Heat issue

I have a pc that I made myself, it is a very good machine and it has been faithful to me so far. The only problem is that I keep on noticing that it runs hot like a desert. I downloaded motherboardmonitor and I find out that my cpu is running at 60 C, I was like HOLY SHIT!
The normal is between 40-50 and even that is considered a little bit hot.
Anyways I installed 2 fans, one to take out air and the other to pull in air. So far it has done nothing. Could be that my computer is in an enclosed space and since air doesn't exactly pass through there well I shouldn't expect it to be chilly but still. It pisses me off that I try everything to cool it down and it doesn't work. So far it has lowered to 55 and I'm thinking of buying some thermalpaste or something because it's driving me up the wall.

These are my specs:
power supply 450W
cpu: AMD Athlon 3000+ xp (2.17 Ghz)
512 ddr RAM 400
hard drive: 200 gigabytes 7200 rpm 8MB cache
Sony 12x dvdrw
floppy etc.

Any suggestions? So far I'm told that AMD's always run hot but that doesn't excuse the fact that if it's cooler it will run quicker. Oh well, peace out.

Well, where do you have your harddrive, it might be situated in a place that doesn't get good air. Then check your box, does it have adequate air flow, other than that your just going to need to load some more fans. Custom computers run hot because they use top notch hardware (well most people build it because of that). A lot of factors could cause it.

well you have to start from the begining not from the end. You first have to extract the heat from the CPU die. You do that by installing a proper heatsink. The bigger the surface of the heatsink the better, it sould also have at least a copper core. Make sure that in between the heatsink and the die you have a good thermal paste (artic silver should be the best).

So after you've done this you can start to worry about the case airflow to help carry the heat away from the heatsink.

Neutrino is exactly right.

I have a 3200+ XP and right now I am bouncing between 30° C and 32° C. You just need to start with a good copper heatsink or at least a copper core heatsink. AMD processors do run a bit hotter than Intel. However, my computer that has a Celeron 1.7GHz runs at around 50° C at idle with the OEM heatsink and some Artic Silver.

Anyhow, like Neutrino said, use some Artic Silver thermal paste on the dye. Only use enough to form a glob about the size of an uncooked grain of rice. You don't need much, and there is such a thing as too much. Mount your heatsink and be sure not to shift it around.

If you're still having problems you need to look at your case airflow. Find out what might be trapping hot air such as IDE cables. One of the easiest ways to improve airflow is with a set of rounded cables. Also, have at least one fan sucking air in and one blowing air out.

You might also want to make sure that you have the right voltage and multiplier settings. 2 fans sucking air out and one pushing it in would give you colder air, and also the material that your case is made out of and where it is in the room could have something to do with it. for instance, a black plastic case under a 100watt bulb isnt going to be the coolest it can be.. make sure that your psu is getting vented correctly as well.