Aleslammer...were it in my power I'd give you some ale to slam
. The article you pointed me to held the exact answer I had been looking for...the correct way to apply the TIM to an HDT CPU cooler. As I had mentioned, I was concerned about the grooves between the heat pipes and the cooling block. As it turns out, I had reason to be. Although a ROYAL pain in the the backside, was able to carry out the very tedious operation.
A couple of points. I really disagree with the ambivalence of the writer regarding the Intel pin method of connecting the cooler. Using the Xigmatek metal with screws and springs is so much better and I don't need to stay up nights worrying about a pin popping as it did on another rig with a E6420. I found the loose pin before damage had taken place. No, nothing like good solid metal to be on the backside of the board to give peace of mind on keeping the CPU to cooler interface perfectly intact at all times. The bad news is I had an incident of probable... not sure exactly what happened... carelessness on my part such that I ruined the CPU connector on my EP45-UD3R (a half dozen bent pins). Great excuse to upgrade to the EP45-UD3P.
Second point...all this work did not change my temperatures one degree on any core. Core zero is still running 4 to 8 degrees warmer than the rest of the cores. In a fairly idle state the cores run 43, 35,35,37. I've heard that is a normal manufacturing variance. Decided to keep the cooler fan oriented to push air rather than pull. There is a case fan not 2 inches or so...on the other side of the cooler's fan and a huge fan above the cooler on the Antec 900 that really sucks out heat. A seasonal problem that I have been plagued with is the ambient room temperature during the long grotesquely hot days in the Sonora Desert. It's been over 100 on several days in the past couple of weeks already! A wee bit early for these parts but time to get used to it...and brace for the electric bills that go with the high temps.
Again thanks for the help!