Skylake, Day 2: Splave Delids IHS, Swaps Thermal Paste, and Lowers Temps 18°C Under Load

We are day two after the Skylake launch and the overclockers are going at it hard already. Yesterday we wrote about the vast amount of World Records and Global First Places set by the pre-launch adopters. With 24 titles in total, overclockers are gearing up for a new era in extreme overclocking.

On day two, things get more interesting. Splave has looked into delidding the IHS of Skylake and found that it's 1) fairly easy to do, and 2) brings quite the temperature improvement. To quote the man himself:

"...[testing wprime] Before: 96C hit and failed within seconds. After: 78C Warmest core and passed. Under ln2 without Delid running XTU we are going postive temps at -145c hits 20c loaded."

A temperature reduction of 18°C under load is a significant improvement, but the most spectacular improvement is certainly see with liquid nitrogen. Splave recommends using a razor blade since other methods may crack the PCB.

For more information, check out Splave's thread in the Skylake OC sub-forum.


United StatesSplave says:

Reference For Die Size and to show no FIVR in the way.

2544132

 

 

Test Used:

Wprime1024 5.1ghz 1.48v

 

Before: 96C hit and failed within seconds (hard to tell what load after 2 minutes would have been probably 105+)

After: 78C Warmest core and passed :thumb:

 

 

Under ln2 without Delid running XTU we are going postive temps at -145c hits 20c loaded. :o :o :o

 

 

So I would suggest everyone delid Replace TIM under IHS and then put IHS back on.

 

Skylake bottom Devils Canyon top

5VN5leJ.jpg

 

The PCB is thin and Ive heard of it breaking in a vice, so I would stick to razor. Press in on each of the 4 corners then do the sides last.

 

Vice method fail (not me lol)

5JzR6aq.jpg

 

Also would suggest if you plan to let the ihs float instead of resealing (so you can keep it fresh) loosen the hold down first so you arent forcing the ihs to slide forward under pressure, then tighten the screws after brining the lever down

Belgiumleeghoofd says:

Thx for the tips mista splave

Germanyder8auer says:

Quality post. Good stuff man.

BelgiumMassman says:

Thanks for sharing, this is good stuff.

United Statesl0ud_sil3nc3 says:

Mashter DeLidder™

 

Sprave 2016!

IndonesiaMahameru says:

Thanks for sharing Splave, nice tips :)

PolandXtreme Addict says:

Nice :)

IndonesiaLucky_n00b says:

Awesome post, would try it myself with the retail :)

 

Netherlandsrsnubje says:

Also would suggest if you plan to let the ihs float instead of resealing (so you can keep it fresh) loosen the hold down first so you arent forcing the ihs to slide forward under pressure, then tighten the screws after brining the lever down

 

I think for the people using specific Asus boards, the CPU installation tool might come in handy here, as it will hold the IHS in place.

Malaysiacoolice says:

I think for the people using specific Asus boards, the CPU installation tool might come in handy here, as it will hold the IHS in place.

 

How did you figured that :D

Netherlandsrsnubje says:

Just a wild guess ofcourse :D Just stating that it's not just an installation tool. Might aswell be an IHS holder :P

 

2 Days ago when I was testing these boards, I was like: why the hell would anyone need this? Now I'm like: Oh, darn, this thing is useful after all.

Francedx4picco says:

how does this thing looks like?

United StatesStrong Island says:

thanks for sharing, That's amazing that the temps would swing to 20c, that sucks really.

United Statessteponz says:

lol.... nice man

AntarcticaTrouffman says:

NIce info :D 48h in and already abused!

RomaniaBruno says:

Nice! Thank you for sharing.

What TIM did you use?

United StatesSplave says:

Grizzly in and out always :D

RomaniaBruno says:

:D Of course

K404 says:

Candidate for best post of 2015?

 

Thankyou :)

 

 

So.... is "stock" Skylake useless under LN2 without a TIM-swap? Seriously.... a possible load swing of 160 degrees?

Germanyder8auer says:

From my experience you gain 100-300 MHz on ln2 by swapping the TIM

K404 says:

....and, Intel are committed to overclocking.....how, exactly? :/

 

(thanks for the info) :)

 

I guess that a soldered IHS would be an easy new product release for them, should it be necessary. Lower temps, more MHz. Marketing dream.

BelgiumMassman says:

Skylake Refresh, anyone?

AustraliaKngtRider says:

So.... is "stock" Skylake useless under LN2 without a TIM-swap? Seriously.... a possible load swing of 160 degrees?

 

Don't need to de-lid for extreme OC on LN2. See for yourself.

 

 

AustraliaKngtRider says:

 

 

Netherlands rsnubje says:

 

yesterday – It's this: http://cdn5.thinkcomputers.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Asus_3step_cpu_install.jpg

[/quotes]

 

Here it is in living colour if you'd rather independent verification of a marketing feature.

 

Australiazeropluszero says:

So.... is "stock" Skylake useless under LN2 without a TIM-swap? Seriously.... a possible load swing of 160 degrees?

I dont plan to be voiding an warranty on a AUD$525 CPU though.

BelgiumMassman says:

Don't need to de-lid for extreme OC on LN2. See for yourself.

 

 

 

Dang, Josh looking slick as ever!

Belgiumleeghoofd says:

Don't need to de-lid for extreme OC on LN2. See for yourself.

 

 

 

Nive vid, though let it run something and you might be surprised... CPU-Z stability is not the only thing what we seek for :)

RomaniaAlex@ro says:

Problem is not in idle of course but rather in exhausting benchmarks and this i can think of xtu,cinebench,3dmark cpu tests.

 

In any case i would be very carefull when delidding this time,cpu has traces on all pcb unlike haswell where half of cpu was not in danger.Add the thinner pcb and you see what i mean.

K404 says:

I dont plan to be voiding an warranty on a AUD$525 CPU though.

 

So....you'll be running at stock, then? :D

Germanyder8auer says:

Don't need to de-lid for extreme OC on LN2. See for yourself.

 

 

 

At a certain point the stock TIM will give up and the frequency will drop down by 500-600 MHz on load. Saw this several times now with skylake CPUs.

Dancop also had a good 6600K which could run around 6,2 GHz first using the stock TIM. After few benchsessions he could not exceed 5,8 GHz anymore. Swapping the TIM with Kryonaut he could do 6,3 GHz.

Polandphobosq says:

At a certain point the stock TIM will give up and the frequency will drop down by 500-600 MHz on load.

 

Do Haswell and Devil Canyon also suffer from this?

Australiazeropluszero says:

So....you'll be running at stock, then? :D

LOL

Australianewlife says:

I dont plan to be voiding an warranty on a AUD$525 CPU though.

 

Maybe this will be up your alley lol https://click.intel.com/tuningplan/

United Statesrtsurfer says:

Do Haswell and Devil Canyon also suffer from this?

No they don't.

Deliding there actually might cost you some frequency instead of gaining. This is only for Sub-Zero, ambient, deliding will help you.

United Statesxxbassplayerxx says:

I know Ivy lost frequency when delidded but I thought Haswell and DC didn't change at all, except that the cold bug may move a bit because of the different thermal transfer rates.

Germanyder8auer says:

Dancop delidded his golden 4770K over 10 times because the paste kept getting bad. So I wouldn't say it's bad for DC or Haswell.

United Statesxxbassplayerxx says:

Any reason he didn't use Liquid Metal? That doesn't go bad, does it?

Francedx4picco says:

liquid metal + subzero = bad

yup

United Statesxxbassplayerxx says:

Any sort of explanation? Why is it bad subzero?

BelgiumMassman says:

Maybe this will be up your alley lol https://click.intel.com/tuningplan/

 

:D

United Statesxxbassplayerxx says:

If you want to be an honest person... that's actually a good deal lol

BelgiumMassman says:

So the price of honesty is exactly USD $30? That's depressing.

United Statesxxbassplayerxx says:

So the price of honesty is exactly USD $30? That's depressing.

 

That's a little steep. I'm feeling the $25 for the 4770K :P

Australiazeropluszero says:

If you want to be an honest person... that's actually a good deal lol

That statement does not represent me as a person.

United Statesxxbassplayerxx says:

:woot: :P

United Statesl0ud_sil3nc3 says:

popped my cherry tonight and delidded a two chips no issue's. It's crazy how light the actual cpu/silicon substrate is in comparison to the ihs. All in all just use a razor blade, simplest method even for a noob like me. Thanks for this guide Splave.

lilchronic says:

"Under ln2 without Delid running XTU we are going postive temps at -145c hits 20c loaded."

 

What about after delid what were the temps like for LN2, did you still hit positive temps ?

Australiazeropluszero says:

So the question is, how do I get a large tube as cheaply as possible to Australia?

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