I'm interpreting this as a "Pentium D" (dual core). They're notoriously hot running CPUs, but still, Firefox with 7 tabs open is hardly even a minor disturbance in the force. Run "Spybot SD1.6 and see what your temperatures say. This program will push the CPU usage to 100%. BTW, what does task manager say the CPU usage is?My CPU is listed as Intel Pentium 4 3.40GHz (2 CPUs)
I forgot the HT CPUs can show up as dual processors, my bad sorry.!I don't think so. The moniker may refer to either the Northwood, Prescott or the Cedar Mill editions of the Pentium 4 HT series CPUs. So the idle temp may or may not be normal.
But yes, I'd blame it on an improperly seated HSF or too much TIM.