Have you de-lidded an Ivy Bridge CPU?

How did your de-lidding work out?

  • Awesome! Greater than 5 degrees celsius improvement averaged across all cores!

    Votes: 39 60.0%
  • Not so well. My chip no longer works.

    Votes: 17 26.2%
  • It works but it no longer functions properly or as well as before de-lidding.

    Votes: 9 13.8%

  • Total voters
    65

chronicfx

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 29, 2012
Messages
286
Hi. Alot of ivy overclockers are thinking of de-lidding their cpu's to change the TIM. It would be useful information to have an idea of how many are successful vs. how many are not.

Let me define my definition of successful. Successful would be a greater than five degree drop in temps average among all cores. Unsuccessful would be a less than five degree improvement (ie. improvement not worth the risk in my opinion), a dead chip, or some other form of damage done to make the chip not function correctly (saw some guy that could only run his memory in single channel because he nicked the pcb). I have my razor blades, liquid ultra, and a new tube of noctua paste stuffed into my nh-d14 box just waiting on some data from those who have already done this mod.

EDIT: Since I did not place an option for a less than 5 degree improvement, please use option 1 in this case. I guess any improvement can be seen as a positive.
 
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I've been planning on it for about a 3 weeks now. Have been delayed by water loop upgrade delays. Want to do the before and after with the new water cooling set up but I am getting impatient and may end up just delidding ASAP with the gear I have.
 
I saw an antistatic wristband with a little clip and wire attached to it in a drawer at work. I may snag that. Can I just hook that to "anything" metal and it will work right? Like if I do it at my computer desk can I just hook it to the keyboard tray (which has the metal sliders on each side for the tray) and it will work? I don't want my failure to be static related
 
It really is best to have it earth grounded, like onto a metal drain pipe.
 
Wow so far 50% success rate. 50% fail. :(


Delidding is in the air. I can't wait no more. I'm running a 20 pass LinX stress test right now for my before delid test information. In a few minutes I'm going to delid my 3570k.

I have confidence that I can do this and that my 3570k will benefit from it. :)


Right now my water cooled rig only has 1x120mm HWLABS Black ICE GTX Stealth radiator.


This is the testing water loop configuration for my first De-lidding test.


delidtestrig120mmradiator.jpg


I have another radiator on back order at FrozenCPU and wanted to wait for it but I couldn't wait no more.


Photos from my adventure.


Officially Delidded. No going back at this point in the game.

3570kcrackedopenwithIHS.jpg



delid3570kfresh.jpg



Cleaned up and ready to GO!

nakedprepped3570k.jpg




Contact Paper pressure test is a go!

New contact pressure test with DT SNIPER water block directly on IB i5-3570k.


Deliddirectcontacti53570kDTSniper5.jpg



Before Delidding.

Ambient Temp 26C

TIM IC Diamond 24

Temps under LinX load 83C 93C 89C 84C

BeforeDeLidLinX3570k.jpg


http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2531026



De-Lidded results.

Direct DIE Contact

Ambient Temps 25.5C

TIM IC Diamond 24

Temps under LinX load 70C 80C 78C 74C

ICD24DTSNIPER3570kLINXDelidresults.jpg


http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2531139






Update. The initial tests was done with IC Diamond TIM.

Later on I discovered much lower temps using CoolLaboratory Liuid Pro TIM.

This stuff works like magic between bare die and copper heat sinks.

CoolLPProperMountTempsNOIHS3570k.jpg


With IC Diamond 24 average temp of each core was 73C under IBT load. With Liquid Pro average temp of each core is at 61C!! under IBT load. :)


Conclusion by de-lidding my IB i5-3570k I was able to lower average core temps 26.25C per core!!!
 
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Where's the option for yes and <5 C improvement?

I've had no problems, just no big gain.
 
Results will vary since not everybody uses the same TIM.
But very good results so far and good for people who are planning on buying the chip.
 
Way to go Sonda5!! So happy you decided to jump off that fence, isn't it nice on the other side? I think I will follow you soon enough. Did you feel nervous while doing it or now that you did it do you feel it's "no big deal".



Pwoz...Darnit.. <5 degrees improvement I meant to put that with option 2 but I was getting called by my wife to help her with something as I was trying to post it.. Being rushed never works well for me. But now that I think of it, it's not a failure so just go ahead an put it as an option 1. I will edit the rules a bit.
 
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Are you serious about the drain pipe.... I am just not that electrically inclined.. I have a Masters in Chemistry but am asking a serious question about how to ground myself.. The drain pipe seems extreme since touching the chassis of your case is usually ok. Can someone advise me where I should hook the wristband?
 
Sonda5 thats about my exact stable voltage for 4.5. We have similar chips except mine was a little better thermally out of the box. Mine runs about 1.31v for 4.7 without PLL overvoltage on. I feel pretty comfortable with that voltage for the long term, are you going to go further now that your thermals are better?
 
Chronicfx I was well prepared to do this in my mind and I felt confident that I could do it but when I began to work the razor between the IHS and the PCB of the CPU I was a little worried that something could go wrong but I didn't let the fear over come me. I controlled my hand movement and didn't force anything. I just gradually worked in the blade from corners to sides then it popped off.

I wore rubber insulated flip flops, sat at non conductive wood table, and wore some plastic green gloves that can be seen in the photo of the die above.


I was anxious to do this and felt really good after I did it.

Once I get my new radiator I think my temps will improve. Right now my loop is restrictive for that little slim 120mm radiator.


I'm thinking about trying the liquid metal pro TIM that everybody says is the best for DE-Lidding.

I'm plan on sticking with direct die mount.

For my CPU to push 5GHZ it requires too much voltage for my liking. 4.5GHZ is feeling very snappy. I notice the cooling performance when I game. :D I know alot of people don't think it is possible but I do notice cooling performance improvements when gaming.
 
I think the clip on the wristband is like 3 feet long at most. Anything I can use that does not make for performing the mod on my toilet seat?
 
Nice Sonda5! I like the 4.5 setting as well. Thats one of my three bios saves. When I get my second card since I play only 1 game at a time usually (having a 128GB main drive keeps me faithful) I can lower my overclock to the lowest clock that will give me close to 100% GPU usage on both cards. I can change my overclock on a game by game basis by having 4.5, 4.7, and 4.8 settings saved in bios.
 
Yes, for static.
If you read around any good electronic repair sites, or do this kind of work for a living you would know the best ground would be an Earth ground.

I agree that would be the "best" ground, but it's completely unnecessary for someone working on a computer at home.

Touching any metal part of your computer chassis will put you and the computer at the same potential so removing the risk of damaging components...you don't have to be 'earthed'. Just remove the potential difference between you and the PC.
Higher humidity also helps because the atmosphere will help bleed off any excess static. Anything above 35% is fairly helpful.

Some simple web searching on the subject will enlighten the OP.
 
Thanks man. Did it already over lunch. I am just gonna lay the computer next to my work space, wear some flip-flops like Sonda5 did, and hook my wristband to the chasis. Probably overkill but I definitely don't want to kill my chip with static when I do this one.

I have always just touched the chassis before adding or removing components, I have just never messed around with putting my fingers directly on the bottom of a cpu, in fact I only hold CPU's by the edges, that was where my concern came from.
 
If this bullshit continues with Haswell I'm going to buy AMD. Congrats on fixing Intel's retarded change.
 
I agree that would be the "best" ground, but it's completely unnecessary for someone working on a computer at home.

Touching any metal part of your computer chassis will put you and the computer at the same potential so removing the risk of damaging components...you don't have to be 'earthed'. Just remove the potential difference between you and the PC.
Higher humidity also helps because the atmosphere will help bleed off any excess static. Anything above 35% is fairly helpful.

Some simple web searching on the subject will enlighten the OP.


I rarely comment on these questions because there is so much misconception (especially among computer hardware enthusiasts) about ESDS items that it would be impossible to correct them all, but you really need to do some more research yourself if you think your hardware is safe because you touched the case. If you take a look at most quality wrist straps, you will notice a resistor to prevent the exact phenomena you described, as instantaneous electron transfer is the easiest way to damage components available to you. Also, 35% humidity is nowhere near helpful for negating the effects of triboelectric generation. In 10-20% relative humidity walking across carpet may generate in excess of 65,000 volts. This tapers off to around 1500 volts in the 65-90% range.

Most people don't consider electrostatic damage to be an issue because they can't see it, and typically it will only cause failure modes under very specific circumstances or temperature ranges that a common PC might never experience (mostly happens with dielectric breakdown caused by voltage and not current). Of course on the flip side you could have a graphics card or motherboard that keeps failing under long-term use but when RMA'd comes back with no errors, typically because the short tests run at warranty centers don't reach the thermal threshold for the damage to cause instability.


Back on topic, I'm considering trying to delid my 3570k soon, and possibly my 3770k after that. They both run pretty hot even at low voltages and 4.4ghz.
 
I rarely comment on these questions because there is so much misconception (especially among computer hardware enthusiasts) about ESDS items that it would be impossible to correct them all, but you really need to do some more research yourself if you think your hardware is safe because you touched the case. If you take a look at most quality wrist straps, you will notice a resistor to prevent the exact phenomena you described, as instantaneous electron transfer is the easiest way to damage components available to you. Also, 35% humidity is nowhere near helpful for negating the effects of triboelectric generation. In 10-20% relative humidity walking across carpet may generate in excess of 65,000 volts. This tapers off to around 1500 volts in the 65-90% range.

Most people don't consider electrostatic damage to be an issue because they can't see it, and typically it will only cause failure modes under very specific circumstances or temperature ranges that a common PC might never experience (mostly happens with dielectric breakdown caused by voltage and not current). Of course on the flip side you could have a graphics card or motherboard that keeps failing under long-term use but when RMA'd comes back with no errors, typically because the short tests run at warranty centers don't reach the thermal threshold for the damage to cause instability.


So why not suggest what types of clothing to wear? Something to minimize the amount of static capable of being built-up? How about an air purifier that has an "ionizer", that also helps balance out the "static" in the air? Any other ideas?

Maybe try giving suggestions other than..."connect to an earth ground in your house"...because thats the easiest answer for EVERY enthusiast? Amiright?
 
So why not suggest what types of clothing to wear? Something to minimize the amount of static capable of being built-up? How about an air purifier that has an "ionizer", that also helps balance out the "static" in the air? Any other ideas?

Maybe try giving suggestions other than..."connect to an earth ground in your house"...because thats the easiest answer for EVERY enthusiast? Amiright?

Sorry, I just wanted to add some facts while I'm at work and it took way too long for me to type just that bit so I had to cut it off. Lets face it, people are going to work on their computer no matter what (I am sooooo guilty of this, I know the risks and simply decide to gamble with my hardware sometimes).

As far as suggestions, the best common clothing material to wear would be cotton and avoid syntetic materials. This probably wouldn't help you as much as your workspace. Any kind of carpeting, vinyl tiles, or finished wood/concrete are prime generators and your biggest enemy. If you have an area with ceramic tiles or unfinished flooring those would be slightly safer. Plastic bags and CRT monitors are a good idea to keep away from your workspace as well, so if you go to the store and get a bunch of bags of goodies don't unbag it and leave them right next to your machine. Another BIG item a lot of cases include is poly windows, you can see and feel those at work pretty easily so its best to keep them away from your machine during assembly until it is plugged in.

Honestly your best bet is to buy a good quality wrist strap and clip it to a plugged in PSU with the switch off, or a chassis with the PSU installed in the same condition. Your AC plug's 3rd pin for ground is your easiest and safest to utilize. Touching the case doesn't help because you will constantly build charge as you handle items and move around. Like I said before, the wrist strap will also include a resistor to bleed the charge slowly rather than shock the whole system in one shot, even touching the case can damage high sensitivity components if they are all attached.

Is all of this a little over the top? Maybe, as a lot of computer hardware isn't going to show symptoms of electrostatic damage during most of its life. I don't know the numbers on warranty returns for PC hardware but its usually around 5 to 6% in most types of electronics that are damaged beyond use through ESD events that pass through my shop. That could be a pretty large number in big volume items.
 
Sorry, I just wanted to add some facts while I'm at work and it took way too long for me to type just that bit so I had to cut it off. Lets face it, people are going to work on their computer no matter what (I am sooooo guilty of this, I know the risks and simply decide to gamble with my hardware sometimes).

As far as suggestions, the best common clothing material to wear would be cotton and avoid syntetic materials. This probably wouldn't help you as much as your workspace. Any kind of carpeting, vinyl tiles, or finished wood/concrete are prime generators and your biggest enemy. If you have an area with ceramic tiles or unfinished flooring those would be slightly safer. Plastic bags and CRT monitors are a good idea to keep away from your workspace as well, so if you go to the store and get a bunch of bags of goodies don't unbag it and leave them right next to your machine. Another BIG item a lot of cases include is poly windows, you can see and feel those at work pretty easily so its best to keep them away from your machine during assembly until it is plugged in.

Honestly your best bet is to buy a good quality wrist strap and clip it to a plugged in PSU with the switch off, or a chassis with the PSU installed in the same condition. Your AC plug's 3rd pin for ground is your easiest and safest to utilize. Touching the case doesn't help because you will constantly build charge as you handle items and move around. Like I said before, the wrist strap will also include a resistor to bleed the charge slowly rather than shock the whole system in one shot, even touching the case can damage high sensitivity components if they are all attached.

Is all of this a little over the top? Maybe, as a lot of computer hardware isn't going to show symptoms of electrostatic damage during most of its life. I don't know the numbers on warranty returns for PC hardware but its usually around 5 to 6% in most types of electronics that are damaged beyond use through ESD events that pass through my shop. That could be a pretty large number in big volume items.

Great post!
 
Thats np. Experts are who to ask. That is why forums are good. If you have any questions about Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy lemme know.
 
I am just gonna lay the computer next to my work space, wear some flip-flops like Sonda5 did, and hook my wristband to the chasis. Probably overkill but I definitely don't want to kill my chip with static when I do this one.


I wasn't worried about the static discharge. I did take a few precautions though by isolating myself from ground and the chip. Non conductive wood table to work on, non conductive rubber shoes/flip flops, rubber gloves.
 
Suprised at the poll so far. 3:3:1 If I would have guessed yesterday I would have expected more of a 80-90% success rate for this.
 
Its probably trolls, since nobody has said anything in the thread.



That is what I am thinking. Or its people a little embarrassed to share their bad de-lidding experience.

It's been all good for me so far.
 
That is what I am thinking. Or its people a little embarrassed to share their bad de-lidding experience.

It's been all good for me so far.

I think I'm going to attempt one of mine this weekend when I have time to sit down with it for a while. The only thing I'm really afraid of is voiding the warranty but the temps seem so much better.
 
It's pretty simple to get a good ground,all you need to do is get a ring or forked stakon and a few feet of wire.The stakon is crimped on the wire and all you have to do is put it on the screw that holds your cover on to a receptacle or light switch....strip the other end of the wire and clip your wrist band on it....viola!....your grounded.Find someone in the electrical department in one of the hardware stores to get the proper size stakon if youu can't figure it out
 
Thanks for that addition as well diggin. Probably even easier since the anti-static wristband I have is one of the ones with the stretchable "telephone" cords and an alligator clip on it. I can just unscrew the outlet a couple turns and clip it right on.
 
Just an FYI, outlet cover screws do not always attach to a part that is grounded, usually newer ones do not. That idea comes up a lot as a way to find ground because its "easy" just not always necessarily true. I wouldn't try it unless I checked the resistance between the screw and the actual ground pin. The ones in my apartment do work this way but it was built in the 60's, I actually replaced a few outlets because the old ones were too loose and the newer assemblies do not ground the cover screw, it attaches to plastic.
 
thanks for the update. if i were to clip onto the psu housing what spot would you use? i dont see anything really "clipable" except for the fan grill.
 
thanks for the update. if i were to clip onto the psu housing what spot would you use? i dont see anything really "clipable" except for the fan grill.

You want it to be bare metal, I would just screw one of the mounting screws halfway in and clip to that. Let me know how your de-lidding goes, I may get a little froggy and try it myself after I test my new motherboard.
 
GREAT success with me.

3570k @ 4.4ghz / 1.2v
XSPC raystorm / gtx680 heatkiller / 1x120 & 1x240 radiators

idle temps are always around 34-37c between cores.

stock it was running about 75c under load

delidded and replaced paste with noctura paste.
This dropped the temps to around 63-65c under load, but after a month or so the load temp would spike up to 85-90c.

delidded and replaced paste with arctic ceramiuque2.
dropped load temp to 70c under load and has been consistent.

ran direct die with noctura paste and under load it didn't go above 56c.

i'm going to wait a bit for the paste to cure and see what else can happen. i'm sure tweaking the voltage will help some also.
 
GREAT success with me.

3570k @ 4.4ghz / 1.2v
XSPC raystorm / gtx680 heatkiller / 1x120 & 1x240 radiators

idle temps are always around 34-37c between cores.

stock it was running about 75c under load

delidded and replaced paste with noctura paste.
This dropped the temps to around 63-65c under load, but after a month or so the load temp would spike up to 85-90c.

delidded and replaced paste with arctic ceramiuque2.
dropped load temp to 70c under load and has been consistent.

ran direct die with noctura paste and under load it didn't go above 56c.

i'm going to wait a bit for the paste to cure and see what else can happen. i'm sure tweaking the voltage will help some also.

Nice.

I think Intel should sell the K processors with Soldered on IHS (Like Sandy Bridge) and leave the other non-K processors with the TIM method.

If they want to save money, sell the K series with no heatsink.
 
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