I have that exact question, except i think i have the answer. When i installed my vid card, (by the way i have a Compaq Presario) i removed the cpu fan, and it appears as if the CPU has that grease, i tried to remove it, and it did move, so im guessing you could it just has that grease thing for the heating i dont know... And in the Compaq page it has steps on how to replace your CPU so im guessing you could...