Q9450 sensor query/worry

[Vahldark]

Well, a belated Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year to come.

Now to my question:

Using RealTemp 2.60 I ran the sensor test. I keep getting the same results, which are as follows - Core#0 = 4, Core#1 = 0, Core#2 = 0, Core#3 = 0.

I find this worrying as it say if there is a reading below 3 there might be a problem, if below 0 then the sensor is stuck. I've run Prime95 for 10 hours and the results weren't much better either.

Could this be a simple case of removing the cpu heatsink, and cleaning both heatsink and cpu surfaces, reapplying TIM and reassembling cpu and heatsink?

This is my second build pc, so I'm still a bit green to all the serious technical stuff, as it were.

The current cpu temps (as displayed by RealTemp 2.60 in degrees C) as I write this are - Core#0 = 31, Core#1 = 37, Core#2 = 36, Core#3 = 36.

My system build is as follows (I'd love to OC this system to about 50% of its max OC capability, but not sure how best to go about it safely?):

ASUS P5K Premium Blackpearl Wifi Deluxe
Be Quiet! 750W psu
Intel Q9450
GeIL dual channel DDR2 Ultra pc6400 800MHz CAS4 x 4Gb
Arctic Cooling pro7 heatsink
Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32Mb cache
BFG GeForce 9800 GTX+ OC 512Mb GDDR3
Windows Vista Home Basic-64bit os
Antec 900 Gaming Case

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Vahldark]

Sorry about the double post - would appreciate it if you could delete the one in 'Hardware' ... many thanks, and my apologies.

In response to WJA96, yes, it is a retail CPU, and the temps were more or less (+/- a couple of degrees) the same as they were from the start of the Prime95 testing run.

Would this sticking of the CPU sensors suggest I'd best not bother trying to OC the system? Also, regarding the build, would you folks be of the opinion that it is worth OC'ing it at all?

cheers