Below is a pic of my 2.6C sans IHS. You can see that the die is infact square. Bottom line is the IHS's really suck for cooling. My P4 reported the same exact temps with a TC-4, WW and the Cascade
Until I removed the IHS that is. At least on my Abit board which reads the on die reading in the CPU, my CPU now responds/acts much like all the AMD CPU's I've used. Responsive to different blocks and VERY responsive (good and bad) to proper and inproper mounts.
The stock Intel TIM is not very good. When I popped the IHS off, the TIM was EVERYWHERE and way too thick and hard. People have reported a 2C drop by replacing the TIM between the IHS and the die. I can not confirm this as I will NEVER run with an IHS again, unless of cours I decide to go with a prommy or the like, and this is not likely.
Cathar put it best; IHS = Idiot Handling Shield
