Why is my idle temp so high?

Seems perfectly normal. You are well within acceptable limits.

I have an e4300 w/ a Tuniq Tower O/Ced to 3.06 GHz. Idles at 36-37. Loads at 60-61, which is still well withing acceptable limits.

PPL can get extremely varied results on CPU temperature depending on the temperature monitoring software. For example, both Speedfan and Easytune reads below ambient temperature at idle. TAT reads ~42-44. CoreTemp reads ~36-37. At load, TAT reads ~55-56, while CoreTemp reads ~60-61.

The temp monitoring software you should be using is CoreTemp because it gets it's values directly from the thermal sensor in your chip.

For me, speedfan and easytune are wrong because they assume that the Tjunction Max is 85C when it's really 100C.
TJMax-the DTS reading=the core temperature.

I have your processor and CPU cooler, but it's important to be more specific. Are you refering to Tcase (CPU die temperature) or Tjunction (CPU core temperatures)? There's ~ 15c difference, so temperatures can easily seem confusing, since many Forums post ambiguous and undefined information. For an overview of appropriate temperatures, test methods, results and variables, please read the Core 2 Duo Temperature Guide: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ture-guide

Hope this helps,

Comp