I think X38 NB will all have the IHS, it seems logical...it actually looks kinda cool. I do hope that the mobo makers don't use crappy pads or paste for the TIM. Why can't someone cut a deal with Arctic Silver and develop a method to deliver and controlled amount of TIM to each IHS at the manufacturing stage?

Personally i think the extravagant heatpipes on the Gigabyte P35 series were also intended for the X38...it makes sense to make a one-size-fits-all design.

Make it beefy for the X38 but overblown for the P35, saves time and costs.