It is hot. Ive been golfing with my dog and im sweating all over :( the guy at the store i bought my components at said i didnt even need any thermal compound for my p4 cpu. that the black slick on the heat sink itself was all it needed. but i have 5 fans in my towers. it doesnt get particularily hot anyways. Now my old 550 got so hot i could feel the hotspot on my tower.