Removed Heatsink, do i need to reapply thermal paste?

Clefspear

Reputable
Oct 3, 2014
8
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4,510
So last night i installed a brand new i5 processor to my Motherboard, along with the heat sink. There was no thermal paste involved as the the directions that came with the cpu didn't call for it.Then this afternoon, for no good reason i removed the heart sink. I noticed that there was thermal paste on the cpu and heatsink. It was dry. If i just finish assembling the computer will it all run fine? Or should i clean of the processor and heat sink, and apply new thermal paste?