I'm not crackerdaddy, but I'll respond to the question since I suppose it applies to me as well.
No, I did not use the thermal grease that came with my Alpha, since it didn't come with any. The one that I have was purchased in August so it doesn't have the new Socket A clip (thus less pressure). My temps are 43-44C depending on ambient temp. The thermistor is on the underside of the HSF, near the die, but not on it. Measured on A7V using BIOS 1004c on an Duron 600@858@1.92v. As for fans, its using the Delta/GW 38cfm fan sucking with a 90mm low output exhaust fan for the duct (also sucking). There is a 120mm 131cfm loud-as-hell intake in the front.