GPU Diode Temp 10+ degrees hotter?

Question

GPU Diode Temp 10+ degrees hotter?

I have a question re: the gpu diode temp in my early 2008 imac. I have the 24" with the 8800 gs. I didn't really pay attention to my temps before, but the past few days the imac had a few instances where it "hung" with the spinning beach ball.

I ran all the normal diagnostic programs and there is nothing out of the ordinary. The one thing I have noticed is that the GPU diode temp is roughly 10 degrees hotter than the GPU and GPU heatsink temps.

My questions are:

What is the difference between the diode and the GPU? (I know what the heatsink is).

Is it normal for a discrepancy this big? I have searched the apple forums and macrumors for a while and haven't found one where it is more than 5 or 6 degrees.

Currently the GPU is 49 deg C, and the Diode is 60 deg C under light load (safari).

Thanks

iMac Core2Duo 24" 8800GS, iMac G5 17 1.8 Ghz Rev A 768 MB RAM 80 GB HD, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Oct 4, 2009 8:25 AM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

91,918 points

Oct 4, 2009 9:32 AM in response to Christopher Damiani

Hi Christopher

My Early 2006 Intel iMac has a different internal configuration and sensor array, so it's difficult to compare the readings side by side. I can however say that 60 C is nothing to worry about, my GPU Diode normally runs between 60 to 70 C depending on usage. Any reading above 75 C might be cause for concern and anything above 80 C is.

Normally a spinning beach ball is caused by a lack of ram, a busy processor, a nearly full HD and or flaky HD. See > http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/sbbod.html

Dennis

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Answer 2

Oct 4, 2009 11:51 AM in response to den.thed

Dennis,

Do you have seperate sensors for the GPU and the GPU diode? If so, how different are the two temps? The diode once went over 80 when gaming but the GPU and GPU heatsink stayed in the high 60s.

Im just not sure there should be such a discrepency between the two?

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

91,918 points

Oct 4, 2009 12:17 PM in response to Christopher Damiani

No according to both iStat Pro and Temperature Monitor my earlier model only has a sensor on the GPU Diode.

I'm sure that is normal, hopefully someone with the same model will chime in with there stats.

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Answer 4

Oct 5, 2009 2:46 PM in response to Christopher Damiani

My iMac 7,1 has both.
Currently 60° and 61° C respectively.
I am running FanControl with CPU minimum rpm set to 1800.

At other times, I have seen a wider temperature delta.

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