I am Not a Geek dot com has posted a review on the copper shim

The only purpose I see for a copper shim is to protect the core of the CPU, but that is a very very important reason. When your spending a couple hundred dollars for a CPU do yourself a favor and pick up a copper shim for another $8. You would be kicking yourself for a year if you got your new Athlon home and cracked or chipped the core putting on the heatsink. You don´t you CPU to look like this

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