Well, from my tests on the K62 there seemed to be no real advantage to removing the plate so I must assume this was to cut cost. My k62 looks like a Duron, bare core with 4 little pads on the corners to hold the sink level. It has been that way near a year!

You can read and see the K62 with no plate here. All of us here at HWC got bored around last October and tore into one!
http://discussions.hardwarecentral.c...ML/000954.html

Comments please!