Judging from some of the throttling issues here it is quite likely the vrms are smart power stages that can protect themselves from melting down but them running hot may still be not great. I wonder if the addition of the thermal pads was a later addition, I don’t actually remember if mine has any.
The information that it can run without them is good to know though that would mean a potential slight lack of coverage would not be catastrophic.
Anyone know where I can find a high res picture of a 7x40u framework mainboard without the cooler and stickers and stuff? Don’t really feel like taking mine apart just to see what’s actually supposed to be under those thermal pads.