Mac Mini 2018 & iStat Menus (6.3) Which Sensor?

[Trips]

Forgive me if this has been discussed regarding the 2018 Mini and I missed it in my search, but I am wondering which sensor is best to run for the most accurate cpu temperature monitoring?

Running iStat Menus 6.3, and these are my options.. (see screenshot).

To my understanding "Cpu PECI" is not a direct temp reading but rather the offset between current temp and the temp at which the CPU would need to throttle. But the other option "CPU System agent" is one I am not sure is reporting an average temp of all cores (which is what I would like to be displayed in the menu bar. Obviously I don't want 6 temps in the menu, nor just a single core, but rather an average of all 6.

 

[HeavyMantra]

Also interested to know

 

[palebluedot]

Also interested. Something else that is interesting, on the Mac Mini 2012 iStat shows an "Airport Peninsula" which I assume is the metal cage that holds the antenna that you have to remove when swapping out SSDs. But on 2018, it shows "Airport Proximity". Wonder if the locations changed or if it is just a change in terminology.

 

[Trips]

Also interested. Something else that is interesting, on the Mac Mini 2012 iStat shows an "Airport Peninsula" which I assume is the metal cage that holds the antenna that you have to remove when swapping out SSDs. But on 2018, it shows "Airport Proximity". Wonder if the locations changed or if it is just a change in terminology.

Interesting.

There obviously must be people with new Minis running iStat. Strange this thread has gotten so few replies.
Like what sensor is everyone using!? lol

 

[IngerMan]

I asked this same question in the App forum.

Airleid replies.


I use CPU PECI to measure cpu temperature as PECI stands for Platform Environment Control Interface which is for mamaging the whole CPU thermal performance.
And I also use Intel GPU to get better overall CPU temp status.
Cheers.

 

[Trips]

I asked this same question in the App forum.

Airleid replies.


I use CPU PECI to measure cpu temperature as PECI stands for Platform Environment Control Interface which is for mamaging the whole CPU thermal performance.
And I also use Intel GPU to get better overall CPU temp status.
Cheers.

Thanks for the reply Ingerman.

I was using PECI at first, which I mention above, but that definitely isn't the correct sensor for average CPU temp.
From Wiki: "PECI reports a negative value expressing the difference between the current temperature and the thermal throttle point instead of the absolute temperature. For example, for a CPU with maximal temperature of 85 °C and a current temperature reading of 35 °C, the value reported by PECI would be −50 °C."

However, even without that information its pretty easy to just glance at the iStat dropdown and see that PECI is almost always the highest temp (especially under load) between Cores 1,2,3,4,5,6 and CPU System Agent.

I suppose System Agent is the only real option for "average cpu temp" unless you opt to use one of the 6 core sensors (or all lol) instead.

 

[harriska2]

I sort of look at them all in the list.

 

[Trips]

I sort of look at them all in the list.

Yeah when I want more of a detailed view, I do the same. But for the most part, just being able to glance at the menu bar, and know I'm seeing an accurate average of the 6 cores via a single temp indicator, is more of what I'm after.

By all accounts, when I have taken screenshots and averaged the 6 cores + gpu temp then divided by those 7 temps, it almost always is within 1-2 degrees of the System Agent temp. So that is what I've been using.

If you attempt to do the same test and compare it to the PECI temp (at idle, small load, and full load) you will notice the large variances in the temps PECI reports. At idle and lower temps its close to the core temps. But at med to high loads it increases quite a bit, and is typically reporting a much higher temp. This is due to the nature of how PECI works, and thus it is not a reliable indicator of overall average temp, IMO.