Alright. So I went ahead reoriented the 212+ to the "horizontal" (read: fan position blowing horizontally) orientation and checked the thermal compound spreading. It wasnt very "spread" at the edges of the processor, so I add 2 dots per the linked method. Put the fan on the heatsink so it is sucking in air over the memory, and blowing it thru the heatsink towards the rear-case fan. Attached are the new temps (these are all still at stock clock speed).
Stock clock speed, idle, heatsink reoriented
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/mkXZ0LQAiAJ3BGfisDxj3w?feat=directlink
Stock clock speed, load, heatsink reoriented
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jNoOq1SFKluG8d_zpq1jmg?feat=directlink
From what I can see, it really did not make that much difference in idle temps. Load temps went down a couple C at idle. Is this normal, or still higher than it should be? Would switching to an H70 make much difference?
Heatsink original/Heatsink Reoriented
Temps at load Stock idle Stock load 4.2 idle 4.2 load Core 0 37/37 54/51 36 61 Core 1 32/33 53/50 30 61 Core 2 34/35 54/52 32 63 Core 3 33/34 54/52 32 60
Update: I tried for about 30 mins to figure out inserting images. I went to the FAQ to find the answer but the img /img in [] did not work for me. When I would preview the post, the image would disappear. Is it just because its in Picasa?