Delidding Intel Ivy Bridge and Haswell: A How To

Delidding Intel Ivy Bridge and Haswell: A How To [Pictures included]

Warning: Delidding your CPU will void your warranty.

The modifications in the following article were performed by experienced individuals that acknowledge they were voiding their warranties by delidding. Accordingly, ModCrash.com and the ModCrash team must insist that no one attempt to recreate the modification explained below unless you understand the risk you assume. By reading past this warning you are accepting that we are not to be held liable for any damages you or your hardware incurs in the process should you choose to copy the steps.

At this point:

If you are still reading and you are interested in the process of delidding, it is actually quite easy to do. I originally posted about delidding in the forums here back in April. Now I’m sharing this as a how-to for those of you who don’t frequent the forums. (You really should try to be active in the forums for the community and the giveaways). If you wonder about the success and overall thermal performance of the CPU after delidding, I will share my results as well as the reported results of our forum member, markallen1988.

After successfully completing the delidding process on my Intel i5-3570k Ivy Bridge CPU, I received a maximum temperature drop of 19-22 degrees Celsius over each core. Forum member “markallen1988” attempted the same method on his Intel i7-3770k Ivy Bridge CPU using slightly different thermal compounds and received a temperature drop of 23 degrees Celsius at its maximum temperature. We were both able to get our 4.5 GHz overclocked CPU’s down to an average of low-to-mid 60’s (C) under full load at max core temperature on air cooling. I was using the standard Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, while markallen1988 used the larger and more effective Noctua NH-D14. Thus, our results represent the slight marginal performance difference gained by having a larger heat sink.

Preparation for Delidding

If you are ready to start delidding a CPU then let’s get a move on! First, you’ll need to round up some materials before being properly prepared. I’m giving you a specific list because I know that these items will work great to help the delidding go smoothly.

The first things you will need are:

• A pack of double sided razorblades (I like Merkur’s). Don’t buy box-cutter blades or anything thicker than shaving blades. This makes it much easier.
• I prefer to use ArctiClean, but you can use 99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol if you’d rather.
• Cotton swabs are a must-have for cleaning up a CPU heat sink and CPU die. I recommend getting the Q-tip brand “Precision Tip” swabs.
• Paper towels for cleanup (something with few loose fibers so as to avoid leaving any behind).
• An anti-static mat if you have one or disposable padded surface if you don’t (I wrapped a rubber coaster mat in vinyl).
• An anti-static wrist strap (might come with your anti-static mat)
• Coollaboratory Liquid Pro or Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra will be necessary. (Either TIM will do just as well, but CL Ultra is easier to use).
• Arctic Cooling MX-4. (No curing time at all, no bleeding, no electrical conductivity, and high thermal conductivity with an 8 year warranty).