so i "finished" my first build and before i started building i went down to my local pc store and bought thermal paste ....FOR 10 FING $$$ for a little tiny tube of the stuff any way i get the build going and see that the heatsink that came with my Pentium D 805 had a thermal pad.

my question is should i use paste and a pad or stick with just the pad ?

will there be a temp drop with both?

The paste typically does a better job (especially if you have paste with some silver in it).

But do not use both. If you are going to use the paste, you need to remove the pad first, and then use some solvent to clean the heatsink completely before adding the paste.

Also, only use a very small amount of the paste. About the size of a grain of rice.

Good luck!

thermal compound is to fill tiny and microscopic pits and valleys , lessen the air bubbles.

use a thin smooth layer.

I hope you got Arctic Silver 5 at 10$! :P

Remove the pad, use the paste. The pad dissolves off real easy with 99% isopropyl