well this is going to sound wierd, but this could actually be a good thing. When you did the x clamp mod the heatsink made better contact with the processor, thus removing more heat from the processor. And i would recommend doing the 9 volt mod (
here), it is just as effective but much less noise. Another helpful mod is the fan shroud mod found (
here) it helps control the airflow to cover the entire heatsink.. Good luck and happy gaming:)