Northbridge temperature

You could run shareware smcFanControl 2.1.1 and up the fan speeds even slightly to help reduce that 80C a tad.

Have you searched the forums (well. search is disabled temporarily) for "northbridge" to find other threads - later.

The only think I could find was this:

My Northbridge temperatures which formerly ran at a CONSTANT 140-160 farenheit with SMC on default (and about 120 with my fans all turning at 1600rpm) are now running 110-113 degrees farenheit with a 900 rpm PCI fan and only 130 farenheit at default. I'll keep an eye on this as the week goes on, but something definitely changed with this video card compared to the old one.

OK - do any of us know what "normal" or "safe" temps are for different components? Particularly the northbridge?

My CPUs are at 83 (F)
Ambient is 72
Northbridge is 126

Should I be worried? The fans aren't blowing crazy or anything - I have SMC Fan Control and the fans are running accordingly:

CPU: 768 rpm
PCI/HDD: 747
Rear Fan: 869
Power Supply: 599

Again, should I be worried? What are safe temps?

Comments from the author of Hardware and Temperature Monitor in an email exchange and posted to the forum last winter. Most of it dealt with cpus:

- Temperature Monitor displays the maximum sensor limits in the third column of the window "Sensor Overview".
The application makes sure to only display limits for sensor locations where the specifications are known. The values either come from official documentation of Apple, or internal tables built into Mac OS X, or tables built into the firmware of the system, depending on what Macintosh model and what sensor location is being monitored.
- Marcel Bresink

My Cpu Heatsink Temps are CPU A = 26.0C/78.8F
CPU B = 28.0C/82.4F
NorthBridge Heatsink Temp are = 49.0C/120.2F
Ambient Temp = 24.0C/75.2F

smcFanControl settings:CPU FAN = 909rpm
PCI/HDD Fan = 909rpm
Rear Fan = 500rpm
Power Supply Fan = 600rpm

I have 4 internal Hard drives and 6GB RAM.

Everthing seems okay. Are you sure your quoted Northbridge temp (80) is Celsius? If it is that seems quite high by comparison with my MP! I will monitor for a while and see if I get any significant changes.

Hope this helps,
regards Denis

We know that Riser A will be warmer, and even many 1GB, and definitely 2GB FBDIMMs are hot and 10-15C above OEM or smaller density. A number of vendors have revised their FBDIMM cooling characteristics since March I think.

8 core 3GHz has a hefty power usage.
the X1900 can also raise temperatures.

Summer and warmer weather.

Might want to take a look at Temperature Monitor if you have not (freeware).

I have just downloaded the istat widget which records my Northbridge Temp as 48C. Which is the same as Temperature monitor was showing. As you say that is a very high temp! as to whats the cause, The Hatter's points are definite factors in the equation i.e Summers day etc. The position of MP is also important, make sure you have clear airflow around the case. I've got mine up on my desk as the air flow below is not as good and also I avoid to much dust which can also be a factor (I carry out regular spring cleans to minimize this problem). If you are still getting this High temp it may well pay you to contact applecare to get advice.

Just use smcFanControl, monitor your temperatures, keep the room 2-3 degrees cooler if possible.

Open a ticket if you think it is excessive. Hard to know. Talk to your RAM vendor. See if they have modules which run cooler.

I found that moving my high density DIMMs (only 2 x 1GB) to Riser B helped. But if you have 4 2GB DIMMs you want those balanced across both and is ideal way to have 8GB.

How about adding your hardware to your profile for us then! a nice system.

- The maximum operating temperature mentioned by the Intel Tech representative is based on a special measurement method defined by the "Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processors 5100 Series Thermal/Mechanical Design Guidelines"
( http://www.intel.com/design/xeon/guides/313357.htm ).
The readings basically reflect a "TCC-like" approach, not the DTS technology. DTS values are expected
to be much higher than the values measured at the outer CPU package.

- It is correct that Intel did not and will not officially publish absolute temperature limits for the "on core" DTS sensors of the Xeon 5100.

However, based on a series of tests run with Apple Mac Pro systems, it can be assumed that the maximum allowed DTS temperature for which Intel and Apple designed the Mac Pro is 85°C. (
To put this in relation, it should be noted that the maximum DTS temperature for Intel Core processors under normal operating conditions is 100°C and the so-called "catastrophic" limit is at 125°C.
For more information, see the official data sheets at
http://www.intel.com/design/mobile/datashts/309221.htm .

You can find information on Intel Xeon processors and thermal considerations here:
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/xeon5k/

Not a lot of information on the 8-Core which for now, is an Apple only part.

As long as you don't see parity errors or something you should be fine.

That's weird, I just increased my CPU fan speed and the response was immediate. I think you should be checking with Apple as it looks increasingly like a fault in the Mac Pro. You could try reinstalling smcFanControl first to ensure it is correctly installed!

Sounds like either a corrupt preference with fancontrol or fan actually not responding.

I know people resist and would rather spend days looking for why rather than bite the bullet, but doing a quick OS install to a test drive can be the quickest way to narrow down and find out why while troubleshooting.