How do I make a thermal sensor

[Puer Aeternus]

Hey all you budding electricians!
I am looking for device to measure my cpu temps..I want to get a baseline accurate reading and then compare to my bios. I know you can order a compu nurse and other such things...but it would be more fun to make one myself.
Has anyone done this?
I saw sensors to measure room temperature but of coarse the sensor was far too big to fit between a cpu and a H/S. I thought perhaps I could snip of the tip to the bare wire..is there a cheap and easy way to make one, can I mod an existing temp gauge or make one?

 

[BigBlockk]

Take a look at "Benchtest.com". He has a mod of a Radio Shack indoor/outdoor thermometer that is kinda slick (I've done two of them).

BigBlockk

Later.....

 

[RoadWarrior]

Cheap and easy way, okay.....

Take a piece of thin steel wire, and a two pieces of copper wire about the same gauge, twist the steel wire to the ends of the copper wires, one end is your hot junction, one end is your cold junction. Twist them real tight and give them a real thin coating of epoxy over the ends, put the cold junction in ice, and put the hot junction in a small hole in your heatsink. Measure the voltage, across the two ends of the copper wire, that's directly related to your temperature. It's called a thermocouple...

Well you did say a cheap way, that's about as cheap as there is, it's also pretty damn accurate too.

Road Warrior

 

[JFettig]

i took a outside thermometer, and took out the guts, it was about.. 1x2in and had a little sensor on the bottom of it, so i de-soldiered that and put a pin header on that and took an old power button and took off the button and used the lead and soldiered the sensor on the lead, so it has some length, its a little too tick to fit between the cpu and the hsf, i mite shave off a little then it should fit.... its just barely too big, maby .1mm too thick!