picky about what I install. But hey, I appreciate the comment, I'll keep it in mind.


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## Fatback

gamblingman said:


> I would use the program you mention, but its the first time I've heard of it. Also their site is a mess, it could be a demonstration of how not to design a web page, and that makes me wary of their software.
> 
> Besides I'm ultra picky about what I install. But hey, I appreciate the comment, I'll keep it in mind.



You can ask anybody here about Prime95 an they will tell you it is a great program. It's mostly used to check the stability of a computer after being overclocked, but a lot of people use it to put there CPU under a load to check there load temps.

BTW thats not there web site it was just the first link that came up when I googled "prime95".

Edit: Here is a better link http://download.cnet.com/Prime95/3000-2053_4-192895.html?tag=mncol


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## gamblingman

*Average!*

Oh man do I feel dumb!

I just realized that HWMonitor isnt showing the Min/Max as the lowest/highest that is acceptable.... Its showing the min/max at that moment and taking a rough average for the current temperature.

_I cant believe that I didn't notice that before! _

How can I find what the acceptable min/max temperatures are for my computer? I tried dell and googling it, no luck there.


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## schw32m

gamblingman said:


> Oh man do I feel dumb!
> 
> I just realized that HWMonitor isnt showing the Min/Max as the lowest/highest that is acceptable.... Its showing the min/max at that moment and taking a rough average for the current temperature.
> 
> _I cant believe that I didn't notice that before! _
> 
> How can I find what the acceptable min/max temperatures are for my computer? I tried dell and googling it, no luck there.



Not sure how up to date the chart is but you can look here. Click on the CPU temps section and it gives a maximum limit for most CPUs. 

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/


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