I brought up oil because generally it is used for metalwork to get better results...I did not realize it would soak into the copper. It is quite common to use light machine oil though- google it. saying "F NO" to water however, is foolish
And as to the question about less being more... I just spoke with my heat transfer professor and brought up this question with him, his first reaction was similar to what i was thinking and the man works for NASA so quite frankly I think this is a very likely answer His response was as adds on to what I've said before... We know the general concept of lapping is to smooth your surface and improve contact to the CPU if even only a microscopic level. With NO thermal compound those spaces are filled with air, which is a TERRIBLE conductor of heat when we are talking about electronics. The thermal compounds job is to replace the air. His addition was that likely the thermal compound really isnt that great of a thermal conductor but in comparison to air its a vast improvement. On the other hand the heat sink IS a good conductor, so maximizing the material touching from the heat sink while keeping the thermal compound to a minimum is likely to be why you get better results using just a dab, and such why "less is more" so to speak. hope that helps sideburns
4870X2 is as hot as the sun, nothing odd there! Just drop the overclock and look at the temps, if there is a temp difference then its two different dies used in your Quad.
