The Referee’s Instructions:

All measurements were taken from Motherboard Monitor internal CPU temps at idle and after a 30 minute Quake 3 stress test working 100% CPU load.

I ran the test three times each and averaged the results to come up with my final figures used in this review.  The temperatures recorded for this review can be considered extremely accurate with exception to the limitations of the monitoring software, the Winbond chipset on the motherboard, and the internal temperature reading of the CPU itself.

I am able to monitor the internal CPU temperature by modifying my Abit BX6-R2 motherboard according to the specifications here.  My ambient case and room temperatures were measured using a RadioShack Digital Indoor/ Outdoor Thermometer within an accuracy of +/- .5° Celsius. 

Another misconception is that you can accurately take CPU temperature measurements by a number of other methods such as taping the on-board temperature probe (thermistor) to the CPU beside the slug or measuring the temperature at the heatsink.  This will result in inaccurate results.  The CPU core temp can only be correctly gauged at the CPU core and a “hot” heatsink indicates that your getting proper heat dissipation.  If you find that your heatsink is not very hot at all you should check to see if your interface is correct.  Okay… Now that I’m off my soapbox, let’s see what I came up with!

Next Page: The winner is!

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