I received a new heat sink from Dell for my Studio XPS 9100 desktop (Intel i7 960 processor). The new heat sink came with a thin layer of fresh thermal paste completely covering the circular contact area. The new thermal paste was protected by a green plastic cap over the contact area. I had already purchased a tube of Arctic Silver 5. Should I:
1. Install the new heat sink without adding any Arctic Silver to the CPU since the contact area on the heat sink is covered? or,
2. Add a vertical line of Arctic Silver 5 to the CPU and then install? or,
3. Remove the factory thermal paste and apply Arctic Silver 5 to the heat sink and the CPU to avoid mixing two different kinds of paste?
I am leaning toward alternative #1 since I assume Dell would know best what paste to apply and how to apply it. Any ideas?