He means the thermal paste between the chip itself and the metal top (aka heatspreader). The metal top is the part the user-supplied thermal paste goes onto, a

He means the thermal paste between the chip itself and the metal top (aka heatspreader). The metal top is the part the user-supplied thermal paste goes onto, and the cooler block sticks onto. There's also another thermal paste sandwich UNDER that that you'd have to do some very delicate surgery to modify.