With ROCK, how do I find cpu temperature?

I am thinking about installing ROCK on my NUC 10 i7 because upsampling Roon to DSD256 is overheating the processor in Windows 10. I think I might like to see if Linux’s lower power requirements make a difference in that department. (I know the issues with ROCK and NUC 10 and think I can get around them.)

As ROCK doesn’t allow me to install a temperature monitor application, how can I keep an eye on CPU temps if I go this route?

you can’t unless you point an ir thermometer at it.

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Your BIOS should be fixing this by running a fan. If you are overheating still, you need a lower ambient temperature or a replacement.

This is one of the reasons I think a locked-down appliance platform like ROCK is only for the very IT-averse. If you think you can manage installing a mainstream and well-supported Linux distro like, say, Ubuntu - go for it. It will give you complete and very flexible remote monitoring and admin options. Including temperature monitoring, of course.

I beg to differ - I’m not IT-averse (I was in IT for almost my entire working life), but I welcome appliances. :face_with_monocle:

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Not true, ROCK works perfectly.

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Where did I say it didn’t work? I just want to be able to monitor and administer my platform with the tools I like. It’s a personal preference.

It’s a question of personal preference, I guess. I welcome flexibility for monitoring and administration.

Mike, I never said or even thought ROCK didn’t work. For me it’s a trade-off between ease of installation and flexibility. ROCK is easily installed, but certainly is less flexible for remote administration and monitoring. It’s up to every user to go for what he considers of more value to him.

This debate about IT-averse is a matter of wording in @Andreas_Philipp1 post:

I think that’s wrong. It’s not “for the very IT-averse”. Instead, it’s for those who do not want to do IT on their music server.

a·verse /əˈvərs/
*adjective*
1. having a strong dislike of or opposition to something.

Some people believe they must “IT” everything they own. Others don’t. Others can be pro-IT and still not want to IT some items. For example, I am very pro-IT but I do not want to IT my hot water boiler or sprinklers.

That said, @Andreas_Philipp1’s sentiment is correct, and widely advertised: Roon OS (and thus ROCK) is highly opinionated and meant to be zero-touch. I could easily add CPU temperature to the web UI, but I won’t because it’s not in alignment with the goals of ROCK

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@danny, I run Roon on Windows 10 using full-time DSD256 oversampling.

With the “cool” fan setting in BIOS, I spiked last night at 95c while stress testing (i.e., just letting Roon run) overnight. When I awoke this morning, the breaker on my PSAudio Dectet had tripped, the NUC current draw being the only likely explanation for that.

In normal use, I run consistently at 60c and, frequently, to about 87c. The 95c in one core was a new development last night, but several of the other cores had hit 92c. I use redundant temperature checks, so I am confident that these readings are pretty accurate.

There is no issue with ambient temperature. The unit sits, exposed, on top of a desk in a below-grade basement in San Francisco. I doubt it was even 70f down there last night.

A commenter on another of my threads, @Henry_McLeod, suggested that this particular CPU in this particular NUC might not be ideal for Roon. In my desire to buy the latest and greatest (for no more money than the superseded NUC 8), I might have shot myself in the foot for this application.

I wonder what temps other NUC 10 users are getting or if there actually is a defect with this unit. (Just for comparison’s sake, running Roon with the same DSP settings on my daily driver desktop Dell XPS8930, current gen “full-size” i7 with 16gb ram, I also routinely was in the 65c range, often hitting 85c. I bought the NUC because I thought I might get lower temps from a lower-powered CPU on a dedicated server.)

Is DSD256 just a huge job for systems without aftermarket cooling?

You are right. I apologize for the bad wording of my sentiment.

Absolutely not. My 5i5 can do that (and even 512) but it is 15 watt TDP at full pelt. So despite its passive cooling it just runs and rarely needs reboots running ROCK.

uh… that NUC has a TDP of less than a normal incandescent bulb, even fully loaded. If your breakers are flipping, something is very wrong.

If your computer can overheat where ambient temp is <= 70F, you have an issue going on at the hardware/OS level. Your computer (bios, os, etc…) should be cooling that CPU with a fan or throttling it.

conversion to DSD256 is trivial on most modern machines, including phones of the last year or two!

You wouldn’t happen to be using a convolution filter as well, would you?

No convolution. Huge collection, though, if that affects the general overhead.

The way that I controlled temps on the desktop was with 99% CPU max in advanced power settings. Those settings are not available on the NUC by default. Before I install ROCK, I will try adding the advanced power settings to the NUC, which requires a BIOS change and an OS reinstallation.

My NUC Windows 10 installation on the NUC is pretty threadbare: Roon, JRiver (which I use as file manager and metadata editor), Audirvana (which I don’t usually have running), and some utilities. It also has decent horsepower: i7, 16gb RAM, and 500gb nvme SSD.

Horses for courses, though. Maybe I should have gotten the NUC8 instead.

first, let’s get this down: the nuc10 is fine.

are you still doing analysis? what does your cpu look like when you are not playing? how about when you are?

Is there a setting that can reduce this cpu’s TDP?

which cpu? what is your full NUC model number?

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Analysis of what sort? I don’t think that my Medicare would cover extensive psychotherapy? :slight_smile:

If you are asking about the NUC, I uninstalled Roon and the other applications in anticipation of reinstalling the OS. CPU temps at idle are in the high 30’s.

Our contractor is doing some work in the hallway today, so I may not be able to get to the basement to reinstall Windows until this evening. I think I will see if the BIOS changes allow me to throttle the CPU and if that’s a solution to the overheating before trying ROCK.

your audio files are opened, decoded, and analysis is done on them to generate those pretty waveforms and some crossfade information (and a bit more). this is done in a nice way to not have a huge impact on your system, but maybe some setting is set wrong.

also, metadata updates are pretty heavy on the system too.

i’d want to know if those are in progress just to have a performance baseline.

then id want to see what your CPU usage looks like (not temperature) when idle. Then again when not idle. I’d also want to see your signal path when playing.

I still don’t know your NUC’s model number, which is critical if i’m to help analyze this situation.