I can't understand why people are still debating what TjMax is for the E8400 and other 45nm processors.
I find it pretty much impossible to argue with this test:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2883315&postcount=573
If you don't believe my biased testing then you can always check out some independent testing by rge over at XS:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3085792&postcount=1525
As for the Q6600, it came in two varieties. The original one was the B3 stepping which consisted of two E6600 Dual Core CPUs strapped together. Guess what? The E6600 B2 has a TjMax=85C so why do people keep thinking that the B3 was different than that?
Anyone that remembers the early days of the Q6600 knows that with the Intel cooler, it was possible to get up to the thermal throttling point when stress testing. What was Intel's solution? Release a Q6600 - G0 and increase the TjMax temperature to 95C to decrease the chance of thermal throttling.
I spent a pile of time testing 65nm and 45nm, Dual and Quad Core processors. Before changing TjMax to some number that the competition picked out of a hat, how about reading the RealTemp docs and at least spend some time learning about what the problem with these sensors is.
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/docs.php
I can't think of any processors that RealTemp is using the wrong TjMax. I can't say the same thing about the competition.
that could explain as to why 2 cores are always hotter than the other 2
This frequently happens in a Q6600 and has nothing to do with TjMax. There is nothing unusual about having core0/core1 running at a hotter temperature than core2/core3. I think it has more to do with how the IHS was attached to the cores. When running fanless I've seen a temp difference of 10C between the two sets of cores but with a modest overclock and a Tuniq on high, the difference is only about 2C or 3C. Same processor, same sensors, same thermal paste. This goes under the title of s-h-!-t happens.
Don't judge whether TjMax is correct by your idle temperatures. These sensors, out of the box, aren't capable of accurately reporting idle temperatures so that comparison is meaningless. Bios temps also have nothing to do with Windows idle temps. The CPU load is completely different and in Windows the processor is executing wait instructions which don't create the same heat as when you are in the bios.