@juke, i had good experience with thermal pads, especially that one that comes along Socket A boxed processors. its properly installed onto the sink and only a bit of paste required prior to install.
problem is, i have these bunch of inno3D 9600 based cards that come with the crappiest bunch of coolers, surface is not smooth, worst aluminum graining ever. and no amount of thermal paste re-application would ever let the cards function with the stock cooler.