Intel heatsink - thermal pad or paste?

[katit]

I guess it's weird question, but I'm about to build a system with dual E5 CPUs and got INTEL heatsinks (new) - AUPSRCBTP
They already have gray thermal pads. Should I install them as is or I need thermal paste?

 

[mattr]

The pad is fine.

 

[Kat]

Believe it or not , Xeon chips are much cooler than consumer ones due to lower frequency.
e5 2670 v3 at air cooling max i have seen was 49-50 degrees.
i7 5960x at the same air cooling is hitting 80 degrees++

 

[Dannyb]

As far as I know if you removethe heatsink you should definately replace the pads (though yours seems odly good..).
Don't try to replace pads with paste because thermal pastes are too thin and can't cover the gap between the heatsing and the CPU.
The only paste I know that can replace pads is k5 pro because it is actually made to be thick. So far I didn't have any problem using it.
Hope this helped