ECS K7VTA3 -- does thermal shutdown work?

What's supposed to happen when the thermal shutdown of an ECS K7VTA3
v. 8 mobo (Athlon/Duron) kicks in? Does the computer shut down
completely, or does it just slow the CPU way down?

I have the mobo's BIOS thermal shutdown set to 60C, but nothing seemed
to change when that temperature was exceeded, even to 72C (BIOS
reading, external thermometer read 69C). The computer operates
normally with the CPU that hot, and the CPU is rated for at least 85C.
I realize that Motherboard Monitor can shut down a computer if it
gets too hot, but it's a Windows program, and I don't trust Windows
nearly as much as I trust the BIOS.

I have another ECS AMD mobo, a K7S5A Pro v. 5, and it doesn't have any
thermal protection in the BIOS, so I have a hardware thermostat to
shut it down. Am I going to have to install the same thing in the
K7VTA3 for thermal protection?