If you're incapable of putting a thick, gloopy paste onto a cpu/gfx cap and not splat it on something it shouldn't be on by mistake.. Surely you shouldn't be doing it in the first place?
When you decap a cpu/gfx chip these days, is the top of the Die actually affected by having a conductive item on it? it's surely not just open is it? I don't remember ever having this kind of problem with the old AMD Athlon chips which had no spreaders on top? I've AS5'd plenty of the older graphics cards which had no die caps as well with no ill effect what-so-ever ?
If you're worried about it being conductive, surely slapping something made of pure copper on top of it isn't exactly what you would consider to be a smart choise? I'm confused as to why the paste being conductive is such an issue?
(Disclaimer: I'll freely admit I haven't read every page of this thread, so forgive my ignorance, I thought it was just a 'who uses what' thread so I chimed in)