Problem with TAT...

[mcwildcard]

I'm reading 54C idle and about 69C on TAT on my E6300 @ 2.3GHz, which I know is high, but I just don't believe the reading. When I boot up from cold (my room is pretty nippy atm too) I go straight into TAT once windows has loaded and the temps are already 45C!?
I do the same with the BIOS and the temps in there read about 12C from cold, I've also tried setting the CPU to stock and the temps are only a couple of degrees cooler.
I know they read from different sensors, but surely the TAT readings are wrong?
Could I have a dodgy sensor?
If so, would it be on the mobo or the CPU?

 

[w3bbo]

TAT reads from the cpu itself so its unlikely to be incorrect i'm afraid. The cpu heatup will be instant. Imagine the elements in a kettle, they heat up instantly as soon as electricty is passed through them, a cpu is the same. The problem you have is an inefficient proccess of disipating that heat. Invest in some better cooling and this will help both idle and more importantly, load temps.

 

[mcwildcard]

TAT reads from the cpu itself so its unlikely to be incorrect i'm afraid. The cpu heatup will be instant. Imagine the elements in a kettle, they heat up instantly as soon as electricty is passed through them, a cpu is the same. The problem you have is an inefficient proccess of disipating that heat. Invest in some better cooling and this will help both idle and more importantly, load temps.

Bah, well I'll be grabbing an Arctic Freezer 7 soon anyway, hopefully that will sort it. I reseated the cooler earlier and applied some decent paste and noticed that the stock heatsink I'm using has a few tiny but deep scratches that physically could not of been caused by me. I'm sure they don't exactly help!
Bit off though, brand new out of the box and already a bit scuffed