I once missed applied my thermal past and the cpu over heated but it was not messed up but it might have been partially cooled I would find a cheap cooler just in case
I build computers for people and we call then home work computers tell him it allows your computer to do calculations better and you need it for an advanced math class
The GeForce 960 FTW SCC 4 gb has a higher core clock then the one you have and it 250 with rebate .
But I am new to the whole determining how good stuff is