next time don't use thermal paste unless it comes with the cpu or the cpu mfr requires it. in 12+ years of building computers, i've never used the stuff, and i almost always o/c. i never had any problems. my main computer is o/c'd by 50% with no paste and a stock fan. i don't understand why computer nerds waste so much money on useless stuff like this.
That's not conventional wisdom at all. Have you tested any of your rigs to see what the temp difference is with and without thermal paste?
No, it's been imported by the seller but there is no 'made in...' indication. It's < 1 mm size. Finally I used a vacuum cleaner before inserting the CPU.
Been building computers for a similar amount of time, and did this side-by-side comparison not too long ago with an AMD 64 3000+ @ 2.4ghz OC. There was a 4 C differential on idle and roughly 10C on load between no paste and Artic Silver 5. CPU caps and heatsink surfaces are microscopically uneven, hence the popularity of metallic paste &/or lapping to fill the micro air gaps. There are plenty of performance studies showing how/why paste is superior. Do you honestly believe cpu cooler manufacturers enjoy throwing out $ for the complimentary paste they include in packaging? A measly $5 gets you a small Arctic 5. Sure, there are plenty of gimmicks that the "computers nerds" fall for, this is not one of them.