Hot CPU temps -- recommendations?

[Entity]

My setup is as follows:

P4 3.06ghz
Zalman CNPS7000-A-AlCu
Antec Sonata Case w/2 120mm Zantec Stealth Fans (HD case & exhaust)
MSI 845pe Max2 motherboard
2 optical drives, 2 hard drives

I've been noticing some odd stability issues with the computer so I decided to check the heat. I noticed in the BIOS that it was around 50c at bootup, which seemed a bit high to me -- so I removed the heatsink, cleaned the fins, removed & reapplied arctic silver, but none of that seemed to do any good. The temps seem to be around 48-50c when doing normal XP applications, and under Prime95 full CPU/heat torture right now are around 63-64c (motherboard temp reports at 34c). That seems too hot to me but I'm not really sure with this setup. It's only about 65f outside right now, so I don't think the ambient temperatures are driving this up.

Also, as a complete aside, when I look under the bios settings to look at voltages, the -5v rail doesn't report. Any ideas what that might mean? The PSU is a brand new Antec Smartpower 2.0 450w PS.

Rob

 

[Entity]

After finishing Prime95 (just ran it for a little while), my max temp reached was 65c. The computer is now idling at 45c.

Am I making too big of a deal out of this?

thanks,
Rob

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

mine idles at 35 and loads 49. zalman 7000b-cu, same processor. your temps are not bad, just a little high. try reaplying the thermal paste (only a rice sized drop, spread it out with a credit card and once its on do not take it off) and put it on.

 

[MrKneecap]

If you read Arctic Silver's site, they say to apply the thermal paste (only about a grain of uncooked rice worth) to the center of the cpu, then place the heatsink directly down on the paste and turn it just a bit (1-2 degrees either direction). Therefore, you should not spread the paste out before you place the heatsink.

 

[Bona Fide]

I hear Prescotts run hot anyway, but I'm not too educated in the Intel department.