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I have read multiple forum threads and articles about de-lidding the Haswell, but has anyone tried, or does anyone know of any information in regards to soldering the IHS to the core? Maybe a flux-less paste / hot air process?
Long story short, what you are thinking of doing isn't going to work the way you think it will..You will at best create a cold solder joint that performs terribly, and at worst destroy the chip..
When Intel solders an IHS in place, both the IHS and the package are both heated to 115C+ for a short period..
I wish intel would go back to soldering
Lead-free solder melting points are actually on the order of ~220C. For IHS attachment, you'd ideally want to use a SnAg (Tin-Silver) solder which has a higher thermal conductivity. SnAg alloys tend to melt around 220C.
The only way to do this properly is with a temperature-controlled oven that allows for fairly precise temperature control and ramp rates. You would have to come up with an approximate reflow profile to get the job done, involving several minutes of slow temperature ramp-up to pre-heat the part, a quick ramp up to the reflow temperature, a short period of time at max temperature that is still long enough to properly reflow the solder, and then a cool-down ramp to get the part of the high temperature zone slow enough to not introduce stresses due to uneven or rapid cooling. If you're crazy you could try to pull this off with a hand-held hot air rework station, but I'd at least recommend a hot air bath preheater.
Solder thermal conductivity is decent but not great. Even the best solder is going to conduct heat 1/3 as well as Aluminum, for example. Therefore you want to make the solder layer as thin as possible under the IHS. This requires two things:
1) Even mechanical clamping pressure on the IHS during the reflow process. You want to squeeze the IHS down on to the die, but this must be done evenly and gently such that it doesn't crush the die or bend the IHS.
2) The proper volume of solder under the IHS. Use too little, and it won't cover the whole surface. Use too much, and it will squeeze out the sides. Actually that might not be too bad, given that there isn't much for the solder to come in contact with if it is extruded out of the die/IHS interface.
The real problem you have to solve, though, is how to properly flux both surfaces and introduce solder to the joint without creating any voids. The obvious (and typical) solution is a vacuum chamber to just eliminate the possibility of oxide formation. But that's not going to happen on a DIY scale. Instead, you're going to be stuck with a solder paste, which contains a bunch of tiny solder balls suspended in a paste that contains about 50% flux by volume. It looks awesome under a microscope, BTW. When you reflow, the flux will outgas significantly as it melts, and those gases are going to be trapped in your solder interface, creating voids.
This is a tough problem to solve over such a large, confined area such as the die/IHS interface. Some quick Googling reveals this thesis paper solving exactly that problem, however: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05012001-165030/unrestricted/JUNHYUNGKIM_thesis.pdf It also covers the basics of reflow soldering and the challenges involved in using solder for thermal interfaces. This is as close of a (good, scientific) DIY guide as you're going to get.
Okay, now someone go do it.
Intel used an Indium based solder TIM with a melting point of 157C, according to a spec sheet from years ago. It may very well be possible to solder it yourself if you can get a hold of the proper solder and the right equipment to do it.
The solder isn't really the end-all be-all of TIM's either. I had my Q6600 IHS and TRUE lapped to mirror finishes and still improved temps, voltages, and clocks by delidding with a blowtorch and using good paste directly to the TRUE.I have read multiple forum threads and articles about de-lidding the Haswell, but has anyone tried, or does anyone know of any information in regards to soldering the IHS to the core? Maybe a flux-less paste / hot air process?
My MB is 7 years old. It would be horrible to be forced to delid my CPU. BTW is E7200 soldered?Intel states the TIM under the IHS has a 7 year life expectancy, which is well past the 3 year retail / 1 year OEM warranty of the processor itself.
As for researching the IHS, I don't have an answer for that...perhaps someone can chime in.
It would be nice if Intel sold processors with no IHS.
Are you aware some people are installing CPUs with a hammer?
Wow. The closest I've heard to that is hammering heatsinks off DIMMs (only 2 chips ripped off).Are you aware some people are installing CPUs with a hammer?
Exactly! I hate the noobshields with a passion. They have done worse for cooling ever since their inception. The only time they may help is with HDT coolers because not all of the pipes would contact the naked die.It would be nice if Intel sold processors with no IHS.
Even back in the Tbird days, a lot of people ended up crushing the core of the CPU because they didn't have IHS's on top. I'm sure this also happened to P3's.
I have to imagine a lot of why there are IHS's installed is to protect the core, not just for thermal reasons.
That is why they are noobshields. I've never cracked a core with bare die, it is an ID10T error. Thermal reasons had nothing to do with it because they are much worse for thermal conductivity.