I think I've read through most of this thread, maybe parts of it multiple times, and I was wondering if anyone could let me know or maybe remind me if I should already know...

Is there anything I should know before I attempt to remove the heatpipe cooling on the motherboard in order to inspect it, apply a better thermal interface and re-seat it? I'm pretty sure the NB could use any help it could get. Is it worth doing this to the SB?

As an aside, I was wondering if it would be possible to modify the heatpipe cooling system by twisting the heatpipe + fins that comes off from the NB so that it gets cooled by my chassis exhaust fan, and install some other heatsinks over whatever else the fins were covering. Thoughts anyone?