OK, finally got a replacement Athlon 3800 and a new DFI LanParty. What an expensive experiment with that Arctic Silver. I ripped the CPU out of the CPU socket and torqued the motherboard and maybe the CPU. So if you have a Thermaltake XP-120 beware when you take it off.
The safe way is *not* the way you put it on. Instead, take a screwdriver and press down on the spring, then use another small flat head to flip the retainer piece out. Do this carefully on all four sides, so you don’t put pressure on the CPU and the socket!
In any case, I reapplied the Arctic Silver and voila using the settings noted in