Intel i3-2328M FF8062701275100 Data Sheet

68

Datasheet, Volume 1

The Adaptive Thermal Monitor can be activated when any package temperature, 
monitored by a digital thermal sensor (DTS), meets or exceeds its maximum junction 
temperature specification (T

J,max

) and asserts PROCHOT#. The thermal control circuit 

(TCC) can be activated prior to T

J,max

 by use of the TCC activation offset. The assertion 

of PROCHOT# activates the thermal control circuit (TCC), and causes both the 
processor core and graphics core to reduce frequency and voltage adaptively. The TCC 
will remain active as long as any package temperature exceeds its specified limit. 
Therefore, the Adaptive Thermal Monitor will continue to reduce the package frequency 
and voltage until the TCC is de-activated. 

Adaptive Thermal Monitor protection is always enabled.

The purpose of the Adaptive Thermal Monitor is to reduce processor core power 
consumption and temperature until it operates at or below its maximum operating 
temperature (according for TCC activation offset). Processor core power reduction is 
achieved by:

• Adjusting the operating frequency (using the core ratio multiplier) and input 

voltage (using the SVID bus). 

• Modulating (starting and stopping) the internal processor core clocks (duty cycle). 

The temperature at which the Adaptive Thermal Monitor activates the Thermal Control 
Circuit is factory calibrated and is not user configurable. The default value is software 
visible in the TEMPERATURE_TARGET (1A2h) MSR, Bits 23:16. The Adaptive Thermal 
Monitor does not require any additional hardware, software drivers, or interrupt 
handling routines. The Adaptive Thermal Monitor is not intended as a mechanism to 
maintain processor TDP. The system design should provide a thermal solution that can 
maintain TDP within its intended usage range.

Upon TCC activation, the processor core attempts to dynamically reduce processor core 
power by lowering the frequency and voltage operating point. The operating points are 
automatically calculated by the processor core itself and do not require the BIOS to 
program them as with previous generations of Intel processors. The processor core will 
scale the operating points such that:

• The voltage will be optimized according to the temperature, the core bus ratio, and 

number of cores in deep C-states.

• The core power and temperature are reduced while minimizing performance 

degradation. 

A small amount of hysteresis has been included to prevent an excessive amount of 
operating point transitions when the processor temperature is near its maximum 
operating temperature. Once the temperature has dropped below the maximum 
operating temperature the operating frequency and voltage will transition back to the 
normal system operating point. This is illustrated in