Guide

Thermal and Mechanical Design
40 Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 2800/4800/8800 v2 Product Family
Thermal/ Mechanical Specifications and 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. This section
provides data necessary for developing a complete thermal solution.
2.2.1 Thermal Management
To allow 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. Thermal solutions
not designed to provide sufficient thermal capability may affect the long-term reliability
of the processor and system.
Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 2800/4800/8800 v2 Product Family implement a
methodology for managing processor temperatures which is intended to support
acoustic noise reduction through fan speed control and to assure 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) as described
in processor datasheet.
If the DTS value is less than T
CONTROL
, then the case temperature is permitted to
exceed the Thermal Profile, but the DTS value must remain at or below T
CONTROL
.
For T
CASE
implementations, if DTS is greater than T
CONTROL
, then the case temperature
must meet the T
CASE
based Thermal Profiles.
For DTS implementations:
•T
CASE
thermal profile can be ignored during processor run time.
• If DTS is greater than T
CONTROL
then follow DTS thermal profile specifications for
fan speed optimization.
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 Electrical Specification section of the process datasheet). Systems that implement
fan speed control must be designed to use this data. Systems that do not alter the fan
speed need to guarantee the case temperature meets the thermal profile specifications.
With single thermal profile, it is expected that the Thermal Control Circuit (TCC) would
be activated for very brief periods of time when running the most power intensive
applications. Utilization of a thermal solution that does not meet the thermal profile will
violate the thermal specifications and may result in permanent damage to the
processor. The upper point of the thermal profile consists of the Thermal Design Power
(TDP) and the associated T
CASE
value.
(x = TDP and y = TCASE_MAX @ TDP) represents a thermal solution design point. In
actuality the processor case temperature will not reach this value due to TCC
activation.
Intel recommends that complete thermal solution designs target the Thermal Design
Power (TDP). The Adaptive Thermal Monitor feature is intended to help protect the
processor in the event that an application exceeds the TDP recommendation for a
sustained time period. To ensure maximum flexibility for future requirements, systems
should be designed to the Flexible Motherboard (FMB) guidelines, even if a processor
with lower power dissipation is currently planned. The Adaptive Thermal Monitor
feature must be enabled for the processor to remain within its specifications.