Core 2 Duo temperature differential

kklein · Post by **kklein** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:34 pm

I recently built a new system for a friend using the Asus N4L-VM motherboard and a Core 2 Duo T7200. One odd thing that I noticed is that at idle one of the cores reports a significantly higher (5-6 deg. C) temperature than the other core (reported via the Intel TAT). Under load, both cores peak at about 55-57 deg. C. Other than the weird temperature readings, the system appears completely stable. I ran the TAT load simulator for about 16 hours with no ill effects.

Thinking that maybe I didn't get the heatsink mounted properly, I removed it, cleaned off all of the old compound, and reinstalled it with some Arctic Silver. It made no difference.

An identical system that I built for myself does not exhibit this behavior. The two cores report essentially the same temperature at idle and low load.

So what gives? Is this anything to worry about? Do I have a defective processor, bad heatsink installation, or some other problem?

LuckyNV · Post by **LuckyNV** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:57 pm

I have the same, Core0 is always 3-5C higher

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:41 pm

kklein, the odd thing is not that you have a C2D with different core temps but that you have one without. Before your post, I'd never heard of a case where the core temps were identical. Based on number of posts I've seen on the subject (maybe not a representative sample), I'd guess only 1 in 20 C2Ds has equal core temps. So, the answer is no -- unequal temps are nothing to worry about.

PS With my E6300 it is Core1 that is always hotter, also in the 3-5C range.