@Soultribunal- i'd be more than happy to buy that slot cooler off ya if you're willin to part with it. Feel free to shoot me a PM and we can work out the details.
UPDATE:
So, I decided enough was enough and put my head down, took a deeeeep breath, did a prayer and ripped apart my mint BFG 9800GX2. Kind of a PIA card to dismantle, but I got it done. removed the OEM TIM, blasted everything with high psi compressed air (there was hardly any dust at all though). I then applied some IC7 Diamond TIM, painstakingly put everything back together and plugged it back in. Turned on the computer and voila! Booted up fine.
So I started up the 2 GPU clients and let the GPU's roast. So what if any difference after almost 2 hours folding?
Before:
96-98C
Now:
83-84C :canadianwave:
I mean holy crap man! What a huge difference. Now just gotta wait and see how the EUE situation pans out.
FYI guys and gals...keep your eyes open for an opportunity to possibly get some free IC7 Diamond paste. Be on the lookout for a thread (by me) in the next week or so for those that are interested in doing some testing.
Thanks for all the input folks...it's much appreciated. i may need some more help should I keep getting those damn EUE's.
D