I'm building a computer and the customer wants me to add a multifunction
panel to the case. It's a 5.25" type panel and it has two sensors for
temperature readings. I'm not sure where to place these sensors on the
motherboard as it has warned me not to put a sensor in between the CPU and
the heat sink (common sense). Are most motherboards labeled as to where to
put external sensors?
Thanks,
Spider
Nope, no motherboards are labeled for external sensor usage. A few
have aux. temp sensor capability without the added panel though.
Since the majority (if not all) boards now have temp readings from the
southbridge (or a separate chip) and CPU temp too, there is little for
an end-user, customer, to need monitored. Would they even understand
the significance of some other temp, or would it be better to place
the sensor in the coolest part of the case so they don't worry about
it needlessly? Providing you've set up system cooling properly there
is no need for the extra temp readings.
One of the sensors might be placed away from the motherboard, sensing
internal air temp. The other could be attached to a hard drive or
video card. There really isn't any need for this multifunction panel,
unless it varies fan speed based on temp. If it does this, and IF the
fan speed vs temp response is appropriate for the particular fan (or a
suitable fan is chosen) and temp range, then you might consider boring
a tiny hole into the side of the CPU heatsink, inserting the temp
probe. You might then want to route the CPU fan's tach output to the
motherboard CPU fan plug, and run the fan's power from the
multifunction panel. Of course the second fan controlled by the
multifunction panel should probably be an inlet or exhaust fan.
Dave
