Temps on Athlon XP on a Giga Byte GA-7VTXE always reads over 54 no matter what I do.

[mookydooky]

Here's the deal. I just got a new machine set up. Specs below:

Giga Byte GA-7VTXE
Athlon XP 1600+
Pioneer 106S
Plextor 161040
Generic Floppy
Antec 300 Watt PS
IBM 40G HD
Cheesy, but roomy case with a blowhole on the side.
Thermaltake Volcano 5 (I know it $ux, but it's quiet and that's a tradeoff I'm willing to make)

Anyway, any other rig in the same case typically has temp readings in the 45-49 range under full load using the exact same CPU cooler and pretty much the same components. As a matter of fact, my MSI nForce board never goes over 43 under load. Now I suspect that there is some calibration variation amongst the various Mobo makers regarding temps, but I have to say, this is ridiculous. I don't know which ones to believe. My Epox setup pretty much stayed in the 46-50 range under load. The nForce thing I already mentioned, but this Giga Byte board has gotten me somewhat nervous. To add to further confusion, the temps stay the same whether I add voltage or not, whether I overclock or not. Basically, under load, it goes to 57 even if I underclock it. If anyone can shed any light on my confusion, I would sincerely appreciate it. Something telling me that running the dang rig at 57 is ok would also be appreciated.

Mook

[Da Whip]

Here is tech site that has all the CPU max temps;
http://users.erols.com/chare/elec.htm[/url]

Looks like anything under 90C is safe.

[mookydooky]

Yes it is possible for an Athlon processor to work at 90C, but there are a bunch of other issues regarding temp taking with an Athlon. I have to say, AMD had their hats on straight, when they created the Athlon core, but they were completely napping when it came to the packaging. The main problem with Athlon is that until the XP came out, it didn't have an on die thermistor. This is a pathetic state of affairs for AMD considering that Intel has had on die thermistors since the Pentium 2. Basically, until the XP, you had to take the temp with a probe. Temp taking with a probe is like trying to determine the temp outside your house by touching the window. Yes you know it's cold out, but you're not going to get an exact reading. There are no motherboards out on the market that yet utilize the XP's ondie thermistor. They all do it from the outside. The temp the external thermistor takes is going to be several orders of magnitude cooler than the real temp. The mobo manufacturers know this and they add a few degrees to the readings. Most people agree that these temps tend to be off by about 10-30 degrees from the true core temp. Now if my board is only 10 degrees off (which is the low end), then I'm ok, since 55-56 plus ten is only in the high 60's. But if the true temp is 30 degrees off from my boards temp, that means I'm in the high 80's which does not make me feel very secure and odds are I will start getting some instabilities in the very near future. Basically, I would like to know if there are any other GA-7VTXE users out there that have had these kinds of temps and any stability issues. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mook