Hey all, I'm new here and I have a bit of a problem with a rig I just built for my brother.

It's a Palomino Athlon 2100+ XP stock with a Volcano 11 heatsink, ducting mod, and a 32.5 CFM 80mm fan. This is my 3rd heatsink/fan combo to try and solve a temperature issue with the system. Previously it's idle would sit at about 59C and I've gotten it down to a 51C idle with an Antec Super LANboy with really good airflow (I installed an Enermax fan in front). My issue is though, that both in the BIOS PC Health monitor and MBM 5, it's reporting said idles, but with the bundled hardware monitor that came with the mobo (software based) it reports around 45C. I don't know what the room ambient is but it's probably around 75F (too lazy to convert it =P)

The motherboard in question is a Soyo Dragon KT400 Ultra PE and I am wondering if there has been any issues with this particular mobo (I don't think it's the processor because I put in a Palomino 1600+ and got similar idles). I have tried flashing the BIOS with different versions from Soyo's site to no avail.

On a side note I also know it's not the cooling system either, I am running a Silentboost K7 on my Thoroughbred 2700+ with ducting mod and my idle is 30-32C

Any help would be greatly appreciated here.

Basically, as I understand your post, you are asking why the MBM and BIOS are showing hotter than the software sent with the board. This is not a new phenomenon. On Asus boards, the temps showing in the BIOS are higher than those on the monitoring software. You can be either a trusting sort and believe that the mobo mfg has "calibrated" the temp readings by adjusting the reported number down using their software, or you can be the suspicious type and get an external thermometer and measure it yourself (with the heat sink on) to verify the temp.

Unless you are having stability issues, neednt worry, 45C is a probable temp with your setup.

Asus probe has been closer to the actual temp read by temperature probe's below and beside the core than the BIOS & MBM.

The exact same setup, except with an Asus A7V8X instead of a Soyo Dragon KT400 Ultra PE, produces an idle of 40C, 11C lower then with the Soyo. (both temps recorded from the BIOS monitor)

^- Further confirmation of asus temperature read inaccuracy.

then check your BIOS cpu voltage settings, and lastly, check the motherboard itself and look good and hard at the MOSFET's and make sure there is no damage or serious overheating there, since they are what really regulates your power....and too much power = mo' heat

its a common occurance - further more to tekx's further more, my asus AV7600 bios reports 6C higher than Probe 2. Im happy to belive probe for the minute until my pc starts crashing. The best temp you can record are from the thin cable thermometres with an external reader.

Quote: Originally Posted by TekXoID ^- Further confirmation of asus temperature read inaccuracy.

Hah!! Every ASUS I ever owned had inaccurate temperature readings, my P5-AB thought my K6-2 450 was at 93*Cwhen it was barely warm to the touch, my CUSI-FX thought my Celeron 733 was -68*C in MBM5 and 47*C in BIOS when it was barely warm to the touch. Anything you can create an insult out of the company name (U Ass) is something you should stay away from.

That's why my ASUS board is in my server because if that melts down I could really care less


I had an ASUS board in my own rig for stages 1 and 2 and it was a piece (but then again it was based on a SIS chipset =\)