Aqua Computer Makes 3D-Printable Skylake CPU Delidding Tool

[N.Broekhuijsen]

Aqua Computer designed a CPU delidding tool that you can 3D print at home, if you have a 3D printer.

Aqua Computer Makes 3D-Printable Skylake CPU Delidding Tool : Read more

 

[Saberus]

Twist until you hear a crack. That phrase makes my hair stand on end. I can understand the benefits of de-lidding for performance enthusiasts, but as a tech I shudder.

So my thought is, is this foolproof? Or are you just as likely to damage the die?

 

[beckerp86]

To the author:

I don't believe the 1151 socket design allows you to leave the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) off of the CPU. The CPU would sit too low in the socket for any cooler to touch. For anyone thinking about de-lidding, please confirm before proceeding with the instructions in this post.

 

[InvalidError]

I don't believe the 1151 socket design allows you to leave the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) off of the CPU. The CPU would sit too low in the socket for any cooler to touch.

It depends on the cooler's tolerances and their retention clip designs. Some HSF use spring tensioning (ex.: 212+/EVO) and can accommodate much wider tolerances than other HSFs, like Inte'ls stock design, which are designed with exact physical dimensions in mind. HSFs that use long threaded screws with no stops can accommodate any CPU height but you need to be careful about fastening the HSF evenly and not apply excessive force.

 

[Johnpombrio]

AT YOUR PERIL! I ruined a $300 Haswell, Broadwell? CPU by delidding it and then trying to get it to work afterwards. No one says that the delidded chip's top metal heat spreader will fit onto the chip after you are done removing it and repasting it. I got it to barely work by playing with the screws to the CPU cooler (just 3 were allowed to be screwed in). Eventually, it failed completely. did it help? I got all of 2% cooler results. NO, NOT WORTH IT! Do NOT listen to all of the glowing results that some people got (or at least pretended they got). they were the lucky ones.

 

[Johnpombrio]

Twist until you hear a crack. That phrase makes my hair stand on end. I can understand the benefits of de-lidding for performance enthusiasts, but as a tech I shudder.

So my thought is, is this foolproof? Or are you just as likely to damage the die?

Delidding it relatively straightforward and I doubt that many will break it during the delidding process. It is a BEAR to get it to work once the lid is off tho and I lost my $300 chip during that harrowing process.

 

[firefoxx04]

John, sounds like you were in over your head. De lidding is easy. Nobody told you to only have 3 of the 4 screws fastened on your heatssink. You made that terrible decision.

 

[outlw6669]

Yeah, you generally don't want to install the CPU delidded unless you are 100% sure your equipment is compatible with the shorter, and more fragile, stack.
The better option for most is to delid, clean off the old TIM and adhesive then replace the lid with a lesser amount of higher quality TIM installed.
No need to use any additional adhesives when reassembling, the socket cover and cooler will keep everything in place with full original cooler compatibility.

 

[Darkk]

All of this reminds me back in the day when the CPU didn't have heat spreaders installed at all. You actually saw the back of the silicone wafer (CPU). Heat sinks were carefully designed to have direct contact without crushing it unless you totally installed it wrong.

This was the most efficient way to transfer heat directly to the cooler. Problem was too many folks screwing up their CPUs so AMD and Intel decided to install heat spreaders on the later versions of the processors.

Intel and AMD could crank out special editions of their CPUs without the head spreader long as the cooler is designed for it. This is a very small market for it so doubt they'll even do it.

 

[InvalidError]

Heat sinks were carefully designed to have direct contact without crushing it unless you totally installed it wrong.

You don't need to install it "totally wrong" to get horrible sounds like crushing sand during the install process and chipping the edges/corners. You just need a slight angle while starting to apply pressure to hook the retention clip. This got better when AMD put rubber spacers around the die to stabilize heatsinks. Vibrations during shipping could also cause the HSF to lift up from the die and slam back down on it.

With the LGA sockets, the IHS also has the additional role of spreading out the socket and HSF clamp force to provide reasonably even pressure across all 1150-2011 contact points.

Yet another reason for the IHS is to provide enough thermal mass for the CPU to throttle itself or shut down without self-destructing if the HSF came off during shipping or is not installed properly.

Protecting the die from mechanical abuse is only one of many reasons to bother with the extra cost and complexity of putting IHS on desktop CPUs.

 

[PigmonkeY]

I just want to point out here that when people talk about delidding with skylake, what we're talking about is pulling the IHS off, clearing out the paste that's inside, and replacing with either a higher performance paste (Tgrizz?), or a liquid metal compound (CoolLaboratory Liquid Ultra is the most common here).

You then reinstall the cpu into the socket and PUT THE HEATSPREADER BACK ON.

You can hold the heatspreader on simply with retention clip force, or you can add some silicone RTV sealant in a very thin bead on the bottom of the spreader and then place it on the cpu, and close the retention clip.

Skylake CPUs are indeed too short to be used without the IHS in most configurations, but the difference is very very minimal from using the IHS with a proper liquid metal thermal compound. People report 7-15C drops under full load, which is nothing to shake a stick at at all.

 

[InvalidError]

People report 7-15C drops under full load, which is nothing to shake a stick at at all.

While people blame the "poor quality" of Intel's paste, the real problem is thickness. When someone measured the total thickness of Ivy Bridge CPUs before and after delidding and removing Intel's original glue, they found that 200 microns worth of shimming was required to get the same total height. Using high-end thermal paste with the same 200 microns worth of shimming yielded inferior results to Intel's thermal paste, indicating that the stock paste actually beats most aftermarket ones.

If Intel halved the thickness of their adhesive in half, it would eliminate most delidding benefits. The reason Intel does not do so is probably because it would require curing the adhesive while compressed.

 

[demonkoryu]

Delidding was important sandy bridge - haswell era (i got 25C less with delidded 4770k plus liquid pro) but its questionable returns on skylake since they use better thermal paste below the heatspreader.

 

[blazorthon]

Delidding was important sandy bridge - haswell era (i got 25C less with delidded 4770k plus liquid pro) but its questionable returns on skylake since they use better thermal paste below the heatspreader.

I think you mean Ivy Bridge because Sandy's IHS was soldered on. Removing that sucker is certainly not worth the effort, nor is it even necessary for good cooling performance.