Intel Thermal Test Vehicle

Something different! You're actually not looking at a processor but at a vehicle: a Thermal Test Vehicle (TTV) used for heat generation.

Why just a 'chip' for heat? Simple: to test coolers. This chip, which classifies as an Intel Xeon 50xx 'Dempsey' with product number 80555, will be fed with a +12V rail. A normal processor would need working transistors to make heat but since transistors work variable you will never get a situation in which all transistors are being used at the same time. This QGC0 TTV always generates the same heat and thus making cooling test results are more reliable.

In the picture you see the CPU with a thermal diode in it. A small groove is carved into the heatspreader of the CPU in which the diode will be installed. This allows reading the temperature in the middle (above the chip, under the heatsink).

The set I bought is not compatible however. The motherboard (Thermal Test Board) is equipped with socket 775. The CPU (Thermal Test Vehicle) is socket 771. I was able to acquire a 775 TTV (see this link) but haven't tested it yet.

The motherboard itself is a clean motherboard without a northbridge and underlying components. Only several dummy components are installed like a northbridge heatsink, a PCIe 16x slot, some capacitors and a DDR2-SDRAM slot. Also the I/O connectors on the back of the board (mini DIN, USB, sound, etc) are installed. The board has some lines drawn on the PCB which indicate the keep-out-zone. The CPU cooler is not allowed to reach this space. To block the space needed for the keep-out-zone this the board came with three plastic bars which can be put in place of the keep-out-zone.

I have added a screenshot taken from the 'Thermal and Mechanical Design Guidelines' (document 302553) that shows the same model motherboard I have. The document describes how to set-up and use the thermal test board/vehicle. It also shows how to add the thermocouple by making a groove in the IHS (integrated heat spreader).