rge: Thanks for your thorough testing. After your marathon last month of block remounting and heat paste testing, I don't have any trouble believing your numbers. Nice to see your consistent results when using RealTemp.

I lapped my E8400 last month and the results were very similar. It looked nice but there was no noticeable change in core temperature. I think you need a seriously messed up IHS before you see any dividends from lapping.

I think your testing also proves that the difference in temperature from core to core on an i7 has nothing to do with thermal paste and how it was applied or how square the IHS is. It just happens.