Measuring Temperatures with Thermal Probes and External Sensors - Conclusion, final words...
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Once, you've set up your thermal probe, boot up your system. The first time you boot up make sure to go into BIOS and check the temps to see if you've re-attached your heat sink correctly. Then, continue booting into your OS. Let your system cool down and then compare idle temperatures (software monitoring with your probe). They should be somewhat close. The differences shouldn't be large.
Now, put some serious load on your system. Run Prime95. Use multiple instances in case of dual/quad cores or HT. Let it burn in for around 30 minutes and then compare your measurements again. It is possible that the on-load temperature difference will be around 10-15C lower. Keep in mind that your probe is not located inside your processor so, obviously, it's not measuring the hottest part of its core. Just add a few degrees when on load to make up the difference. I usually add ~+7C. This equation works somewhat all right for my setup. This is what you must figure out for yourself.
The advantage of external thermal probes is that you are not relying on some software that is either reading your processors on-die thermal probe and interpreting those values with a non-calibrated equation (which can often be misinterpreted), or reading your motherboard sensors-which are not even close to your processor, and even if they are somewhat close, their calibration can be way off.
Also, it is much easier to glance over to an LCD panel to see the temps with your eyes rather than trusting some numbers reported by an application (or BIOS). It's actually a psychological issue. You'll feel safer knowing that you can rely on your thermal probe.
Good luck.
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