My CPU is Overheating and i dont know why

[Drivenby]

Hi there , my cpu has been overheating as of late with no particular reason... 2 days ago i was playing a game (a point and click adventure game , not really a "heavy" game) and my computer rebooted itself.. i got this warning "The CPU had to reboot itself due to a thermal event (OVERHEATING) " ... yesterday a friend of mine using the same computer played Hitman Blood Money (way heavier than the adventure game i was playing) for about 4 hours with no problems... and now , while installing some APPS (not even gaming!) and surfing the net my computer rebooted itself AGAIN!... this has been happening for the past month and it seems to be pretty random.. Here are my temps taken using speed fan : CPU 47 (C) , HDD1 &2 48 , AMBIENT 50 , REMOTE TEMP 98 (i dont even know what the hell is this, can someone PLEASE tell me! and i think its the reason for all the reboots) ... I have opened my case , ran the pc with a desk fan next to the cpu , cleaned the CPU fan (lowest remote temp i could get was 78) , I dont know what to do!...

Here's my rig : PentiumD 2.8GHZ , 1GB RAM , 2 HDD , Ati X1950 Pro (i cant access the temp sensors but it definitely wasn't 80 degrees hot when i touched it underload..) , Windows XP PRO

 

[Rik]

The remote temp is usually a false reading.
You should remove any dust, re-apply the thermal paste on you cpu's heatsink and perhaps add a case fan or 2 if you can.

 

[Fragrant Coit]

"Remote Temp" could be referring to your Video Card.

You can try the Scientific method {avoiding the Fan, place your finger on the Video Card Heatsink, if it hurts, it's too hot}.

Also try the same with CPU & Northbridge, a lot of these monitoring programs give false results.

If any are too hot to comfortably touch, remove them, clean them up and re apply some quality thermal paste.