Is this Thermal Paste?

Is the brown patch on the bottom of the heatsink the thermal paste? It's a stock heatsink that came with my CPU, a 3200 Venice. It doesn't look like it's cut perfectly straight and if I look at it closely, it looks like fine mesh so I'm guessing it is. There was also a semi sturdy plastic cover over it. I don't want to put the heatsink on the CPU without any paste, and I don't want to go buy paste if the heatsink already has some.
Rob

 

Yes it is, and will need replacing every now and then, like every 2 months or so.

Please can an admin edit/remove that pic as it's waaaay too big!

 

I still usually add a very small amount of thermal paste anyway. But, that is pure habit on my part.

 

Actually, its a thermal pad, and is designed for longer term applications than paste (according to AMD).

It will work fine for stock cooling. Don't plan on overclocking though