The thermistor is touching the core. I have two of them and I've switched them back and forth (system/CPU, CPU/system) and the readings are the same so I'm sure they're accurate, also I picked up another LCD thermometer today at Fred Meyer in the garden dept. It's a dual indoor outdoor type so I'm using it for ambient room temp and system temp and the system temp is reading the same as the compunurse. I would like to use the compunurse probe I was using for the system temp and use it for the water temp, is there a way to waterproof the probe and will this kill flow? BTW I picked up a transfer pump for $10 there too and it works awsome for getting the water out of your system without making a mess and getting water in your case