P5AD2-E Premium - New 640 CPU- Arctic Silver 5 Questions!!

[Bubba]

I have purchased a new Intel 640 CPU for my motherboard. Without
touching the cpu and heatsink, I have noticed the cpu is clean and
nice on the surface. Do I still have to clean the cpu before I put on
AS5 or is factory clean still dirty? I suspect the cpu was produced
and packaged in a clean room environment. If I carefully remove the
heat sink pad from the HSU and leave no particles do I have to clean
that area too before AS5?
I also wonder if the 'grain of rice' amount indicated on the AS5
website is really enough to spread on the complete surface of the cpu.
When compressed by the heatsink, does it continue to spread as it gets
heated? I am still old school mentallity here! Any comments
appreciated. TIA!

 

[RBM]

I don't know about the cleaning, but it probably is a good idea. The grain
of rice in the center of the cpu, when compressed creates a round pattern,
which according to the AS5 folks, say that this is where the heat is created
and therefore where it is most important to have good thermal contact. I
think it also makes it less likely to goop the stuff all over the
motherboard