I recently built a P4 system with an Intel 2.6 (800 FSB) and AOpen AX4SPE-N motherboard. Started out with the stock heatsink/fan. As soon as I booted the system, I began to hear the high temp warning system begin to beep. Found out from AOpen that it's best to disable that feature in the BIOS (apparently doesn't work right). When I check my temps in the BIOS and through their utility SilentTek, I find that the system temp runs around 26 C, the CPU temp around 30 C, and the CPU core temp around 68-70 C. I don't know whether the core temp is excessively high, but Sisoft Sandra reports is as such. I have since installed a new heatsink/fan: Cooler Master Aero 4 with Arctic Ice Ceramique. Seems to help a little, but temps seem to fluctuate, and the core temp is still 68-70 C. Playing some games will still trigger an alarm, although I can touch the sides of the heatsink and they don't feel hot. Is my motherboard reporting bogus readings, are they typical for this configuration? BTW, including the PS fan, I have two exhaust fans at the top of the case and one intake fan at the bottom.

There is no such a reading "CPU core temp" in Sandra. There are CPU temp, Board temp and power/aux temp.

Where do you get the CPU core temp report?

You now know aftermarket heatsinks are not much better than Intel stock unit.

Sorry, meant to say "CPU kernel temp," as reported in AOpen's utility
SilentTek. That must be the same thing as "Power/Aux Temp" in Sandra. You may be right about the minor difference between stock and aftermarket heatsink/fan. I may still re-check the thermal paste I applied, and redo the Arctic Silver Ceramique if it looks too thick.

I have the ax4spe-n too and a 2.6GHz P4... i get sililar Kernel Temps... i dont think replacing the fan is going to help much... Check your bios and see if its refered to as Kernel temp there too... mine is, and it's similar to the silent tek number of 70* C... any info on how to lower it, would be great... thanks...

Rowdy ...

I checked in the AX4SPE-N mobo BIOS - there is no reference to "CPU kernel temp," but there is a listing for "PWRTMP." This must correspond to the Sandra listing for "Power/Aux Temp" (which in my system also registers as 69 degrees C). I may have to e-mail AOpen again to see if they can shed any light on this. I have also found it to be helpful to search the web for terms or topics with which I am unfamiliar.