Odd processor temps

don't know if this is the right place to post--
there is no overclocking and cooling room like in vista forums

can the operating system itself place a burden on the processor to cause temps to run higher? might sound like an odd question, and i really don't know how to phrase it any better, but here's the scenario:

about 3 weeks ago, while still running vista (x64), i wanted to push my processor a tad bit higher. it is a phenom II x4 940 with a stock speed of 3 ghz running with a sunbeam core contact freezer, cpu fan control is off with the fan running at max all of the time. at stock speed, idle temps consistently stayed at 40c. i decided to pushed it to 3.3ghz and temps stayed at 43c-44c. i must say that at the time i decided to up the clock, outdoor temps in the southern california area were about 83f to 86f, with indoor temps where the computer is located, hovering a few degrees cooler (~80f).

since then, i've installed win7 x64. outdoor temps for the past few days have been about 69f to 74f, with indoor temps pretty much consistently about 75f. after installation, i wanted up the clock on the proc again (i set it back to stock when i installed win7), this time pushing it to 3.4ghz. well, my temps now--consistently--are at 36c.

i know ambient temps weigh into the equation, but does the actual operating system play a big part too?

Are you certain that Windows 7 is not slowing the processor down when it's not in high use scenarios? That is my guess as to what is happening. I really don't see the point in setting the CPU at max "all of the time", when it usually only needs to be that fast here and there. Just let Windows control it.

mpcrsc562 said:

don't know if this is the right place to post--
there is no overclocking and cooling room like in vista forums

can the operating system itself place a burden on the processor to cause temps to run higher? might sound like an odd question, and i really don't know how to phrase it any better, but here's the scenario:

about 3 weeks ago, while still running vista (x64), i wanted to push my processor a tad bit higher. it is a phenom II x4 940 with a stock speed of 3 ghz running with a sunbeam core contact freezer, cpu fan control is off with the fan running at max all of the time. at stock speed, idle temps consistently stayed at 40c. i decided to pushed it to 3.3ghz and temps stayed at 43c-44c. i must say that at the time i decided to up the clock, outdoor temps in the southern california area were about 83f to 86f, with indoor temps where the computer is located, hovering a few degrees cooler (~80f).

since then, i've installed win7 x64. outdoor temps for the past few days have been about 69f to 74f, with indoor temps pretty much consistently about 75f. after installation, i wanted up the clock on the proc again (i set it back to stock when i installed win7), this time pushing it to 3.4ghz. well, my temps now--consistently--are at 36c.

i know ambient temps weigh into the equation, but does the actual operating system play a big part too?

Absolutely, and power plan config, fan profile, and the usual suspects. Some 64bit win 7 install actually run much hotter than on vista because in the eairlier releases there were fewer profiles.

I wish my lapbrick ran at 36C. right now ambient is 64F and computer is under 45% load at 125F

pparks1 said:

Are you certain that Windows 7 is not slowing the processor down when it's not in high use scenarios? That is my guess as to what is happening. I really don't see the point in setting the CPU at max "all of the time", when it usually only needs to be that fast here and there. Just let Windows control it.

well, i'm talking about idle temps. and the odd thing is that it seems to be running cooler with windows 7 than it did with vista.

DarkXeno said:

Zig is on the right path, with a lot of the new power profiles and Win7 new power plans the os can control the newer "Greener" chips to use less power causing them to be cooler, which always brings this question to mind and why I had to leave selling computers do you really need a 3ghz chip to browse the web?? let the OS move it down to 600mhz when you dont need it then ramp up when you do. Ok I think im done.

i hear ya... as far as my power config, i have it set to high performance--i have never let the os or the bios do any power saving features. just me. it's just odd that one operating system shows a consistent lower idle processor temp over the other.

Software derived temp readings are one-off anyway. You may be looking at a difference in calculation.

I could only place confidence in the differences as measured by an analog device measured and monitored outside of the dual booted OS's.

i'm using core temp and the amd overdrive utility, which they both show the same temps.