I have not noticed any unusual high temps on mine, but most high(er) end motherboards usually come with some sort of heatsink/fan combo, some even including heatpipes. If you are having issues with overheating, there are aftermarket heatsinks you can install for fairly cheap, or maybe add a well placed case fan that would direct air over the overheating NB/SB.

probably a bad thermal paste...have to replace it, to keep it cool! ;)

Good to hear it was an easy fix. I'm surprised your fan didn't give the tell tale chirp. Mine usually start to chirp when failing, I guess from the bearings going bad.