A printed circuit substrate is disposed on a bottom side of a stiffener. An IC die is disposed on a top side of the stiffener. The die is electrically connected onto the printed circuit substrate by wire bonding through an open slot in the stiffener. The die is not wire bonded to the stiffener. Solder balls are attached on a bottom side of the substrate and electrically connected to ground bond fingers of the substrate, and also are directly attached to solderable pads on the bottom side of the stiffener through open holes or plated through-holes on the substrate, so as to have the stiffener function as a ground plane and as a heat sink for power dissipation.