Upon receipt of my new fully optioned BTO MBP, I performed a tear down to remove the gobs of excess thermal paste. Having had serious heating issues with the three prior new MBP's I purchased, due to too much paste, this is a very worthwhile task.
Now that I'm experienced, it's an easy yet laborious task, that results in a very nice improvement. Running cooler with less fan activity I actually looked forward to making this improvement.
While inside, I removed all traces of the optical drive to save a bit of weight.
I have a stylish new MBA external optical drive I bought in 2010 upon their release. It's only purpose is to be available for the times I decide to do a clean install.
Now I have the peace of mind that my thermal management is as efficient as possible, as well as enjoying the silent operation of the 512GB SSD without excessive fan activity.