thermal paste question

my athlon 2600+ has been running hot. so i put Arctic Silver 5 on it. In the process, some of the paste got onto the edge of the cpu core. So going around the core is a faint grey thin outline of Arctic Silver residue that I can't get off.

It doesn't bother me really, but I'm wondering if this is really bad for the processor.

I'm going to get a Thermaltake heatsink, but I was wondering if I should be in the market for a new CPU as well!

The CPU seems to be running fine. It just stays at that same hot temp. I guess the worst that would happen is that the CPU would keep shutting down if it goes over 85c. I don't see any problems since Windows is booting fine.

I could get a Barton or something. Do they run cooler?

If the paste contains some silver,it might cause short which can burn ur CPU.So u better be careful about this.
AMD is hotter somewhat,including BARTON.
However,the temp should not exceed 75c under the standard working condition usually.
R u overclocking?If not,check the CPU voltage and clock setting,ensure they r both standard.

not overclocking. i think my heatsink/fan is not good.

i'm ordering a Thermaltake SP-97 and a couple of different 92mm fans and then use the fan that is quiet but still does enough cooling.

amd emailed me saying to avoid arctic silver.... too late now!

at worst i could just buy a new cpu if this one burns out from the arctic silver.

ouch , i have had artcic silver 3 on my 1600 since new,aslo a copper shim, is there a way to clean the cpu to re-apply a thermal paste???
i have one of those thermaltake volcano's(older stuff) high speed but noisy..copper heatsink

i am peaking around 52 C she starts bugging out at this point

hell...... use a good HEATSHING... volcano is not extremely bad, but it sucks with the noise and there are many much better. The best I found until now is Thermaltake Silent... mantains a 3200 XP without overclocking at 42C in summer with COMPLETE 0 noise and is not a very expensive heatsink