HELP! Did my boxed Intel CPU come without thermal paste/grease?

[bawaji]

I am a newbie at assembling a PC and hence this question.

I purchased an Intel 2.8GHz (800MHz FSB) retail boxed processor. It did not come with any tube or container with thermal paste. The heat sink and fan had a black colored patch in the middle which contacts the CPU.

1. Is this black patch a thermal pad/paste? Do I just mount the heat sink fan on the CPU without doing anything else?

2. Am I supposed to purchase thermal compound and apply it to this black patch or processor before mounting the HSF on the processor? If so, what compound is best?

3. Am I supposed to scrape off the black patch and apply a thermal compound to the processor before mounting the HSF? If so, what compound is best and how do I scrape the black patch off? If the HSF surface needs to be cleaned after removing the black patch, how do I clean it?

4. The processor metallic surface was not shiny (looks dull or is it tarnished?). Am I supposed to clean the surface with some cleaning solution (what?) before assembly?

Thanks!

 

[sman789]

i used the termal pad on it when i first installed my 2.4 C retail
then i took that pad off and tried thermal paste and now i get temps that are the same but now my 2.4C is @3.0

 

[bawaji]

Great! I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't fry my processor by skipping the step of applying a paste. I will assemble the processor and HSF without applying the paste for now and do it later after it is up and running.

Thanks sman789!