i was wondering whats a normal temp of a cpu and whats some good software for monitoring the temps?

AMD XP? AMD Barton? Intel P4? Intel Celeron? Specifics please.

I'm running a stock cooler on a 2.4ghz P4 at 40C, which is very good.

I have an AMD t-bird 800 oc'd to 920 and I use Cpu Cool to monitor temps. Generally you should never go above 130-140deg F, thats usually the point of failure or where weird errors will start to pop up. I've got an extensive array of fans and heat sinks and even running hard I never get above 110. Check out cpu cool at http://www.podien.onlinehome.de/CPUCOOL.HTM

I've got an AMD Thunderbird 850 with a VIA VT8363 Board, one CPU fan, plus 2 extra case fans (one push, one pull), and running a Radeon 7500 DDR 64Mb Video card too. I keep the computer in the coolest room in the house too (basement office). Dr.Jay, does this program really improve cooling?

um not sure what stats u need but ill try i got amd athlon xp 2000+ at 1.67ghz 512mb of ddr sdram 60gb hard drive just motherboard 32mb video card i get new one hopefully next week. not sure what else u need i got some hardware sesor monitor program last night but this morning i went to turn on my pc and it started beeping at me saying hdd1 it was 400 deg F i waslike no way i just turned it on so i just turned the program off

Sounds to me like you may have a "VIRUS" that is trying to burn out your CPU! The last virus I had tried this, but thanks to the extra case fans, I was able to save the CPU & other components by just wiping the one hard drive that was infected & re-installed everything again.

deathrat did u get my pm?

A CPU can run fine from anywhere up to around 55 C. After that, you should probably be careful. I know that they can handle up to around 90 before they actually get destroyed, but for optimal performace, stay below 55. I have a 2500+ Barton, and that runs pretty warm, although it never goes above 50. I need a better cooler on it.

There are 3 different ways to monitor temps. One is by the built in sensor on the processor, that the motherboard reads and it shows it in the BIOS. Programs like Motherboard Monitor, and PCAlert will show you the temps from the BIOS. Another way is to mount a thermal sensor under your processor and mount it to a digial gauge. Or you can take that sensor, and tape it right next to the processor core. I put mine next to the core, and I do get a different reading than the onboard sensor. You have to be careful though when using the sensor next to the core, because you want to make sure it is not interfering with the heatsink.

You can pick up these sensors at www.directron.com or maybe at www.newegg.com

Deathrat, yes it really will cool your amd several degrees and pretty quick too. If memory serves it does this by looping the 'halt' command with all available cpu that isn't being used by other applications. So when your cooling your cpu it will always show 98%+ useage by any cpu monitor software. Of course this isn't something you play games with while its running its more of a safeguard against overheating. You can drop the temp this way by 10deg in a matter of 20seconds so you set a limit and once that limit is hit the program automaticall cools until it hits another predetermined limit. Because its just running a 'halt' command and not actually processing you really won't notice a difference in performance although some will have a fuzzy noise comming from the speakers when you play mp3'* while you cool. Try it out see how you like it, go into options on any cpu cooler worth it and find the "Force Athlon Cooling" or something similar.

Oh and l27Buick I really don't know if I'd worry about that false alarm. Most of the time thats just due to the program picking the wrong sensor type for your mboard. Your average hd runs up to 65deg C on the high end quick spinners. If you hit even NEAR 204.4deg C as your software told you you would never be able to boot your system again! I can't imagine doubling your allowable operating temp by over 3x and it still working the next day.