The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Nick Leverton wrote:

MuddyMike wrote:

should this part be hot its not comfortable to keep my finger on
it for more than 15 seconds?

no part of your PC should be too hot to touch in normal
circumstances.

It is not uncommon for CPU chips to run at 50C or more..

Some Intel 'northbridge' chipsets are rated to run up to 100°C (that's
the chip surface, heatsink needs to be lower or it can't do its job)
I've certainly fitted extra fans to some rather than relying on passive
cooling.