Intel AT80604004881AA User Manual

Intel® Xeon® Processor 7500 Datasheet, Volume 1

113

The Intel® Xeon® processor 7500 series requires a thermal solution to maintain 
temperatures within its operating limits. Any attempt to operate the processor outside 
these operating limits may result in permanent damage to the processor and 
potentially other components within the system. For more information on designing a 
component level thermal solution, refer to the Intel® Xeon® Processor 7500 Series 
Thermal and Mechanical Design Guide. 

A complete solution includes both component and system level thermal management 
features. Component level thermal solutions can include active or passive heatsinks 
attached to the processor integrated heat spreader (IHS). Typical system level thermal 
solutions may consist of system fans combined with ducting and venting.

To allow the optimal operation and long-term reliability of Intel processor-based 
systems, the processor must remain within the minimum and maximum case 
temperature (T

CASE

) specifications as defined by the applicable thermal profile (see 

 and 

 for 130W TDP processors, 

 for 105W 

TDP processors, and 

 and 

 for 95W TDP processors). Thermal 

solutions not designed to provide this level of thermal capability may affect the long-
term reliability of the processor and system. For more details on thermal solution 
design, please refer to the Intel® Xeon® Processor 7500 Series Thermal and 
Mechanical Design Guide.

The Intel® Xeon® processor 7500 series implements a methodology for managing 
processor temperatures which is intended to support acoustic noise reduction through 
fan speed control and to ensure processor reliability. Selection of the appropriate fan 
speed is based on the relative temperature data reported by the processor’s Platform 
Environment Control Interface (PECI) bus as described in 

. The temperature 

reported over PECI is always a negative value and represents a delta below the onset of 
thermal control circuit (TCC) activation, as indicated by PROCHOT_N (see 

). Systems that implement fan speed control 

must be designed to use this data. Systems that do not alter the fan speed only need to 
guarantee that the case temperature meets the thermal profile specifications.

Intel has developed a thermal profile that can be implemented with the 130W TDP 
processor to ensure adherence to Intel reliability requirements. The 130W TDP Thermal 
profile (see 

) is representative of a volumetrically unconstrained 

thermal solution (that is, industry enabled 4U heatsink). In this scenario, it is expected 
that the Thermal Control Circuit (TCC) would only be activated for very brief periods of 
time when running the most power intensive applications. Intel has developed the 
thermal profile to allow customers to choose the thermal solution and environmental 
parameters that best suit their platform implementation. 

The 105W TDP processor (see 

; 

) is representative of a 

volumetrically constrained thermal solution (that is, industry enabled 2U heatsink). In 
this scenario, it is expected that the Thermal Control Circuit (TCC) would only be 
activated for very brief periods of time when running the most power intensive