hey, my cpu has been running very hot ever since i installed it (idling at 60c, maximum use at 70+c). i only have the stock HSF but i know it shouldnt be reaching these temps. im almost 100% sure now that its the reason is because i have removed and reapplied the cpu fan (i had to due to a faulty motherboard) and i was wondering if i could solve this solution by simply buying and applying some good thermal paste or weather i would have to replace the entire HSF (as it says on the AMD site. any help is appreciated.

Did you apply any sort of thermal "goo" when you put the heatsink back on? If not, then that's definately your problem. If you didn't applay any thermal greas/paste when you put the HSF back then, yes, buying and applying a good thermal grease will probably solve your problem.

Agreed. The thermal grease/bonding agent is vital in transferring heat from the CPU to the cooling devices. If you remove a CPU from its cooling device at any time, it's neccesary to remove the original layer of the compound and re-apply the proper substance to ensure adequate cooling. I saw a system that had heat related errors; the owner had decided to identify the CPU "manually". He had removed the fan from his Pentium and re-applied it with hot glue. Not only did the CPU consistently run above it's absolute maximum thermal tolerance (70C surface), but the glue liquified, partially evaporated, glued the CPU to it's socket, and eventually physically damaged the socket and motherboard. The moral of that is to only use the proper compound, and that household glues are poor heat conductors.

wait...did you remove just the fna? or the heatsink too? If you removed the ehatsink, re-apply thermal compund, if not, get a new fan that outputs more cfm