Red,
I am using CoreTemp to monitor temps. When I have a chance I'll go into the Bios and check temps, but from what i've heard, core temp is usually pretty accurate... Also, if I were to replace the thermal compound, do you know a good place to find some good instructions on how to do so? I'm not sure about the exact details of how to remove the old compound/apply the new one... I'm planning to get the new cooler for Christmas, maybe I might get a good discount. I'm probably going to go with the v8 unless there is good reason to go for something else, or it doesn't fit into my case... which would be bad. Newegg says the dimensions are 120x120x158mm... I'm assuming the 158 is vertical (?). When i measured my case earlier, It came out to 6.25 inches or 158.7 mm so this might be a problem.
As for ambient temps, I have never seen them go below 45 celsius just sitting on desktop... clearly bad.