I own a ASUS P5ND2-SLI for less than 2 years and I did some overclocking and when I check the NB and SB the thermal paste are all dried out like a chalk. So, maybe if I use a arctic silver 5 instead of the one that comes with the manufacturer maybe the thermal paste will last a lot longer... So, my QUESTION still remain un answer which is: do the power modules use thermal pad or thermal paste, thanx....