Is that premade thermal paste on my new CPU heatsink fan?

[f23948]

plz i would like to know what is that middle of my new CPU heatsink fan? Do I need to still reapply thermal paste on my processor?

 

[Needfuldoer]

Looks like preapplied thermal paste to me. Try wiping a tiny bit off of one corner. As long as it's soft and hasn't dried out, you can just put the heatsink down on the processor as-is.

 

If you want to use your own paste, you'll have to clean that stuff off. When I clean old factory paste off of server heatsinks, I use a plastic scraper or dry paper towel over a trash can to remove the bulk of it. That's a lot less messy than trying to use alcohol to dissolve all of it.

[Shimejii]

Yeah that is thermal paste. You can leave it alone and just use it That is what its for.

 

No you dont have to apply paste to the CPU, just use what you have on there. If you take it apart again you may need to use new paste.

[kirashi]

5 minutes ago, f23948 said:

plz i would like to know what is that middle of my new CPU heatsink fan? Do I need to still reapply thermal paste on my processor?

 

As others noted, that's pre-applied thermal paste from the heatsink manufacturer. Feel free to use it as it came from the factory, or clean off the pre-applied paste thoroughly using Isopropyl Alcohol (or equivalent) then apply fresh thermal paste of your choosing.

[Godlygamer23]

It's definitely TIM, but it could be a thermal pad, rather than paste. Either way, it's most likely fine. Give it a go and see what the temperatures are.

Edited February 25 by Godlygamer23
Minor grammatical correction.

[f23948]

29 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

Yeah that is thermal paste. You can leave it alone and just use it That is what its for.

 

No you dont have to apply paste to the CPU, just use what you have on there. If you take it apart again you may need to use new paste.

oh ok thank you

[Godlygamer23]

2 minutes ago, f23948 said:

oh ok thank you

That's a thermal pad, so you may not need to replace it if you do take the heatsink off. Depending on the condition, you could pull it off and put it onto another CPU, if you're upgrading.