APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

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lordvic
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APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

Post by lordvic »

So I finally got my new APU system "running" and I have some questions.

1. What is a good "working" temperature monitoring program for the APUs?
I'm currently "using" CoreTemp and HWMonitor. CoreTemp shows ridiculously off temperatures, so it's not very helpful. I mean, -2*C?? 6*C to 13*C? Come on!

HWMonitor seems a little better. For the Core temperatures, they are off as well - like CoreTemp, but under the "Temperatures" tab I get the following

TMPIN0 Value:27*C Min: 27*C Max 36*C.
I assume this is the CPU temperatures

TMPIN1: Value:89*C Min*32*C Max:96*C.
I have no idea where this reading is coming from! It's not the southbridge, any of the power phases, PSU, nothing! Cananyone can tell me where this reading is from. I've looked through the interwebs and there has been odd reports of this 90-100*C Reading, but don't know where it's coming from.

TMPIN2: Value: 3*C Min: 0*C Mac:12*C
I assume this is the (incorrect) Core temperature reading ...

Temperature for the HD 6530D is off as well. 0*C...12*C?

2. Any tips on overclocking these chips? :)
It's a little different than the "normal" CPUs, but I think I'm getting my way around the BIOS.

System Specs:
AMD A6-3670K (@ 3.0GHz as of now...bumped the multi up. Voltages currently at default/auto)
8GB (2 X 4GB) Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz @ 1600 8-9-8-21-1T 1.5V
Gigabyte GA-A75-D3H Mobo
Corsair TX850 (from the Phenom II system as the Antec PSU for this has not yet arrived)
GPU: Using the APU 6530D
Case: HAF 912 (200mm fan on the bottom-front and top, 120mm rear, 140mm side)
OS: Windows 7 Ult. x64

Chipset/LAN/USB Drivers: Using the latest from Gigabyte's website
GPU drivers: 12.2 with CAP1
BIOS: F4 (F5a is available but it's a beta BIOS...seeminly for the upcoming lower TDP A6/A8's)

EDIT
I just did some 3D Mark11 Benching and the Score seems to be very low compared to others with the A6-3650! The lowest in 3D Mark's record is P922, and I'm way under that. The CPU is currently clocked at 3GHz with the GPU portion at 450MHz. The RAM is running at 800MHz, so 1GB of shared memory @ 800MHz.
Other: http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2737159
Mine: http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3025356;jsessio ... n5xl4zsttc

Thanks everyone,
Victor
Cooler Master HAF 932 // Phenom II 1090T @ 4.1GHz (not 110% stable) // ASUS Crosshair V Formula 990FX // Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler // Sapphire Dual-X HD 7970 @ 1150/1500 // 8GB (2X4GB) G.Skill RipJaws + 8GB (2X4GB) G.Skill RipJawsX @1600 8-9-8-21-1T // Corsair TX850 // Corsair ForceGT 120GB SSD // Kingston V200+ 120GB SSD // WD Caviar Black 1TB // LiteON DVD-RW // Windows 7 Ult. 64-bit
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Major_A
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Re: APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

Post by Major_A »

See what HWiNFO64 reports. If it's wrong contact HWiNFO and they'll look into the problem. Alternatively you can try AIDA64 (though it costs money). I've had a few issues with AIDA64 in the past and posted them in their forums. They were usually addressed in the next beta update.

If I had to guess a reason why your scores are different off the top of my head is Cool N Quiet. Try disabling it for a few runs and see if your scores come up. The APUs are also sensitive to faster RAM, faster RAM is better scores. If you feel comfortable then try overclocking your RAM. I also noticed in your scores comparison that your CPU is roughly 150MHz slower. That too could be affecting the overall score.
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lordvic
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Re: APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

Post by lordvic »

Thanks Major.

CnQ, C6, C-state, Pmin...are all turned off/disabled. The CPU is currently running at full speed.

Sorry, the 3D Mark11 link goes to the stock speeds, not the overclocked - my bad. Here's the score for the 3GHz CPU and 480MHz for the "GPU."
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3026128;jsessio ... b9suxiv7ti

It's better, but noy much - P827. From what 3D Mark11 is showing me, the CPU score is fine, but the GPU score is a little low.

It could be that I'm using 1600MHz RAM. seems that any frequency RAM shows up at 667MHz in the socre deatail so...people could be uisng 2133MHz for all I know.

I''ll try out the programs you suggested, and see how things turn out. Thanks agian. :)

EDIT: Oh, it could be Powerplay kicking in and messing with the GPU clocks. Under AIDA64 it shows State #6 as 480MHz, from state #1 to #5, they are all 200MHz or 275MHz. I'm not sure if it's just an error/bug.

Ok, both AIDA64 and HwiNFO64 are showing the CPU temperature as ~98*C. This can't be true as the heatsink is cool to the touch.
Cooler Master HAF 932 // Phenom II 1090T @ 4.1GHz (not 110% stable) // ASUS Crosshair V Formula 990FX // Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler // Sapphire Dual-X HD 7970 @ 1150/1500 // 8GB (2X4GB) G.Skill RipJaws + 8GB (2X4GB) G.Skill RipJawsX @1600 8-9-8-21-1T // Corsair TX850 // Corsair ForceGT 120GB SSD // Kingston V200+ 120GB SSD // WD Caviar Black 1TB // LiteON DVD-RW // Windows 7 Ult. 64-bit
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Re: APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

Post by Major_A »

There was as pretty simple way to cheat 3DMark back in the day. It was good for a few hundred points. Adjust the Mipmap to High Performance, AMD defaults to High Quality.

Here's what nVidia's option looks like in the control panel.
nVidia_Mipmap.png
nVidia_Mipmap.png (30.69 KiB) Viewed 26590 times
What do your temps look like using Gigabyte's EasyTune 6? If they are wrong there then you might want to shoot Gigabyte an email. If they appear to be correct use that data to send to HWiNFO or AIDA if you choose so.
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Re: APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

Post by Velo:Sity »

Heatsink that is cool to the touch sounds scary, does it have proper contact with the APU? Did you check what temps BIOS shows?
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Re: APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

Post by lordvic »

I let the system idle in BIOS for about 15 minutes.
The room temperature is about 18/19*C (thermometer in the room)
In the BIOS, it states the CPU temperature is 21/22*C, system temperature is 24*C.

What I said about the heatsink...it isn't freezing cold. With the way the aluminum fins array is designed, and me having the CPU fan running at 100%, I was most likely feeling the cool air on my hands. When I touch the heatsink, I'm actually touching the tips of all the fins. Remember, the stock heatsink for the APUs look like this http://www.jagatreview.com/wp-content/u ... _Base1.jpg.

I'll run a bench with 3D Mark Vantage and see what kind of score I get, and compare to the score obtained from the A6-3650 here on Legit reviews.

Haha, EasyTune6 is showing the CPU temperature readings just like the other programs. It's saying 10*C/11*C as I type this. System temperature agrees with the BIOS, though.

I really hope all this...weirdness...is from a defective motherboard or APU...

EDIT: Fired up 3D mark Vanatage to install it, and in easyTune6, the CPU temperature jumped up to ~25*C, even 33*C. As soon as install is complete, it's lowered down to 18*C, and slowly dropping back.

While running 3D Mark Vanatge, the CPU temp (looking at Easytune) has jumped up to even 44*C. I guess this goes to show that the idle temperatures or low load temperatures are wonky, but moderate to high loads it works okay.

The scores are aling when comparing the results from stock clocked A6-3650 and A8-3850's (since my 3670K is at 3.2GHz CPU and 500MHz GPU). 1600MHz 1866MHz with other RAM timings and frequencies were considered.

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8528 ... esults.png
Cooler Master HAF 932 // Phenom II 1090T @ 4.1GHz (not 110% stable) // ASUS Crosshair V Formula 990FX // Thermaltake Frio CPU Cooler // Sapphire Dual-X HD 7970 @ 1150/1500 // 8GB (2X4GB) G.Skill RipJaws + 8GB (2X4GB) G.Skill RipJawsX @1600 8-9-8-21-1T // Corsair TX850 // Corsair ForceGT 120GB SSD // Kingston V200+ 120GB SSD // WD Caviar Black 1TB // LiteON DVD-RW // Windows 7 Ult. 64-bit
ragesz
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Re: APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

Post by ragesz »

Hi!

I've the same problem. My system is: Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H, AMD A8-3870 APU. I don't know the exact explanation but I've the soluton of this problem. The BIOS shows about 20-22°C for the CPU temp, and about 25-27°C for the motherboard (system) temp. I use Win7 x64 SP1 with the last updates and the last drivers for the Gigabíte motherboard. I use Aida64, the latest version. This software shows 58-61°C for the CPU, -2,-1,0,3,12,15°C for the CPU cores and for the GPU diode, and 27-29°C for the mobo. There are three temp sensors in my system. I don't know whether these consist of the mobo or the CPU (I think for the mobo.). But for these three sensors, there are two optoins (for each one) to choose: thermistor or diode mode. The default values (by the Win7 or by the mobo drivers, I don't know) are thermistor. I don't know why or what's the difference between thermistor and diode mode (I don't have much time to search for these...). Let change the CPU's temp sesnor to diode, and the hardware monitor softwares (let it be the Aida64 or HardwareMonitor or anything else) will show the right temp values of the CPU (which temp showed in the BIOS). You have to do this change only once, the system will remember it. (I don't know why or how it works.) You can do this change eg. in Speedfan: Readings -> Configure -> Advanced -> Chip: IT8720F... on ISA -> choose the CPU's temp sensor and change it's value from thermistor to diode.

The joke is that if I change the mobo system's sensor temp from the default thermistor to diode, the system temp will change from 25-29 °C to 110-130°C which value is horrible. And the system fan will speed up to a noisy rpm. But when the CPU's temp sensor is set to thermistor mode and so the CPU's temp is at about 58-60°C, the CPU's fan rpm is the same as when it is in diode mode with about 22-26°C. In both cases, the SmartFan Control (or how it's named..) is Enabled in BIOS.

I run Prime95. When the CPU temp sensor was set to thermistor, the idle temp was 58-59°C. During Prime95's run, the temp was 63-65°C. When I change it to diode, the idle temp was 22-26°C. During Prime95's run, the temp was 40-46°C. I think these values are the correct ones. When I touch the CPU cooler fins, they are totally cold at idle. When Prime is running, the fins are a bit warm, but not hot. I have Arctic Cooler Freezer Xtreme, and a 12cm ThermalTake fan behind the CPU cooler, rear in a ThermalTake Armour Jr case (and an other 12cm fan at front).

I hope I can help you solve this problem.
But with the CPU cores temp and with the GPU diode temp, I don't know how to set theese temp values to the correct ones. Because -1, -2, 0 °C temperature values are surely not the right values. When I run Prime, these temps rise up to 25, 35, 38, 40 °C. These values seems to be correct, but -2°C???? :) I think, the SpeedFan can do changes only in the mobo (in the BIOS), and I think the CPU cores temp and the GPU diode temp are not from the mobo, but from the CPU/APU inside. It's the same with the HDD's temp. That's why these can't be changed via the way aobve.

Unfortunately, in Aida64 or in HardwareMonitor I was unable to do this change (from thermistor to diode). Why??... :( :(

Ahh..
And I have the third temp sensor in hte mobo. Do you know what temperature is it? Not the GPU diode, not the cores, not the HDD. I have no extra VideoCard, only the APU. This temp is at about 9,10,...20°C.

Good luck!
ragesz
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Major_A
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Re: APU Temperature Monitoring & OC'ing tips

Post by Major_A »

Contact AIDA64 with what you just said here. Like I said I've had a few issues in the past and they usually address the problem in the next one or two beta updates.
http://forums.aida64.com/index.php?/for ... g-reports/
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