Intel Core 2 Duo IHS Removal
06.14.07 - 08:30pm
I do a lot of dangerous and risky things with computer hardware but usually when I own the hardware I don’t mind so much burning/melting/freezing the components as I understand the risk of potentially letting out the magic smoke. However when a friend asks me to take a torch to his processor I start to get a bit worried. Today we popped the lid off a golden E6600 with some rather impressive results. For those of you interested in doing this yourself here’s a quick and dirty guide.
Tools
You’ll need a few razor blades, a torch, some heat-resistant gloves, and the courage of ten men. Most of Intel’s current processor line-up have the processors soldered to the IHS which in theory should result in some impressive heat-transfer properties but the IHS is notorious for not being even remotely flat. Removing the IHS lets you cool the die directly resulting in better contact to the hot spots and better temperatures. So now that you’ve gathered your tools, head to the garage.
Procedures
Around the edge of the IHS lies a thin layer of sealant, you’ll need to use those razor blades to carefully slice through this sealant, start on a corner and work your way down. As far as I know the C2D has all the resistors on the backside of the package but try to avoid slicing into the actual package and severing some traces. Once you have the sealant thoroughly separated you’ll need to prepare the processor for some flaming love. We slide a razor blade into each side of the IHS and then positioned the processor so that it was being supported solely by the razor blades. When the IHS was heated the solder melted and it was possible to pop the IHS off. If you heat the IHS enough the processor will simply drop away however you can’t heat it to the point that you damage the core and/or melt the solder on the backside. We stuck with a 5 second burst of a propane torch followed with a frantic scramble to pull the IHS off the chip.
Results
I don’t have the option to run a set of thorough tests with the chip however I’ve been told that the loaded core temperatures dropped from 62 celsius to 50 celsius at 3.6GHz with 1.34 volts under a waterblock. With the temps much lower the option for overclocking higher is once again available with 3.8+GHz easily possible. I’d be interested to see what difference would occur under phase, perhaps once I buy a Q6600 I’ll pop the lid off my E6400 as it’ll then be relatively worthless. It surely was nerve-racking and I didn’t even own the processor so if this interests you make sure you are 100% committed. A note, removing the IHS voids the warranty, Intel won’t take your de-lidded processor back.
G’Day mate,
Iim going through the motions of doing this myself at the moment for my Vapo setup… however the processor im butchering is an x6800… $1600 AU for the little bastard, wish me luck!
BTW love your workings mate, good 2 see someone with the white hat for a change :)
I tried this with a Prescott 3.2ghz and with ofcourse my luck took the core off the PDB.
Will try it on an e6300 when i get me q6600.
P.S. Prices on the q6600 are going down Jul 22…
Yup, price drops to $266 per processor per 1000 units. Did you slice through the PCB with the razor or was the core soldered to the IHS? I myself can’t wait for the Q6600 price drop however I doubt I’ll be ripping the top off as I have more than adequate cooling in the works for it.
Hey Chris,
The core itself was soldered to the IHS and therefore when i removed the IHS, the core came with it. In any case, i didnt have any need for that P4 so no regrets :-)
The PCB was perfectly fine though…
-Inferno
FYI, the Core 2 Duo’s IHS’s are pretty concave so removing it would probably help a lot.
I do agree on the observation of the IHS being very concave however removing the IHS isn’t the first step I’d take, lapping the IHS is a much safer option especially for those that don’t care about their warranty but don’t want to risk destroying their chip. You never know who else might separate the die from the package ;) Good thing your mistake was with a P4, a Core 2 could have been a costly mistake. Glad to hear the PCB made it through just fine, would hate for it to get ruined.
I have a question, it may be stupid, what color is the conroe core?
Thanks…
If I recall the core itself is a metallic blue/purple color but there’s a layer of solder that must be removed from the core surface before the actual silicon package can be viewed. There is almost never a stupid question ;)
I don’t get it. You say the IHS will drop away on it’s own but then you also say you made a frantic scramble to pull the IHS off??? Which is it?
The IHS will loosen up very easily but then you have to scramble quickly to completely separate it otherwise the solder will harden back up. Sorry about the unclear explanation.