On 15 May 99, at 10:29, Anthony Garvey wrote:

> I recently purchase a temperature monitor but was disappointed.  I thought I
> was buying a device that would directly monitor the CPU' s temperature but
> when it arrived it was merely a 5.25" faceplate with a thermometer embedded
> in it which monitored the interior case temperature.  The faceplate can only
> be used if there is an unused external 5.25" external bay on your case.  I
> don't know if there exists a device that directly attaches to the CPU but
> that is really what I was looking for.  I should have read the advertisement
> more closely.  For a piece of plastic with a digital thermometer, at $30 it
> was overpriced.  But it does provide a constant, accurate,easily visible LCD
> reading of the interior case temperature at the position of the drive-bay.

  This sounds extremely similar to the "CP-Vue II" that I have installed in one
of my machines.
  The actualy temperature-sensing element is the junction at the end of two
wires, and will reach just about anywhere in the case.  The instructions
recommend tucking it in among the blades of the CPU heatsink, and that's what
I have done.

> According to the scale printed on the faceplate, running between 70-90F
> (interior case temperature) is normal; above 90F you should start to be
> concerned.  Mine varies considerably with room temperature but it has never
> gone above 91F.  I still wish I could directly monitor the CPU however.

  PIIs and PIIIs -- and possibly some other recent CPUs -- include a sensor
right on the CPU die, which is carried out through the CPU slot to optionally
connect to a monitoring chip which some motherboards provide.  Look for a
program called "MBMxx.exe" ("MotherBoard Monitor") which can read data from
this chip; I believe it has a web page that lists many supported boards, and
yours might be on the list.


David G

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