>> Are there designs that don't use thermal paste? Yes. Glue. Paste is for when you might want to one day separate part from heatsink. If you don't care abou

>> Are there designs that don't use thermal paste? Yes. Glue. Paste is for when you might want to one day separate part from heatsink. If you don't care about repairs, it is perfectly reasonable to just glue them together with thermal adhesive.