Is my System Running too hot?

Well then, thanks for clearing that up, Flyer!

I see you used F and not C. Those temps look good then. Sorry for my confusion.

How is it not normal? What should my system be running at?

F vs C

Thats fine. Ambient is the air inside your case. Of course the CPU will be higher because its a working part that creates heat.

My Ambient Sensors read 29C/26C & 24C but my CPUs read in the 60C range.  Is that too high?  If so, why is the ambient in a good range, but the CPU's are high?  What would cause that and how can I troubleshoot?  (18 months old Area-51 Liquid cooled)

If your 60C is while the cpu is being tasked by a game or program then it might be average. If your 60C is while everything is turned off and computer at idle, then you have an issue.

so what are your temps under load?

AAA737flyer, thanks.  It is 60C at idle.  How should I troubleshoot?

Well, it looks like you have a beefy system.

XPS 730x 965 H2C liquid cooled
Windows Vista SP2 64-bit Ultimate
Intel X58 chipset
CPU-Intel Core i7 965 extreme @ OC 3.85 MHz
Dell CPU Liquid/TEC Cooling ATX Unit
Triple nVidia GeForce GTX280 1024MB-SLI, no OC
6GB Multi-Channel DDR3 at 1866MHZ (3x2GB DIMM) running at 1700MHZ 9-9-9-24-C1, no OC
(4)-  300GB WD 10,000 rpm Velociraptors-Raid 10
(4) - 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 drives in Sans Digital eSaTA tower
Dual DVD Drives: 6x Blu-Ray Burner(BD/DVD/CD) + 16x DVD-ROM
Creative X-FI Titanium sound card
Creative Turtle Beach gaming headset
Logitech Z 5500 5.1 speaker setup
Power supply-1000 watt
Auxillary Power Supply-Visiontek 450 powering one of three GTX 280
Dell HD SP2309W monitor
Samsung Syncmaster 2233RZ 120hz 3D ready 22' LCD monitor 1680X1050
Nvidia Stereoscopic 3D

I'm not a tech specialist but I've had the same issue with my system.

I blieve the root problem to be the Command Center and the changes Dell has made. The CC allows the processor to get very warm before it decides to increase system/radiator fan speeds. Not saying this is your issue. You may actually have a cooling system that is in the process of failing so you should call tech support and do the trouble shooting.

I went through that horrific process only to have to modify my system (that worked fine until CC changes) by adding a radiator fan to the existing cooling system. It maintains a steady 2000 rpm (800 rpm's over the stock radiator) keeping my system 8 C cooler at idle and I believe 3 to 4 degrees cooler with a load running prime 95.

The extra fan installation was easy, Power supply to the fan was also easy using a molex connecter. The molex is located near you optical drives.

Not sure what your static room temps are, but 60 C at idle seems high even for your setup. If your room was in the high eighties F, then maybe 60 C would be average.

I would call tech support and trouble shoot. In the mean time make sure your radiator isn't being restricted by dust build-up and that nothing is blocking the flow of air into the system.

Good luck.

delete

It might be worth reapplying the thermal paste.

Yea reapplying the paste will work wonders. I dropped like 5c after I removed the paste they applied (they put wayyy too much and low quality). get some arctic silver 5

60 C at idle is not a problem whatsoever. The TDP for your processor is 130W, so it's bound to generate some heat. As long as it stays below 80 C there is nothing to troubleshoot. The i7 CPUs are tolerant and even an occasional peak at 100 C shouldn't be an issue. 

This article says the range of your processor at Zero watts is 43C and at 130 watts 67C.

If your processor is 60C at idle, I'd say you are running hot.

http://www.hipatic.com/2009/02/cpu-temperature-guide-for-intel-core-i7.html