My i5-4690K was running with a massive temperature difference between the hottest and coldest cores. Took this as a chance to try out delidding for the first time, as well as liquid metal.
Pre-delidding results. Screenshot’s taken on the 3rd run to let temps normalise. CPU is cooled with an NH-U14S with dual fans, and for thermal paste, I used NT-H1.
Purchased a cheap, 3D printed delidding tool from eBay for £15.75. Link, if anyone’s interested.
Temperature difference definitely wasn’t caused by my paste application. Debatably a bit too much, but that doesn’t hurt.
cough Nice ‘clean’ work surface. Very ESD safe. cough
Nice and cleaned up. Note the hole in the IHS on the opposite corner as the triangle on the chip. Can use that to see which way the IHS sits when putting it back on.
Unfortunately, the CPU started cutting into the tool, between the print layers. Had to give it a jolt to get it out, and then gave it a second go, slightly tilting the chip so it was pressed up against multiple layers. I don’t see this tool lasting more than a few goes.
IHS off, lots of silicone glue.
The old TIM just falls off with a little push. Dry as hell.
Used a razor blade to scrape the silicone off the chip and IHS. Trying my best to not scratch the chip. Got it to the point where the IHS sat nearly flat on the chip. Taking it all off would take quite a while - The stuff’s quite stubborn, and my blade was pretty dull.
Covered the SMDs with Scotch 33+ Tape, making sure not to put it where the IHS sits.
Chose to use Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut because of the rave reviews. This is far too much liquid metal. Sorry I stopped taking pictures at this point, as I was concentrating. That amount easily covered both the IHS and CPU die. You don’t want pooling like you see in the picture, and you can use the syringe to suck up and excess.
Once I had a good application on both, I placed them together, and put it back in the motherboard, lining up the IHS properly, and holding it down with the retention mechanism. Didn’t bother with glue, as I didn’t know how it would turn out. Reapplied NT-H1 and mounted my cooler. The IHS is going nowhere.
Post-delidding results.
15°C drop in temps on hottest core, and 5°C drop on the coldest. From these results, I’d take a stab in the dark and say that the TIM wasn’t as much of a problem as how the IHS sat on my chip.
It’s an absolutely terrifying experience when you do it the first time (especially with a cheap tool), but it’s definitely worth it to prolong the life of your CPU and increase overclocking headroom. Might try to push the chip a tad more, but I know it’ll take >1.3V.
