How hot it too hot for an Opteron 170 on air?

[Ender17]

I have a 170 also at 2.6ghz stock volts. Mine is under an xp-120 and my load temps stay under 40c so I would say those temps are kinda high. I would expect better from a BT.

Same stepping as mine too, so much for that theory.
Can you go higher than 2.6GHz?

[CRUSH-ER]

Alot of these Opterons are misreporting temps. Believe me. Feel the heatsink for yourself or use check it with a temp probe. 55-60C is definitely hot to the touch and your heatsink will be pretty hot if it is really running that hot.

[Ender17]

Alot of these Opterons are misreporting temps. Believe me. Feel the heatsink for yourself or use check it with a temp probe. 55-60C is definitely hot to the touch and your heatsink will be pretty hot if it is really running that hot.

OK, I took the side panel off and felt the HSF as best I could (P180 is super cramped). I couldn't find a spot that was even remotely hot. The heatpipes were a bit warm, but nothing uncomfortable in the least.
I also noticed my temps dropped about 5 C with the side panel off.

I've never used a temp probe, how exactly do they work?