My replacement R3E is in and running. I would like to share the following info:
1. The shutdown/bios save issue on my last board does not happen on this board. The old behavior was whenever I went to shut down my OS, the OS would shut down, then all the fans would spin up and the board would hang. I would have to switch off the power from the PSU. This no longer happens.
2. My new board came with BIOS 1102. It does not display CPU over temp issue!!! 1102 on my old R3E would show temp +10C or more!

Board revision is 1.04G and CPUZ shows rev 1.xx.
The socket looks the same as I posted earlier from my first board. No branding at all on the socket, but the clamp looks like LOTES. The back plate on the new board is foxxconn. The old board had no branding on the backplate.