Odd temperature readings

[NYHoustonman]

I've noticed something a little weird with the temperature readings reported by NVidia's monitor...

-My load temperatures seem to vary from 48C-~56C at different times during the stress test... This may be normal, but it's more variation than I'm used to (although my only other experience is with older Athlons).
-The CPU temperature also varies wildly when I start/stop Orthos/Prime95. My idle temperatures are generally 38-41C... When I start stress testing, the temperatures seem to almost instantly jump to the mid-high 40's, and when I stop the testing, they drop back down again (to~41-45C, depending on how high the load temp was at that point, and eventually setting down to my previously mentioned idle temperatures).

Is this normal, or could it have anything to do with how the heatsink is seated or anything like that?

 

[pkme2]

IMO, Your C2D temps sound about normal for idle/load temps.

You may check your heatsink for amount of AS5 used. I use a small pea of AS5 smeared with a plastic card. A very thin coating is all one needs. Too much doesn't aid in cooling, in fact the opposite..

A good side intake fan like a 120mm/250mm would really decrease inside temps by 4C/8C on average, with a top exhaust 120mm fan. These additions would aid in case cooling but only if temps get too close to 60C loads.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Yea, It's not that I'm worried about the temps, it's just how quickly they rise/fall that kind of bothers me.

I've started using intel's thermal analysis tool, and it seems to give more realistic results, ~45C at idle and 55C at load, and it doesn't drop 7-8C instantly (although it still drops 3-4C the second I stop running Orthos).