I recently purchase a temperature monitor but was disappointed.  I thought I
was buying a device that would directly monitor the CPU' s temperature but
when it arrived it was merely a 5.25" faceplate with a thermometer embedded
in it which monitored the interior case temperature.  The faceplate can only
be used if there is an unused external 5.25" external bay on your case.  I
don't know if there exists a device that directly attaches to the CPU but
that is really what I was looking for.  I should have read the advertisement
more closely.  For a piece of plastic with a digital thermometer, at $30 it
was overpriced.  But it does provide a constant, accurate,easily visible LCD
reading of the interior case temperature at the position of the drive-bay.

According to the scale printed on the faceplate, running between 70-90F
(interior case temperature) is normal; above 90F you should start to be
concerned.  Mine varies considerably with room temperature but it has never
gone above 91F.  I still wish I could directly monitor the CPU however.

HTH,
Anthony

>
>  Recently overclocked my new Celeron 400 to 450 [66->75 MHz], works
>fine; didn't tried faster yet. But I would like to constantly monitor
>the CPU temperature to avoid any possible damages. My board
>[ABIT BX6 2.0] has an ambient temp. meter and it's standing at
>40-42 C while working, but the CPU meter is absent.
>  (Also 2 fans - in power supply and at front, but the board shows
>only one, and CPU fan stats aren't displayed in WinBond, but are
>displayed in BIOS - why?)
>
>  2 questions:
>
>  a. How do I install / where do I buy / what could I use to meter
>the CPU temp? [I have a PPGA Celeron chip on PPGA->Slot1 adapter]
>
>  b. Is 40-42 C normal? Would running w/o case help much? I don't
>like the idea because my area is really dusty, and seldom I drop
>some objects over the case -- without cover they'd just go inside...

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