First, thanks in advance for any and all help.

So, I'm building a dual 2400 MP system and the first heatsink installation was a bit confusing. I had a really hard time getting the clip locked in properly and at one point, lifted the heatsink off the processor. There was a small blob of the thermal interface goo on the CPU core and then I reinstalled the heatsink. This time, I got the clip locked down properly (with a lot more effort than I expected!. The 2nd CPU and heatsink went on easily.

So, my question is.. does anyone think that I should remove the heatsink on the 1st processor, clean the thermal interface off and reinstall it with a thermal paste? I don't really want to do that, but if I have to.. better safe than sorry.

Again, thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Ideally, there should be a thin film of past on the core, but nowhere else. Can't say how messy the first installation was without seeing a photo.

If it makes you feel better, the first time I did this I put on way too much paste. made the whole substrate gooey with paste. I removed the heatsink, cleaned the whole thing off with Q-tips and Isopropyl alcohol, and resinstalled the heatsink with a thermal pad - not paste.

I am told the properly applied paste is a better conductor (read: cooler) than a thermal pad, but the pad, I believe, has a more foolproof installation.

If you do this, don't forget to clean off the heatsink too. Paste and pad do not mix.